Next Article in Journal
Sustaining Competitiveness and Profitability Under Asymmetric Dependence: Supplier–Buyer Relationships in the Korean Automotive Industry
Previous Article in Journal
Place-Based Policy, Industrial Coagglomeration, and Urban Carbon Productivity: Evidence from the Establishment of China’s National New Zones (NNZs)
 
 
Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
Journals
Sustainability
Volume 17
Issue 7
10.3390/su17073084
sustainability-logo
Submit to this Journal Review for this Journal Propose a Special Issue
► Article Menu

Article Menu

share Share announcement Help format_quote Cite question_answer Discuss in SciProfiles
first_page
settings
Order Article Reprints
Font Type:
Arial Georgia Verdana
Font Size:
Aa Aa Aa
Line Spacing:
Column Width:
Background:
Article

Cross-Linked Fungal Biotemplate Enables Highly Efficient Nanomaterial Recovery and Reutilization as Porous Carbon

by
Jiewen Luo
1,2 and
Fengbo Yu
1,2,3,*
1
Guangdong Key Laboratory of Integrated Agro-environmental Pollution Control and Management, Institute of Eco-Environmental and Soil Sciences, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China
2
National-Regional Joint Engineering Research Center for Soil Pollution Control and Remediation in South China, Guangzhou 510650, China
3
School of Resources and Environment, Nanchang University, 999 Xuefu Road, Nanchang 330031, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2025, 17(7), 3084; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17073084
Submission received: 16 February 2025 / Revised: 22 March 2025 / Accepted: 27 March 2025 / Published: 31 March 2025
(This article belongs to the Section Hazards and Sustainability)
Browse Figures
Versions Notes

Abstract

:
Waste nanomaterials pose environmental and human health concerns and they need to be urgently and efficiently managed. In this study, a fungal biotemplate was used to accumulate and recover nano-Fe2O3 materials from an aqueous solution. Then, recovered nano-Fe2O3 materials were activated to form a high-performance magnetic porous carbon composite (FePC) for energy storage and organic pollutant removal. The results indicate that high concentrations (500 mg/L) of 50 nm Fe2O3 particles can be completely recovered using a cross-linked Neurospora crassa fungus (NC), primarily because of its encapsulation function. In addition, the surface area, degree of graphitization, and heteroatom content of the FePC materials can be boosted by the catalytic effects of the incorporated Fe atoms. The developed FePC materials exhibit potential as high electrical double-layer capacitors as well as strong retention capabilities, excellent stability, and efficient adsorption of triclosan (TCS, ~526 mg/g). Additionally, these FePC materials exhibit superior capacities for energy storage and pollutant reduction compared to commercial and reported carbon materials. These results reveal a sustainable route for the recovery and reutilization of nanomaterials.

1. Introduction

Nanomaterials are widely used to eliminate heavy metals and organic pollutants from wastewater because of their unique adsorption or catalytic properties, leading to a rapidly increased existence of nanomaterials in the environment references [1,2,3,4]. For example, TiO2, nano-ZnO, nano-Ag, and CNTs accumulated in concentrations ranging from 6.7 μg/kg (CNT) to approximately 40,000 μg/kg (TiO2) in sediment, and most nanomaterials were eventually discarded in surface water [5]. However, recent studies have also demonstrated the toxicities of nanomaterials to human health and plant life [6,7]. For example, silver nanoparticles at 20 μg/mL lead to genes dysregulation [8], and the estimated lethal dose of silver chloride (mice) > 10 g/kg [9]. Meanwhile, secondary pollution can also occur due to the slow release of adsorbed pollutants in used nanomaterials and self-constructed metal elements. Therefore, the recovery of nanomaterials can be very beneficial and is urgently needed to eliminate nanomaterial toxicity and prevent potential secondary pollution. Previous procedures for recovering nanomaterials from aqueous solutions include extraction [10], magnetic separation [11,12], and filtration [13]. However, extraction using an ionic liquid or a surfactant is usually expensive and complex. Both magnetic separation and filtration also have be limited. For example, magnetic separation only works for nanomaterials that contain magnetic elements (such as iron); therefore, it is of great importance to develop a high-efficiency technology for the recovery of nanomaterials from aqueous solutions.
Heavy metals such as chromium (Cr), cadmium (Cd), and lead (Pb) can be immobilized on the surfaces of fungi through microbial-induced phosphate precipitation [14,15,16]. Recent studies have successfully synthesized functional materials via the aggregation of fungi and nanomaterials (such as Fe3O4) [17,18]. In addition, fungus containing carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus elements is also a promising candidate for the synthesis of heteroatom-containing porous carbon, which can be used for energy storage [19]. Meanwhile, nanometal materials (such as Fe2O3 or Fe3O4) often exert strong influences because of their carbothermal reduction reaction with carbon matrices [20,21]. Therefore, the effects of recovered nanomaterials on the fungus activation process should be better understood. It is not clear, for example, how recovered nanomaterials influence the porosities and heteroatom contents of fungus-based carbon. This is one of the most important factors influencing the electrochemical performance of porous carbon materials. Moreover, waste magnetic nanomaterials can be repurposed as precursors for magnetic carbon composites, offering promising applications in catalysis [22] and the advancement of quantum technologies [23]. Magnetic carbon materials can be easily recovered from aqueous solutions by an external magnetic field, which shows great potential for sustainable utilization. Thus, it is suitable for the removal of organic pollutants such as triclosan (TCS) due to potential threats to aquatic ecosystems and human health.
Herein, taking Fe2O3 (50 nm) as an example, Neurospora crassa (NC) fungus was used to recover nanomaterials from an aqueous solution. The effect of the nano-Fe2O3 concentration on its recovery efficiency was examined, followed by a proposed recovery mechanism for nano-Fe2O3 using NC. Fe2O3-enriched NC (FeNC) was then further activated to form a magnetic porous carbon composite (FePC) suitable for energy storage and pollutant removal. The effect of the enriched nano-Fe2O3 on the activation of fungus was then considered, followed by evaluations of the composite’s electrochemical performance using three electrodes system and TCS adsorption capacity by FePC materials. This approach uses Neurospora crassa fungi to recover Fe2O3 nanoparticles via bioadsorption, outperforming costly conventional methods. We show that Fe2O3’s carbothermal reduction during activation boosts porosity, and solving the surface area and heteroatom doping trade-off in biomass carbons. This “waste-to-resource” strategy transforms nanomaterial waste into dual-functional materials for energy storage and pollutant removal, aligning with circular economy goals.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Recycling Nano-Fe2O3 from an Aqueous Solution Using Neurospora crassa

The NC was cultured in media containing nano-Fe2O3 in a shaking incubator with a stirring speed of 120 rpm at 30 °C for 3 days. The nano-Fe2O3 particles in solution could then be recycled by the NC. The NC growth medium contained 100 mL of 1× Vogel’s culture media, including 2% Vogel’s salts, 0.01% trace elements solutions, 0.005% biotin, and 2% glucose [24]. The concentration of nano-Fe2O3 in the NC growth medium was controlled at 0, 50, 100, 250, and 500 mg/L by adding concentrated nano-Fe2O3 (5000 mg/L). The resulting FeNC was then lyophilized, and henceforth is denoted as FeNC-X, where X represents the concentration of nano-Fe2O3 in the NC growth media. Therefore, five samples were obtained, labelled FeNC-0, FeNC-50, FeNC-100, FeNC-250, and FeNC-500. The detailed procedure for NC growth is described in a previous study [24]. The residual nano-Fe2O3 in the solution was separated using a magnetic field.

2.2. Activation of Nano-Fe2O3-Enriched Neurospora crassa to Magnetic Porous Carbon Composite

Activation of FeNC to form FePC was performed using ZnCl2 as the porogen. The weight ratio of the ZnCl2 porogen to the ash-free based FeNC was controlled at 1:1. The FeNC was mixed with the ZnCl2 porogen in 30 mL of deionized water for 12 h. Subsequently, the mixture was freeze dried and then heat-treated at 700 °C for 90 min in a nitrogen atmosphere. The resultant functional material was thoroughly washed with 0.1 M HCl and deionized water until a neutral pH was reached and then dried at 100 °C for 4 h. The as-prepared materials are henceforth denoted as FePC-X, where X represents the concentration of nano-Fe2O3 in the original NC growth aqueous solution (Scheme 1).

2.3. Characterization of Nano-Fe2O3-Enriched Neurospora crassa and Magnetic Porous Carbon Composite

The FeNC and FePC materials were characterising by elemental analysis (C, H, N, S and Fe, P), ash content, N2 adsorption–desorption, Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), magnetic property analysis, and scanning electron microscopy. The characterization details are described in Text S1 (Supporting Information). During the activation process, the pyrolysis CO gas released from the selected samples was determined via on-line mass spectrometry (MS, QIC-20, Hiden, Germany) in an Ar atmosphere. The m/z value for CO gas analysis was selected to be 28. Prior to the MS analysis of CO, pyrolysis oil was adsorbed via ethanol solution using a solid CO2 bath.

2.4. Electrochemical Energy Storage Capability of Magnetic Porous Carbon Composite

Electrochemical energy storage was evaluated using a three-electrode system in a 6 M KOH electrolyte on a CHI 660e electrochemical workstation at room temperature. In the three-electrode system, the working electrodes were prepared by binding FePC (80 wt%), acetylene black (10 wt%), and poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF; 10 wt%) in N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) solution on a nickel foil (~2 mg/cm2 mass loading). These electrodes were then dried at 85 °C for 24 h in a vacuum oven. Cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge–discharge (GCD), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and long-term cycling stability over 10,000 cycles were measured. The calculations for the specific capacitance of the discharge curves (Cs), energy density (E), and power density (P) are described in previously published studies [25].

2.5. Organic Pollutant Removal Capacity of Magnetic Porous Carbon Composite

In adsorption isotherms experiments, 2.5 mg sample was added into glass vial containing 50 mL of different concentrations (range from 10 to 50 mg/L) of TCS solution. The solutions were continuously stirred at 25 °C at 150 rpm. After the adsorption equilibrium, the carbon material was separated from the liquid phase by centrifugation. The supernatant and methanol were mixed at the ratio of 1:1 (v/v). The mixture followed by filtration using a 0.45 μm polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membrane filter for the analysis of the TCS concentration by HPLC. The parameters of TCS adsorption isotherms were fitted to the Langmuir and Freundlich model (Text S1).

3. Results and Discussions

3.1. Recycling of Nano-Fe2O3 from Aqueous Solution Using Neurospora crassa

During the growth of NC, nano-Fe2O3 particles could be incorporated into the filament of the fungal biomass (Figure S1a). The nano-Fe2O3 particles at the concentrations from 50 to 500 mg/L, were incorporated and immobilized by NC, as indicated by the typical magnetic separation tests (Figure S1b), indicating all nano-Fe2O3 particles were attracted by the magnetic field. Fe2O3 signals of XRD and red colour in the FeNC sample increased with the increasing nano-Fe2O3 concentration as nano-Fe2O3 was effectively incorporated into the NC cultivation (Figure 1a,b). The above results indicate that NC is a good biotemplate for incorporating and recycling Fe2O3 nanomaterials from aqueous solutions.
The immobilization mechanism of the nano-Fe2O3 particles by fungus is hypothesising to occur due to physical interactions. During fungal growth, fungal filaments form a three-dimensional (3D) net with a high surface area, which facilitates the incorporation of nano-Fe2O3. Accordingly, nano-Fe2O3 in solution can be effectively enmeshed by the cross-linked NC, accumulating in the NC surfaces (Figure 1c and Figure S2). The distribution of Fe and O elements in EDS spectra further confirms the formation of nano-Fe2O3 nanoparticles on the fungal surface. It should be noted that multiple functional groups on the fungi (such as O-H at 3400 cm−1 or N-H at 1642 and 1552 cm−1 for amide I/II bands and 1242 cm−1 for amide III bands) may also adsorb nanomaterials via hydrogen bonding or coordination bonding (Figure S3). However, very similar FTIR spectra, without obvious shifts, were observed for different FeNC samples (Figure S3), confirming that chemical interactions can be neglected for the immobilization of nano-Fe2O3 by fungus. The results imply that nano-Fe2O3 is mainly recycled by the enmeshment of the cross-linked fungus.

3.2. Activation and Characterization of Nano-Fe2O3-Enriched Neurospora crassa

The elemental compositions of the collected FeNC samples are displayed in Table S1. The results indicate that NC can be enriched with N and P elements, as well as Fe2O3 particles. The Fe content in the FeNC samples significantly increased with the increasing Fe2O3 concentration, accompanied by an increase in the ash content. The P content also slightly increased as NC was enriched with the nano-Fe2O3 particles. This may be because Fe3+ ions are often formed in the outer layer of nano-Fe particles [26]. Therefore, Fe-P analogues would contribute to the increased P content.
FeNC was further thermally activated using ZnCl2 as an activator to form a functional carbon material. The effect of ZnCl2 on FePC porosity enhancement is clearly indicated by N2 adsorption and desorption isotherms (Figure S4a). The Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area of FePC can be enhanced from 54.64 to 880.2 m2/g following ZnCl2 activation. Representative SEM images indicate the presence of bulk aggregates and abundant pores in the FePC samples (Figure S4b,c) indicating the robust energy storage capacities.
According to the pore structure and elemental compositions activation processes of FeNC was also influenced by each sample’s precursors (Table 1). FeNC samples with a high Fe content had higher porosities (Figure 2a) and a high ash content (Table 1). The pore sizes of the FePC samples were mainly distributed in a size range of <2 nm, resulting in a high microporosity (≥93.7%). It should also be noted that a high Fe content in fungi (such as sample FeNC-500) promotes the development of pores < 1 nm in size. The aforementioned results strongly indicate that the incorporation of nano-Fe2O3 into FeNC can effectively catalyse the pore development of FePC samples. This conclusion is further supported by the positive correlation between the Fe content in FeNC and the BET surface area of the FePC samples (Figure 2b).
As shown in Figure 2c, the XRD patterns of unwashed FePC samples mainly indicate FePO4 and Zn3(PO4)2, suggesting that a complex was formed between the metal ion and PO43−. After acid washing, Zn3(PO4)2 was effectively removed, but FePO4 was retained because of its strong acid resistance (Figure 2d). The retention of FePO4 may have contributed to the high P content observed in the FePC materials associated with nano-Fe2O3 coactivation (Table 1). In addition, new phases, including ZnS, Fe3O4, and FeP, were also observed after removing the strong Zn3(PO4)2 crystal signals. ZnS can be derived from the complexation reaction between Zn2+ and S in fungi. Fe3O4 can be produced via the carbothermal reduction reaction between Fe2O3 and the carbon matrix (3Fe2O3 + C → 2Fe3O4 + CO) [27]. Similarly, FeP can be produced from the carbothermal reduction reaction between FePO4 and the carbon matrix (FePO4 + 4C → FeP + 4CO). Undoubtedly, these two carbothermal reduction reactions can enhance the porosities of the FePC materials but also decrease the yields (Table 1) [27]. The low yield observed in FePC-500 indicates that this sample underwent a strong carbothermal reduction reaction; the evolution of CO gas can be verified (Figure 2e). High XRD signals for Fe3O4 and FeP in the FePC-250 and FePC-500 samples also support the suppositions of their superparamagnetic behaviour, as indicated by their high magnetic moment measurements (Figure S5a). Raman spectra illustrate the graphitization degrees (ID/IG value) of the FePC samples (Figure 2f). The peaks at approximately 1320 and 1590 cm−1 were assigned to the D (disorder and defects) and G (graphitic) bands [28]. A low ID/IG value indicates a high degree of graphitization. The nano-Fe2O3 in the fungus can boost the graphitization degrees of the FePC materials, suggesting that the structural alignment of the FePC samples was enhanced by Fe atom catalysis.
It has previously been reported that alkali metals can change N-containing groups via the complexation reactions of metal ions [29]. Therefore, the N content and N-containing groups of the FePC samples were further examined. The increases in the N content can be partly attributed to the decreasing yields of the FePC materials (Table 1). Four peaks, pyridinic N (N1), pyridonic or pyrrolic N (N2), quaternary N (N3), and oxidized N (N4), can be observed in the FePC samples via the deconvolution of the N 1s spectra (Figure S5b). Notably, the relative ratios of pyridinic N in the FePC samples slightly increased following the synergistic activation of nano-Fe2O3 (Table S2), indicating that complexation reactions may have occurred between Fe and pyridinic N. Therefore, the complexation reaction between Fe and pyridinic N would retain more N atoms. In general, the enrichment of nano-Fe2O3 in the fungus enhanced the porosities of FePC via carbothermal reduction reactions, which improved the heteroatom (N, P) content in the FePC materials via complexation reactions.

3.3. Electrochemical Energy Storage Capability of the Magnetic Porous Carbon Composite

The performance of the as-prepared FePC samples as supercapacitor electrodes was first characterized using the three-electrode setup. The CV curves of the FePC samples exhibit roughly rectangular and asymmetric shapes (Figure S6), and the GCD curves show triangular shapes (Figure S7). Both results indicate that FePC electrode materials displayed ideal behaviours as a double-layer capacitor. The specific capacitances of FePC electrode materials deduced from the GCD curves are summarized in Figure 3a. The decreases in specific capacitances can be seen at high scan rates, and high current density values occurred due to an insufficient time for ion diffusion and transport. For the FePC-0 sample, 74.6% of the specific capacitance was retained at a high current density. However, the retention rate of the specific capacitance in the FePC-500 sample increased to 81.7% because of the higher N content and appropriate pore structures (low microporosity). At a current density of 1 A/g, the specific capacitances were 129.9, 144.7, 133.4, 139.2, and 158.4 F/g for the FePC-0, FePC-50, FePC-100, FePC-250, and FePC-500 electrode materials, respectively. Obviously, the coactivation of the nano-Fe2O3 particles enhanced the specific capacitances of the FePC materials, and FePC-500 exhibited the highest specific capacitance. This is because the nano-Fe2O3 particles boosted the surface area, heteroatom content (N and P), and metal content (ash) of the FePC samples (Table 1). Pores enlarge the specific surface area, enabling more electrolyte ions to interact with active sites and form a larger electrical double layer. The mesopores of porous carbon can serve as ion traps, and its micro-surface area can provide ion transport pathways for energy storage [30]. A sample’s heteroatom content can change its hydrophilicity and wettability, as indicated by the reduced contact angle shown in Figure 3b,c [31]. In addition, iron doping improves conductivity and accelerates electron transfer, reducing polarization and boosting charge–discharge efficiency. Metal compounds (ash) can increase the conductivity, confirmed by the observed decrease in ohmic resistance (Rs) from 0.65 to 0.57 Ω (Figure S8). The strongly positive 3D correlation suggests that the surface area and ash content played important roles in the improved capacitance of the FePC materials (Figure 3d). Therefore, it is understandable that the highest specific capacitance at 1 A/g was shown by the FePC-500 electrode material, which was higher than those of some reported biomass-based materials (Table S3).
An important property for electrode materials is durability. After 6000 charge–discharge cycles, the FePC-500 sample exhibited nearly 100% of its original capacitance (158.4 F/g, Figure 3e), indicating a strong durability. The capacitance gradually declined to 124.7 F/g after 10,000 charge–discharge cycles (capacitance decreased to 78.7%).

3.4. Adsorption Capacity of TCS onto Magnetic Porous Carbon Composite

In this study, the capacity of TCS adsorption has been described for further application. The sample characteristic details and the estimated parameters of the isotherm models are listed in Table S4. Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms were used to analyse the adsorption equilibrium to better understand the adsorption behaviours of TCS onto the FePC materials, and most fitting analyses showed that R2 reached 0.9. The results implied that adsorption took place on the outer surface of the adsorbent by monolayer coverage, and at the same time, multilayer adsorption occurred on the heterogeneous surface [32]. Adsorption isotherms showed that FePC-500 exhibited better adsorption of TCS (Figure 4a). The maximum adsorption uptake (qm) of TCS ranged from 367 to 526 mg/g, calculated by the Langmuir model (Table S4). To clarify the relationship between qm and other sample properties, the qm values were plotted against the surface area and Fe content (Figure 4b,c). Linear increases in the qm and BET surface area indicated that TCS adsorption onto FePC materials mainly depended on the pore-fitting mechanism [33]. TCS adsorption capacity also showed a positive relationship with the Fe content in the FePC materials. However, surface area is not the sole consideration for improving the adsorption capacities of sorbents. Several porous materials with similar surface area (ranging from 700 to 1100 m2/g) presented limited TCS adsorption capacities (62 to 205 mg/g) in reported studies [34,35,36]. It is known that metals in carbon materials can increase the adsorption affinity and adsorption capacity by inducing π–π interactions and hydrogen bonding with carboxyl groups [37]. Compared to reported sorbents, FePC-500 presented a significant advantage in regard to TCS adsorption (Table S5). Overall, these results confirmed the potential of the FePC magnetic porous carbon composite for the removal of environmental organic pollutants.

4. Conclusions

In summary, this study demonstrate that fungus could effectively recover waste nanomaterials (nano-Fe2O3) from aqueous solutions and further be activated as energy storage material and adsorption material with superior performance. Cross-linked Neurospora crassa fungus can immobilize high concentrations (500 mg/L) of 50 nm Fe2O3 particles. Additionally, a high-stability energy storage material (158.4 F/g at 1 A/g, 100% capacitance retention after 6000 cycles in a three-electrode system) can be obtained by the activation of Fe2O3-enriched Neurospora crassa fungus. FePC composites are suitable for TCS removal (526 mg/g) from a water matrix and are conducive to realizing a recycling system. Importantly, the FePC composites with the magnetic property can be further recovered. This study greatly expands our current knowledge of the recovery and recycling of nanomaterials in a sustainable way. Future studies should further perform the efficient recovers of diverse nanomaterials and scale the synthesis of FePC composites for industrial wastewater/energy storage applications, focusing on stability in multi-pollutant systems. These advancements will promote closed-loop nanomaterial systems supporting circular economies.

Supplementary Materials

The following supporting information can be downloaded at: https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/su17073084/s1, Refs. [32,34,35,36,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49] are cited in Supplementary Materials.

Author Contributions

J.L.: Writing—review and editing, Writing—original draft, Data curation, Validation, Investigation, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition. F.Y.: Writing—review and editing, Data curation. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Jiewen Luo, Project No. 42207519) and GDAS’ Project of Science and Technology Development (Jiewen Luo, Project No. 2020GDASYL-20200101002, 2022GDASZH-2022010105).

Institutional Review Board Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Not applicable.

Data Availability Statement

The datasets used and analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Abbreviations

The following abbreviations are used in this manuscript:
NCNeurospora crassa fungus
FeNCFe2O3-enriched Neurospora crassa fungus
FePCMagnetic porous carbon composite

References

  1. Khatoon, U.; Aditya, V. An Overview on the Role of Government Initiatives in Nanotechnology Innovation for Sustainable Economic Development and Research Progress. Sustainability 2025, 17, 1250. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  2. Chaikittisilp, W.; Yamauchi, Y.; Ariga, K. Material Evolution with Nanotechnology, Nanoarchitectonics, and Materials Informatics: What will be the Next Paradigm Shift in Nanoporous Materials? Adv. Mater. 2022, 34, 2107212. [Google Scholar]
  3. Hussain, Z.; Saleem, A.; Gao, L. From Waste to Innovation: Silver-doped Silicate Ink Coating from Waste Coal Fly Ash for Hydrophobic Antimicrobial Fabric and Water-Oil Separation. Waste Manag. 2025, 194, 238–248. [Google Scholar] [PubMed]
  4. Cao, J.; Wu, Q.; Liu, X.; Zhu, X.; Huang, C.; Wang, X.; Song, Y. Mechanistic insight on nanomaterial-induced reactive oxygen species formation. J. Environ. Sci. 2024, 151, 200–210. [Google Scholar]
  5. Sun, T.Y.; Bornhoft, N.A.; Hungerbuhler, K.; Nowack, B. Dynamic Probabilistic Modeling of Environmental Emissions of Engineered Nanomaterials. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2016, 50, 4701–4711. [Google Scholar]
  6. Mazari, S.A.; Ali, E.; Abro, R.; Khan, F.S.A.; Ahmed, I.; Ahmed, M.; Nizamuddin, S.; Siddiqui, T.H.; Hossain, N.; Mubarak, N.M.; et al. Nanomaterials: Applications, Waste-Handling, Environmental Toxicities, and Future Challenges—A review. J. Environ. Chem. Eng. 2021, 9, 105028. [Google Scholar]
  7. Abbas, Q.; Yousaf, B.; Ullah, H.; Ali, M.U.; Ok, Y.S.; Rinklebe, J. Environmental Transformation and Nano-toxicity of Engineered Nano-particles (ENPs) in Aquatic and Terrestrial Organisms. Crit. Rev. Environ. Sci. Tec. 2020, 50, 2523–2581. [Google Scholar]
  8. Asmatulu, E.; Andalib, M.N.; Subeshan, B.; Abedin, F. Impact of nanomaterials on human health: A review. Environ. Chem. Lett. 2022, 20, 2509–2529. [Google Scholar]
  9. Medici, S.; Peana, M.; Nurchi, V.M.; Zoroddu, M.A. Medical uses of silver: History, myths, and scientific evidence. J. Med. Chem. 2019, 62, 5923–5943. [Google Scholar]
  10. Dutta, T.; Kim, K.H.; Deep, A.; Szulejko, J.E.; Vellingiri, K.; Kumar, S.; Kwon, E.E.; Yun, S.T. Recovery of Nanomaterials from Battery and Electronic Wastes: A New Paradigm of Environmental Waste Management. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 2018, 82, 3694–3704. [Google Scholar]
  11. Barasarathi, J.; Abdullah, P.S.; Uche, E.C. Application of magnetic carbon nanocomposite from agro-waste for the removal of pollutants from water and wastewater. Chemosphere 2022, 305, 135384. [Google Scholar]
  12. Leonel, A.G.; Mansur, A.A.P.; Mansur, H.S. Advanced Functional Nanostructures based on Magnetic Iron Oxide Nanomaterials for Water Remediation: A Review. Water Res. 2021, 190, 116693. [Google Scholar] [PubMed]
  13. Wang, X.; Chen, X.; Zhou, R.H.; Hu, P.Y.; Huang, K.; Chen, P.P. Filter-Assisted Separation of Multiple Nanomaterials: Mechanism and Application in Atomic/Mass Spectrometry/Fluorescence Label-Free Multimode Bioassays. Anal. Chem. 2021, 93, 3889–3897. [Google Scholar]
  14. Chen, L.; Zhang, X.; Zhang, M.; Zhu, Y.H.; Zhuo, R. Removal of heavy-metal pollutants by white rot fungi: Mechanisms, achievements, and perspectives. J. Clean. Prod. 2022, 354, 131681. [Google Scholar]
  15. Shi, L.; Zhao, X.; Zhong, K.C.; Jia, Q.Y.; Shen, Z.G.; Zou, J.W.; Chen, Y.H. Physiological Mechanism of the Response to Cr(VI) in the Aerobic Denitrifying Ectomycorrhizal Fungus Pisolithus sp.1. J. Hazard. Mater. 2022, 429, 128318. [Google Scholar]
  16. He, N.; Hu, L.; Jiang, C.Y.Z.; Li, M.K. Remediation of Chromium, Zinc, Arsenic, Lead and Antimony Contaminated Acidic Mine Soil Based on Induced Phosphate Precipitation. Sci. Total Environ. 2022, 850, 157995. [Google Scholar] [PubMed]
  17. Liang, J.; Zhang, X.; Li, H.D.; Wen, C.X.; Tian, L.L.; Chen, X.M.; Li, Z. Constructing Two-Dimensional (2D) Heterostructure Channels with Engineered Biomembrane and Graphene for Precise Scandium Sieving. Adv. Mater. 2024, 36, 2404629. [Google Scholar]
  18. Zhang, L.Y.; Zhang, M.C.; Liu, G.P.; Jin, W.Q.; Li, X.Y. Fungal Cell Wall-Graphene Oxide Microcomposite Membrane for Organic Solvent Nanofiltration. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2021, 31, 2100110. [Google Scholar]
  19. Wang, P.; Ye, H.; Yin, Y.X.; Chen, H.; Bian, Y.B.; Wang, Z.R.; Cao, F.F.; Guo, Y.G. Fungi-Enabled Synthesis of Ultrahigh-Surface-Area Porous Carbon. Adv. Mater. 2019, 31, 1805134. [Google Scholar]
  20. Appiah-Ntiamoah, R.; Baye, A.F.; Kim, H. ZnO–ZnFe2O4/Fe3O4/Carbon Nanocomposites for Ultrasensitive and Selective Dopamine Detection. ACS Appl. Nano Mater. 2022, 5, 4754–4766. [Google Scholar]
  21. Wei, X.; Li, X.D.; Tang, L.; Yu, J.F.; Deng, J.Q.; Luo, T.; Liang, J.; Chen, X.W.; Zhou, Y.Y. Exploring the Role of Fe Species from Biochar-iron Composites in the Removal and Long-term Immobilization of SeO42− Against Competing Oxyanions. J. Hazard. Mater. 2021, 418, 126311. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  22. Chidhambaram, N.; Kay, S.J.J.; Priyadharshini, S.; Meenakshi, R.; Sakthivel, P.; Dhanbalan, S.; Shanavas, S.; Kamaraj, S.; Thirumurugan, A. Magnetic nanomaterials as catalysts for syngas production and conversion. Catalysts 2023, 13, 440. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  23. Winkler, R.; Ciria, M.; Ahmad, M.; Plank, H.; Marcuello, C. A review of the current state of magnetic force microscopy to unravel the magnetic properties of nanomaterials applied in biological systems and future directions for quantum technologies. Nanomaterials 2023, 13, 2585. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  24. Huggins, T.M.; Whiteley, J.M.; Love, C.T.; Lee, K.; Lee, S.-H.; Ren, Z.J.; Biffinger, J.C. Controlled Growth of Nanostructured Biotemplates with Cobalt and Nitrogen Codoping as a Binderless Lithium-Ion Battery Anode. ACS Appl. Mater. Inter. 2016, 8, 26868–26877. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  25. Luo, J.W.; Jia, C.; Shen, M.H.; Zhang, S.C.; Zhu, X.D. Enhancement of Adsorption and Energy Storage Capacity of Biomass-based N-doped Porous Carbon via Cyclic Carbothermal Reduction Triggered by Nitrogen Dopants. Carbon 2019, 155, 403–409. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  26. Zhao, Y.; An, H.Z.; Feng, J.; Ren, Y.M.; Ma, J. Impact of Crystal Types of AgFeO Nanoparticles on the Peroxymonosulfate Activation in the Water. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2019, 53, 4500–4510. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  27. Xue, C.; Peng, Y.; Zheng, B.; Fang, Z.; Wang, Y.; Yi, Y. Sodium salt promoted the generation of nano zero valent iron by carbothermal reduction: For activating peroxydisulfate to degrade antibiotic. Bioresour. Technol. 2024, 402, 130755. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  28. Zhang, Z.H.; Yang, W.M.; Cheng, L.S.; Cao, W.Y.; Sain, M.N.; Tan, J.; Wang, A.; Jia, H.B. Carbon Fibers With High Electrical Conductivity: Laser Irradiation of Mesophase Pitch Filaments Obtains High Graphitization Degree. ACS Sustain. Chem. Eng. 2020, 8, 17629–17638. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  29. Rehman, A.; Nazir, G.; Rhee, K.Y.; Park, S.J. Valorization of Orange Peel Waste to Tunable Heteroatom-doped Hydrochar-Derived Microporous Carbons for Selective CO2 Adsorption and Separation. Sci. Total Environ. 2022, 849, 157805. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  30. Yin, Y.; Liu, Q.; Wang, J.; Zhao, Y. Recent insights in synthesis and energy storage applications of porous carbon derived from biomass waste: A review. Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 2022, 47, 39338–39363. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  31. Ghosh, S.; Barg, S.; Jeong, S.M.; Ostrikov, K. Heteroatom-Doped and Oxygen-Functionalized Nanocarbons for High-Performance Supercapacitors. Adv. Energy Mater. 2020, 10, 2001239. [Google Scholar]
  32. Li, Y.X.; Zhang, H.N.; Chen, Y.T.; Huang, L.; Lin, Z.; Cai, Z.W. Core-Shell Structured Magnetic Covalent Organic Framework Nanocomposites for Triclosan and Triclocarban Adsorption. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2019, 11, 22492–22500. [Google Scholar] [PubMed]
  33. Huo, X.; Jia, C.; Shi, S.; Teng, T.; Zhou, S.; Hua, M.; Zhu, X.; Zhang, S.; Xu, Q. One-step synthesis of high-performance N/S co-doped porous carbon material for environmental remediation. Processes 2022, 10, 1359. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  34. Yoo, D.K.; An, H.J.; Khan, N.A.; Hwang, G.T.; Jhung, S.H. Record-high Adsorption Capacities of Polyaniline-derived Porous Carbons for The Removal of Personal Care Products from Water. Chem. Eng. J. 2018, 352, 71–78. [Google Scholar]
  35. Jiang, Y.F.; Zhang, Z.W.; Zhang, Y.G.; Zhou, X.; Wang, L.L.; Yasin, A.; Zhang, L.T. Bioresource Derived Porous Carbon from Cottonseed Hull for Removal of Triclosan and Electrochemical Application. RSC Adv. 2018, 8, 42405–42414. [Google Scholar] [PubMed]
  36. Czech, B.; Konczak, M.; Rakowska, M.; Oleszczuk, P. Engineered Biochars from Organic Wastes for the Adsorption of Diclofenac, Naproxen and Triclosan from Water Systems. J. Clean. Prod. 2021, 288, 125686. [Google Scholar]
  37. Guo, S.; Zou, Z.; Chen, Y.; Long, X.; Liu, M.; Li, X.; Tan, J.; Chen, R. Synergistic effect of hydrogen bonding and π-π interaction for enhanced adsorption of rhodamine B from water using corn straw biochar. Environ. Pollut. 2023, 320, 121060. [Google Scholar]
  38. Zhu, X.D.; Liu, Y.C.; Qian, F.; Zhou, C.; Zhang, S.C.; Chen, J.M. Preparation of Magnetic Porous Carbon from Waste Hydrochar by Simultaneous Activation and Magnetization for Tetracycline Removal. Bioresour. Technol. 2014, 154, 209–214. [Google Scholar]
  39. Liu, Y.C.; Zhu, X.D.; Qian, F.; Zhang, S.C.; Chen, J.M. Magnetic Activated Carbon Prepared from Rice Straw-derived Hydrochar for Triclosan Removal. Rsc. Adv. 2014, 4, 63620–63626. [Google Scholar]
  40. Liu, W.-J.; Tian, K.; He, Y.-R.; Jiang, H.; Yu, H.-Q. High-yield harvest of nanofibers/mesoporous carbon composite by pyrolysis of waste biomass and its application for high durability electrochemical energy storage. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2014, 48, 13951–13959. [Google Scholar]
  41. Liu, W.-J.; Tian, K.; Ling, L.L.; Yu, H.-Q.; Jiang, H. Use of nutrient rich hydrophytes to create N, P-dually doped porous carbon with robust energy storage performance. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2016, 50, 12421–12428. [Google Scholar] [PubMed]
  42. Zhi, M.; Yang, F.; Meng, F.; Li, M.; Manivannan, A.; Wu, N. Effects of Pore Structure on Performance of An Activated-carbon Supercapacitor Electrode Recycled from Scrap Waste Tires. ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2014, 2, 1592–1598. [Google Scholar]
  43. Elmouwahidi, A.; Zapata-Benabithe, Z.; Carrasco-Marín, F.; Moreno-Castilla, C. Activated carbons from KOH-activation of argan (Argania spinosa) seed shells as supercapacitor electrodes. Bioresour. Technol. 2012, 111, 185–190. [Google Scholar] [PubMed]
  44. Subramanian, V.; Luo, C.; Stephan, A.; Nahm, K.; Thomas, S.; Wei, B. Supercapacitors from activated carbon derived from banana fibers. J. Phys. Chem. C 2007, 111, 7527–7531. [Google Scholar]
  45. Yu, M.; Han, Y.; Li, J.; Wang, L. CO2-activated porous carbon derived from cattail biomass for removal of malachite green dye and application as supercapacitors. Chem. Eng. J. 2017, 317, 493–502. [Google Scholar]
  46. Lin, G.; Ma, R.; Zhou, Y.; Liu, Q.; Dong, X.; Wang, J. KOH activation of biomass-derived nitrogen-doped carbons for supercapacitor and electrocatalytic oxygen reduction. Electrochim. Acta 2018, 261, 49–57. [Google Scholar]
  47. Momodu, D.; Madito, M.; Barzegar, F.; Bello, A.; Khaleed, A.; Olaniyan, O.; Dangbegnon, J.; Manyala, N. Activated carbon derived from tree bark biomass with promising material properties for supercapacitors. J. Solid State Electrochem. 2017, 21, 859–872. [Google Scholar]
  48. Cho, H.H.; Huang, H.; Schwab, K. Effects of Solution Chemistry on the Adsorption of Ibuprofen and Triclosan onto Carbon Nanotubes. Langmuir 2011, 27, 12960–12967. [Google Scholar]
  49. Behera, S.K.; Oh, S.Y.; Park, H.S. Sorption of Triclosan onto Activated Carbon, Kaolinite and Montmorillonite: Effects of pH, Ionic Strength, and Humic Acid. J. Hazard Mater. 2010, 179, 684–691. [Google Scholar]
Sustainability 17 03084 sch001
Scheme 1. The recycling and applications of magnetic nanomaterials.
Scheme 1. The recycling and applications of magnetic nanomaterials.
Sustainability 17 03084 sch001
Sustainability 17 03084 g001
Figure 1. (a) XRD patterns of nano-Fe2O3-enriched Neurospora crassa from different concentrations of nano-Fe2O3 in growth medium; (b) photograph for Fe2O3-enriched Neurospora crassa from different concentrations of nano-Fe2O3 in growth medium; (c) SEM images of Fe2O3-enriched Neurospora crassa from 500 mg/L of nano-Fe2O3 in growth medium, where particles within red regions indicate the nano-Fe2O3.
Figure 1. (a) XRD patterns of nano-Fe2O3-enriched Neurospora crassa from different concentrations of nano-Fe2O3 in growth medium; (b) photograph for Fe2O3-enriched Neurospora crassa from different concentrations of nano-Fe2O3 in growth medium; (c) SEM images of Fe2O3-enriched Neurospora crassa from 500 mg/L of nano-Fe2O3 in growth medium, where particles within red regions indicate the nano-Fe2O3.
Sustainability 17 03084 g001
Sustainability 17 03084 g002
Figure 2. (a) Pore size distributions of FePC samples, inset indicates the N2 adsorption and desorption isotherms; (b) correlation between Fe content in FeNC and BET surface area of FePC samples; (c) XRD patterns of unwashed FePC samples; (d) XRD patterns of washed FePC samples; (e) CO release curves during selected FePC samples preparation process; (f) Raman spectra of FePC samples.
Figure 2. (a) Pore size distributions of FePC samples, inset indicates the N2 adsorption and desorption isotherms; (b) correlation between Fe content in FeNC and BET surface area of FePC samples; (c) XRD patterns of unwashed FePC samples; (d) XRD patterns of washed FePC samples; (e) CO release curves during selected FePC samples preparation process; (f) Raman spectra of FePC samples.
Sustainability 17 03084 g002
Sustainability 17 03084 g003
Figure 3. (a) Specific capacitances of FePC samples at different current densities in three-electrode setup; (b) contact angle of FePC-0 sample in aqueous phase; (c) contact angle of Fe-500 sample in aqueous phase; (d) three-dimension fitting between surface area (m2/g), ash content (%) and specific capacitance (F/g). The red circles represented characteristics of different materials. Color variation is typically used to represent the distribution of specific capacitance; (e) long-term cycling stability of FePC-500 sample in three-electrode setup.
Figure 3. (a) Specific capacitances of FePC samples at different current densities in three-electrode setup; (b) contact angle of FePC-0 sample in aqueous phase; (c) contact angle of Fe-500 sample in aqueous phase; (d) three-dimension fitting between surface area (m2/g), ash content (%) and specific capacitance (F/g). The red circles represented characteristics of different materials. Color variation is typically used to represent the distribution of specific capacitance; (e) long-term cycling stability of FePC-500 sample in three-electrode setup.
Sustainability 17 03084 g003
Sustainability 17 03084 g004
Figure 4. (a) Adsorption isotherms of TCS for selected samples in aqueous solution; (b) correlations of the samples between maximum adsorption capacity (qm) and BET surface area; (c) correlations of the samples between maximum adsorption capacity (qm) and Fe content.
Figure 4. (a) Adsorption isotherms of TCS for selected samples in aqueous solution; (b) correlations of the samples between maximum adsorption capacity (qm) and BET surface area; (c) correlations of the samples between maximum adsorption capacity (qm) and Fe content.
Sustainability 17 03084 g004
Table 1. Yield, porosities, ash, and elemental compositions for FePC samples.
Table 1. Yield, porosities, ash, and elemental compositions for FePC samples.
SampleYield
(%)		SBET
(m2/g)		Smic
(m2/g)		Smic/SDFT
(m2/g)		VT
(cm3/g)		Ash
(%)		C
(%)		N
(%)		Fe
(g/kg)		P
(g/kg)
FePC-037.4872.6644.196.20.403.4166.46.450.9803.01
FePC-5037.2935.8649.794.40.444.8265.27.339.6811.4
FePC-10036.51053778.496.10.505.5667.67.3913.411.6
FePC-25035.61060762.694.60.527.3961.77.2119.011.3
FePC-50027.91147100993.70.6111.162.17.0444.87.86
Disclaimer/Publisher’s Note: The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of MDPI and/or the editor(s). MDPI and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content.

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Luo, J.; Yu, F. Cross-Linked Fungal Biotemplate Enables Highly Efficient Nanomaterial Recovery and Reutilization as Porous Carbon. Sustainability 2025, 17, 3084. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17073084

AMA Style

Luo J, Yu F. Cross-Linked Fungal Biotemplate Enables Highly Efficient Nanomaterial Recovery and Reutilization as Porous Carbon. Sustainability. 2025; 17(7):3084. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17073084

Chicago/Turabian Style

Luo, Jiewen, and Fengbo Yu. 2025. "Cross-Linked Fungal Biotemplate Enables Highly Efficient Nanomaterial Recovery and Reutilization as Porous Carbon" Sustainability 17, no. 7: 3084. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17073084

APA Style

Luo, J., & Yu, F. (2025). Cross-Linked Fungal Biotemplate Enables Highly Efficient Nanomaterial Recovery and Reutilization as Porous Carbon. Sustainability, 17(7), 3084. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17073084

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Metrics

Back to TopTop