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A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 February 2020) | Viewed by 45861

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Prof. Dr. Pietro Tagliatesta

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Department of Chemical Sciences and Technologies, Tor Vergata University of Rome, Rome, Italy
Interests: porphyrins chemistry; electrochemistry and organometallic chemistry; electron transfer on models with porphyrins and C60; catalysis by metalloporphyrins
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Prof. Dr. Marilena Carbone

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Department of Chemical Science and Technologies, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 000133 Roma, Italy
Interests: nanoparticles with electrochemical and biomedical applications; tattoo inks, determination of the composition and removal; surface science, molecules on semiconductors for detection purposes
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Purposely engineered materials are ubiquitous in everyday life and their massive employment is posing the problem of their accumulation and disposal, with consequent environmental impacts. This Special Issue targets all aspects of materials that are either conceived as renewable, or make use of disposed matter, for new applications. The topic will be tackled from a two-fold perspective. From one side, papers on reusable materials, such as recyclable catalysts or energy storing devices, are welcome. On the other side, granting a second life to wasted materials, such as PET bottles or recycling and restyling the overwhelmingly employed nanoparticles and persistent inorganic materials are measures that are highly in demand for the fabrication of smart composites and easy-to-make, easy-to-use devices, and this will be reflected in the current Special Issue.

Papers are encouraged on strategies for materials recovery from disposed devices and possible ecological applications of the renewed materials, such as in wastewater treatments and in the removal of pollutants.

Aspects such as green synthesis or the green treatment of the materials are considered added value within the framework of the Special Issue.

Prof. Dr. Pietro Tagliatesta
Prof. Dr. Marilena Carbone
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Renewed materials
Recycling
Wastes recovery
Green treatment
Wastewater treatment
Pollutant removal
Catalysis
Energy storage

Published Papers (12 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 1395 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Chromium Concentrate Recovery from Solid Tannery Waste in a Thermal Process

by Stanisław Famielec

Materials 2020, 13(7), 1533; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13071533 - 27 Mar 2020

Cited by 42 | Viewed by 3712

Abstract

Leather processing requires substantial inputs of energy, water and chemicals. Additionally, it generates significant amounts of liquid and solid waste, severely impacting the environment. Processing 1 Mg of raw hides yields up to 600–700 kg of waste, considerable amounts of which are solid tannery waste. Such waste contains chromium (Cr) compounds, which are commonly used as tanning agents. This paper reviews solid tannery waste treatment technologies, with emphasis on waste incineration in a specially designed experimental tunnel incinerator. Three different types of tannery waste were subjected to tests: trimmings, shavings and buffing dust. As the research revealed, the process can be applied to all types of solid tannery waste. Moreover, it enables the reuse of the heat of the process and results in a Cr concentrate in the process residues. The conducted analyses (carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen elemental analysis; inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy; powder X-ray diffraction) proved that there is no or little organic content in the obtained residual ash, which contains up to 53.1%(w/w) Cr in the form of Cr (III) oxide. Such material may be used as a Cr ore substitute in the chemical or metallurgical industries. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmentally Friendly Renewable Materials)

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21 pages, 2383 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Responses of Melilotus officinalis Growth to the Composition of Different Topsoil Substitute Materials in the Reclamation of Open-Pit Mining Grassland Area in Inner Mongolia

by Xinyu Kuang, Yingui Cao, Gubai Luo and Yuhan Huang

Materials 2019, 12(23), 3888; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma12233888 - 25 Nov 2019

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2100

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to reveal that reconstructed soil composed of different types and proportions of materials has different effects on the growth of Melilotus officinalis, and to determine the most suitable formula of reconstructed soil materials to use for soil replacement. Using topsoil, coal gangue, fly ash, and rock and soil stripping materials from Shengli Mining Area of Inner Mongolia as raw materials, stratified and mixed pot experiments were carried out in a greenhouse using different proportions of each material. The differences in the aboveground biomass, leaf width, plant height, and root length of Melilotus officinalis plants in pot experiments were then compared using analysis of variance. The results showed that using different combinations of materials in different proportions affected the growth status of Melilotus officinalis, and their effects on biomass were greater than their effects on plant height, root length, and leaf width. When topsoil, coal gangue, and rock and soil stripping materials were mixed at a ratio of 3:3:4, respectively, the biomass of Melilotus officinalis increased by nearly 30% compared with that of plants potted in pure topsoil. When the content of coal gangue was controlled to be 30%, the content of fly ash was below 10%, and the content of rock and soil stripping materials was below 40%, the reconstructed soil conditions clearly promoted the growth of Melilotus officinalis. Coal gangue, rock and soil stripping materials, and fly ash can thus be used as substitutes for topsoil. Mixing soil reconstruction materials in the optimal proportion can solve the scarcity of topsoil in the grassland mining areas in the study region and, at the same time, can effectively improve the utilization of solid waste in this mining area. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmentally Friendly Renewable Materials)

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9 pages, 3326 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Direct Reduction of Fe, Ni and Cr from Oxides of Waste Products Used in Briquettes for Slag Foaming in EAF

by Arkadiy Davydenko, Andrey Karasev, Björn Glaser and Pär Jönsson

Materials 2019, 12(20), 3434; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma12203434 - 21 Oct 2019

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2206

Abstract

Environmental aspects and the sustainable manufacturing of steels require producers to pay more and more attention to the efficient utilization of materials and waste products during steelmaking. This study is focused on the evaluation of possibilities for the recovery of metals (such as Fe, Ni and Cr) from waste products used for slag foaming in the Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) process. Two types of industrial briquettes were produced by mixing mill-scale from the hot rolling of stainless steels with anthracite and pet-coke, respectively. Thereafter, an assessment of the metal reduction processes in briquettes at high temperatures (1500 °C) was made by using laboratory thermo-gravimetric reduction experiments in an argon atmosphere. The amounts of metal, slag and gas obtained from the briquettes were estimated. In addition, the velocity and time for the removal of metal droplets from the liquid slag depending on the size of the metal droplets was estimated. It was found that up to 97% of metal droplets can be removed from the slag during the first 30 min. Moreover, results showed that most of the Cr, Ni and Fe (up to 93–100%) can be reduced from oxides of these metals in briquettes at 1500 °C. Moreover, the anthracite and pet-coke in the investigated briquettes have similar reduction capabilities. It was found that up to 330 kg of Fe, 28 kg of Ni and 66 kg of Cr per ton of added briquettes can be recovered from waste products by the industrial application of those briquettes for slag foaming in EAF. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmentally Friendly Renewable Materials)

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12 pages, 3716 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Briquetting of Wastes from Pulp and Paper Industries by Using AOD Converter Slag as Binders for Application in Metallurgy

by Tova Jarnerud, Andrey V. Karasev and Pär G. Jönsson

Materials 2019, 12(18), 2888; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma12182888 - 06 Sep 2019

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1954

Abstract

A number of carbon-rich (containing up to 47 wt% C) and lime-rich (containing up to 96 wt% of CaO-compounds) waste products from the pulp and paper industries can be used in iron and steel industry as fuels and slag formers for various metallurgical processes such as blast furnaces (BF), cupola furnaces (CF), argon oxygen decarburization (AOD) converters and electric arc furnaces (EAF). In most cases, these wastes consist of different size powders. In order to facilitate loading, transportation and charging of these powder wastes, briquetting is required. In this study, a pulverized AOD slag was tested as a binder component for briquetting of CaO-containing wastes (such as mesa, lime mud and fly ash) from pulp and paper industries. Moreover, mechanical testing of the possibilities for loading, transportation and unloading operations were done, specifically drop test trials were done for briquettes with different chemical compositions and treatments such as heating and storage. The results showed that an addition of 10–20% of AOD slag as a binder component followed by heat-treatment at 850 °C significantly improved the mechanical properties of the CaO-containing briquettes. An application of these briquettes will significantly reduce the consumption of natural resources (such as nature lime) in the metallurgical processes. Moreover, it can reduce the landfill area of wastes from pulp and paper industries, which is important from an environmental point-of-view. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmentally Friendly Renewable Materials)

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16 pages, 2478 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Influence of Binder Property and Mortar Thickness on High-Temperature Performance of Cold Recycled Mixtures with Asphalt Emulsion

by Lei Gao, Zhanqi Wang, Yanping Liu, Junqiu Zheng and Hua Li

Materials 2019, 12(17), 2718; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma12172718 - 24 Aug 2019

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2145

Abstract

Four kinds of cold recycling (CR) mixtures with different asphalt emulsions were studied for their high-temperature performance in both binder properties and internal structures aspects. Digital image processing was introduced to determine the thickness spectrum for the asphalt mortar of the CR mixtures from a mesoscopic perspective. The time–temperature sweep (TTS) test was conducted to obtain the rheological parameters of each corresponding emulsified residue and the permanent deformation performance of each CR mixture was measured by dynamic creep test. A principle component analysis (PCA) was used to compare the typical performance parameters of the CR mixtures and find the factors controlling the rutting resistance of CR mixtures. The results show that the high-temperature performance of the CR mixtures with a modified emulsified asphalt showed improvements relative to the nominal case. Including Marshall stability, several parameters from the rheological properties of binder (G*/sinδ, flow number) and mortar thickness (max, range proportion 0–10 mm) could significantly influence the high-temperature performance and rutting resistance of the CR mixtures. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmentally Friendly Renewable Materials)

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25 pages, 12873 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Blueprint and Implementation of Rural Stand-Alone Power Grids with Second-Life Lithium Ion Vehicle Traction Battery Systems for Resilient Energy Supply of Tropical or Remote Regions

by Antonio Nedjalkov, Jan Meyer, Heiko Göken, Maximilian V. Reimer and Wolfgang Schade

Materials 2019, 12(16), 2642; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma12162642 - 20 Aug 2019

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 4625

Abstract

Developed societies with advanced economic performance are undoubtedly coupled with the availability of electrical energy. Whilst industrialized nations already started to decrease associated carbon emissions in many business sectors, e.g., by substituting combustion engines with battery-powered vehicles, less developed countries still lack broad coverage of reliable electricity supply, particularly in rural regions. Progressive electrification leads to a need for storage capacity and thus to increasing availability of advanced battery systems. To achieve a high degree of sustainability, re-used batteries from the electromobility sector are appropriate, as they do not consume further primary resources and still have sufficient residual capacity for stationary electrical storage applications. In this article, a blueprint for the electrification of a remote region by utilizing second-life lithium ion traction batteries for an integrated energy system in a stand-alone grid is presented and the implementation by the example case of a Tanzanian island in Lake Victoria is demonstrated. First, economic potentials and expected trends in the disposability of second-life lithium ion batteries and their foreseeable costs are outlined. Subsequently, key decision variables are identified to evaluate logistic aspects and the feasibility of the implementation of an off-grid electrical system in remote areas for economically and geographically unfavorable environments. The practical realization is pictured in detail with a focus on technical performance and safety specificities associated with second-life applications. Therefore, a new type of battery management system is introduced, which meets the special requirements of climate compatibility, low maintenance, enhanced cell balancing capability and cell configuration flexibility, and combined with a fiber-optical sensor system, provides reliable status monitoring of the battery. By carrying out on-site measurements, the overall system efficiency is evaluated along with a sustainability analysis. Finally, the socioeconomic and humanitarian impact for the people on the island is debated. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmentally Friendly Renewable Materials)

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18 pages, 3675 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Utilization of Recycled Masonry Aggregate and Recycled EPS for Concrete Blocks for Mortarless Masonry

by Tereza Pavlu, Kristina Fortova, Jakub Divis and Petr Hajek

Materials 2019, 12(12), 1923; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma12121923 - 14 Jun 2019

Cited by 25 | Viewed by 4054

Abstract

The main aim of this paper is to carry out the environmentally based enhancement of a concrete mixture containing recycled materials whilst considering natural resource consumption as well as mechanical and thermal property levels. The developed concrete is intended to be used in mortarless masonry wall structures. Ten concrete mixtures with different types and replacement rates of recycled masonry aggregate and recycled expanded polystyrene were prepared, and their mechanical and thermal properties were experimentally investigated. It was found that the use of recycled masonry aggregate led to better thermal properties while maintaining sufficient mechanical properties. On the contrary, the addition of recycled expanded polystyrene did not significantly affect the thermal properties of concrete, but the mechanical properties considerably declined. For this reason, the recycled masonry aggregate is suitable to use as an aggregate for concrete masonry blocks for wall structures. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmentally Friendly Renewable Materials)

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19 pages, 5291 KiB

Open AccessArticle

CaCO₃ as an Environmentally Friendly Renewable Material for Drug Delivery Systems: Uptake of HSA-CaCO₃ Nanocrystals Conjugates in Cancer Cell Lines

by Viviana Vergaro, Isabella Pisano, Roberto Grisorio, Francesca Baldassarre, Rosanna Mallamaci, Antonella Santoro, Gian Paolo Suranna, Paride Papadia, Francesco Paolo Fanizzi and Giuseppe Ciccarella

Materials 2019, 12(9), 1481; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma12091481 - 07 May 2019

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 3807

Abstract

Chemical and biochemical functionalization of nanoparticles (NPs) can lead to an active cellular uptake enhancing their efficacy thanks to the targeted localization in tumors. In the present study calcium carbonate nano-crystals (CCNs), stabilized by an alcohol dehydration method, were successfully modified by grafting human serum albumin (HSA) on the surface to obtain a pure protein corona. Two types of CCNs were used: naked CaCO₃ and the (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES) modified CaCO₃-NH₂. The HSA conjugation with naked CCN and amino-functionalized CCN (CCN-NH₂) was established through the investigation of modification in size, zeta potential, and morphology by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). The amount of HSA coating on the CCNs surface was assessed by spectrophotometry. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) confirmed the grafting of APTES to the surface and successive adsorption of HSA. Furthermore, to evaluate the effect of protein complexation of CCNs on cellular behavior, bioavailability, and biological responses, three human model cancer cell lines, breast cancer (MCF7), cervical cancer (HeLa), and colon carcinoma (Caco-2) were selected to characterize the internalization kinetics, localization, and bio-interaction of the protein-enclosed CCNs. To monitor internalization of the various conjugates, chemical modification with fluorescein-isothiocyanate (FITC) was performed, and their stability over time was measured. Confocal microscopy was used to probe the uptake and confirm localization in the perinuclear region of the cancer cells. Flow cytometry assays confirmed that the bio-functionalization influence cellular uptake and the CCNs behavior depends on both cell line and surface features. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmentally Friendly Renewable Materials)

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20 pages, 7521 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Laboratory Investigation on the Shrinkage Cracking of Waste Fiber-Reinforced Recycled Aggregate Concrete

by Xiaoxin Wu, Jinghai Zhou, Tianbei Kang, Fengchi Wang, Xiangqun Ding and Shanshan Wang

Materials 2019, 12(8), 1196; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma12081196 - 12 Apr 2019

Cited by 26 | Viewed by 3066

Abstract

This paper aims to study the effectiveness of adding waste polypropylene fibers into recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) on shrinkage cracking. The influences of fiber properties (length and content) on the shrinkage performance of RAC are investigated. Firstly, through the plat-ring-type shrinkage test and free shrinkage test, both of the early age and long-term shrinkage performance of waste fiber recycled concrete (WFRC) were measured. Then, X-ray industrial computed tomography (ICT) was carried out to reflect the internal porosity changes of RAC with different lengths and contents of fibers. Furthermore, the compressive strength and flexural strength tests are conducted to evaluate the mechanical performance. The test results indicated that the addition of waste fibers played an important role in improving the crack resistance performance of the investigated RAC specimens as well as controlling their shrinkage behaviour. The initial cracking time, amount and width of cracks and shrinkage rate of fiber-reinforced specimens were better than those of the non-fiber-reinforced specimen. The addition of waste fibers at a small volume fraction in recycled concrete had not obviously changed the porosity, but it changed the law of pore size distribution. Meanwhile, the addition of waste fibers had no significant effect on the compressive strength of RAC, but it enhanced the flexural strength by 43%. The specimens reinforced by 19-mm and 0.12% (volume fraction) waste fibers had the optimal performance of cracking resistance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmentally Friendly Renewable Materials)

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9 pages, 898 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Respirometric Study of Optical Brighteners in Textile Wastewater

by Héctor Salas, Carmen Gutiérrez-Bouzán, Víctor López-Grimau and Mercedes Vilaseca

Materials 2019, 12(5), 785; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma12050785 - 07 Mar 2019

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 3281

Abstract

Optical brighteners (OBs) are colorless fluorescent dyes, widely used in industry to improve whiteness in materials. Nearly 80% of all OBs in the market are derivatives of stilbene. They absorb the near-ultraviolet light and re-emit most of it in the blue range as visible fluorescence. OBs are commonly applied on textiles, detergents, paper and plastic products, among others. OBs have a low degradation ratio. In biological plants, they can only be partially removed by adsorption into the sludge and a tertiary treatment could be required to fully remove them. Part of them may persist and can be found in river and lake waters. The current work aims to evaluate the effect of the OBs in the bacterial activity of biological wastewater treatment plants. The influence of two commercial OBs (Goldblanc BHA and Leucophor PC) on respiration rate was monitored by means of a semi-continuous electrolytic respirometer, in order to obtain information related to the growth of the biomass and the degradation of the substrate. Their acute toxicity was also determined. It was concluded that the OB effect on bacteria population is variable depending on its chemical structure. Unlike the former, the Leucophor-PC brightener had an impact on the respirometric rate. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmentally Friendly Renewable Materials)

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21 pages, 7612 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Removal of Copper from Water by Adsorption with Calcium-Alginate/Spent-Coffee-Grounds Composite Beads

by Roberto Torres-Caban, Carmen A. Vega-Olivencia, Luis Alamo-Nole, Daisy Morales-Irizarry, Felix Roman-Velazquez and Nairmen Mina-Camilde

Materials 2019, 12(3), 395; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma12030395 - 27 Jan 2019

Cited by 32 | Viewed by 5099

Abstract

Calcium Alginate/Spent-Coffee-Grounds composite beads (CA-SCGs beads), which were made of two different proportions of alginate and spent-coffee-grounds (3:3 and 3:10), respectively, were used to adsorb Cu²⁺ in aqueous solution. These beads were compared with calcium alginate beads (CA beads) and spent-coffee-grounds (SCGs) in terms of adsorption capacity and rate of adsorption. The experiments were carried out at an initial pH of 4 at 30 °C with initial concentrations of Cu²⁺ from 10 ppm to 100 ppm. Equilibrium data was fitted with Langmuir, Freundlich and Sips models, and a pseudo-second-order kinetic equation. The Sips model showed the best correlation with the experimental values. CA-SCGs (3:3) beads showed a faster adsorption rate versus the CA beads. Also, CA-SCGs (3:3) beads showed a larger capacity of adsorption according to the Sips model, but not in the Langmuir model. FT-IR spectra and SEM images were taken for characterization. This study has shown that the CA-SCGs (3:3) beads have a synergistic effect, combining the capacity of adsorption of CA beads with the kinetics of the SCGs. The CA-SCGs beads have proven to be an effective adsorbent of Cu²⁺. Therefore, they can provide a use for the SCGs; which are considered pollutants in landfills. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmentally Friendly Renewable Materials)

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17 pages, 3246 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Potential Use of Plastic Wastes for Low Thermal Conductivity Concrete

by Artid Poonyakan, Manaskorn Rachakornkij, Methi Wecharatana and Watanachai Smittakorn

Materials 2018, 11(10), 1938; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma11101938 - 11 Oct 2018

Cited by 50 | Viewed by 8516

Abstract

The use of plastics has increased over the years, thus resulting in a large volume of plastic waste being generated and accumulated in the environment. Due to its non-biodegradability and persistence, recycling processes have become one of the sustainable solutions for preventing environmental deterioration. Plastic wastes, including high density polyethylene (HDPE), low density polyethylene (LDPE), polypropylene (PP), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET), were collected from industrial sector and used as additional ingredients to improve concrete properties. Prior to concrete processing, an increase in wettability of plastic fibers using nonionic surfactant, Dehydol LS-12, was investigated. At the optimal concentration of 10 times of the critical micelle concentration (CMC), an interfacial tension and a contact angle were reduced to 31–32 mN/m and 65°–68°, respectively. Properties of concrete were determined and compared to those of the mortar samples. Porosity was found to increase with higher volume fraction of plastic fibers, whereas decreases in workability, bulk density, thermal conductivity, splitting tensile strength, and compressive strength were encountered. The lowest thermal conductivity was recorded for concrete samples prepared with 30% by volume of LDPE fibers, and the rest in descending order were HDPE, PP, and PET, respectively. Furthermore, the maximal inclusions of plastic fibers were 5% for HDPE and LDPE, 10% for PP, and 50% for PET so as to satisfy the precast concrete wall requirements. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmentally Friendly Renewable Materials)

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