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Applications of Nanoparticles in the Environmental Sciences: 2nd Edition

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Nanotechnology and Applied Nanosciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 October 2026 | Viewed by 705

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences, University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville, TX 78521, USA
Interests: nanomaterials; electrocatalysis; catalysis; environmental chemistry; LIBS; nanotoxicity
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley, Edinburg, TX 78539, USA
Interests: nanomaterials; LIBs; catalysis; nanotoxicity; electrocatalysis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The application of nanomaterials continues to grow across multiple disciplines. There are many potential benefits from their use as well as numerous potential risks associated with their applications.

These benefits may come from the potential applications in environmental remediation, important catalysis environmental reactions (such as enhanced advanced oxidation processes or photocatalysis), energy storage (battery technology or capacitor technology), energy production, and catalysis, as well as the application of nano-fertilizers and nano-based cleaning technologies, among others. The negative effects arise from the use of nanomaterials and are typically caused by the accumulation of nanoparticles in the environment and within various organisms released in various environments.

This Special Issue is intended to look at the potential environmental advantages from the use of nanoparticles in all areas of environmental sciences as well as the fate and/or transport of these materials in the environment.

Prof. Dr. Jason G. Parsons
Dr. Mataz Alcoutlabi
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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. Applied Sciences 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 2400 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

  • nanotechnology
  • nanoparticles
  • environmental chemistry
  • nanotechnology-based energy storage
  • environmentally relevant catalysis

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

20 pages, 5679 KB  
Article
Study on the Cytotoxicity of Silver Nanoparticles in the Ligninolytic Fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium
by Mihaela Racuciu, Lacramioara Oprica, Catalina Radu, Larisa Popescu-Lipan, Gabriel Ababei, Daniela Pricop, Laura Ursu, Daniel Timpu, Silvestru-Bogdanel Munteanu, Nicoleta Lupu and Dorina Creanga
Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(6), 3085; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16063085 - 23 Mar 2026
Viewed by 350
Abstract
Silver nanoparticles (AgNP), which have a wide range of applications in technical and biological fields, are produced in hundreds of tons annually and are eventually released into water, air, and soil. In this study, the effects of AgNPs on Phanerochaete chrysosporium, a [...] Read more.
Silver nanoparticles (AgNP), which have a wide range of applications in technical and biological fields, are produced in hundreds of tons annually and are eventually released into water, air, and soil. In this study, the effects of AgNPs on Phanerochaete chrysosporium, a white-rot fungus that plays a key role in wood waste degradation, were investigated. The AgNP were synthesized at high temperature with gallic acid under different pH conditions: near-neutral pH (~7.5), notation AgNP@GA-1, and alkaline pH (~10.5), notation AgNP@GA-2, focusing on their ability to cope with oxidative stress. The samples were characterized by fine granularity (particle diameter of 12 and 11 nm, respectively), specific plasmonic features (characteristic band at 425 and 408 nm), hydrodynamic diameter of 93 and 133 nm, respectively, and Zeta potential of −34 to −44 mV, which gave them stability over a period of three months. The fungal cultures exposed to AgNP concentrations of 40–100 µL/mL (approximately 4–11 µg/mL) presented superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, which increased by approximately 45% at 40 µL/mL for AgNP@GA-1 after 7 days, whereas AgNP@GA-2 decreased SOD activity by up to 40% at 60 µL/mL. Both AgNP types strongly stimulated catalase (CAT) biosynthesis, with two- to three-fold increased activity on the 7th day at 100 µL/mL. CAT activity remained significantly elevated for AgNP@GA-1 on the 14th day at 60–80 µL/mL, whereas for AgNP@GA-2 it decreased by 40–60% compared with the control. Variations in malondialdehyde content indicated moderate lipid peroxidation, suggesting relatively low cytotoxic effects on fungal cells. Overall, the results demonstrate that P. chrysosporium exhibits adaptive biochemical responses to AgNP-induced oxidative stress while maintaining metabolic functionality, highlighting the potential compatibility of AgNPs with white-rot fungi involved in environmental wood waste biodegradation processes. Full article
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