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Advanced Materials for Environmental Remediation: Design and Applications

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Materials Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2025 | Viewed by 2357

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
School of Human Settlements and Civil Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Interests: catalytic; advanced oxidation process; NO; antibiotics

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Guest Editor
Department of Environmental Science, School of Geography and Tourism, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an 710119, China
Interests: advanced oxidation processes; emerging contaminants; dissolved organic matter; disinfection byproducts; photolysis; catalysts; toxicity

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Environmental pollution is a pressing global challenge that necessitates the development of efficient and sustainable solutions. Advanced materials play a pivotal role in addressing this issue by offering innovative strategies for environmental remediation. This Special Issue aims to showcase the latest advancements in the design and application of advanced materials for environmental cleanup, with a focus on their unique properties, synthesis techniques, and real-world impact.

The Special Issue welcomes research articles, review papers, and case studies that explore the use of advanced materials, including, but not limited to, nanomaterials, biomaterials, porous materials, and composites, in a wide range of environmental remediation applications. These include water and air purification, soil remediation, waste management, and pollution control. Contributions should delve into the design principles, performance optimization, and environmental fate of these materials, as well as their potential for commercialization and large-scale deployment.

The goal of this Special Issue is to promote the widespread adoption of these advanced materials and technologies.

Dr. Meijuan Chen
Dr. Yuru Wang
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.

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 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

  • advanced materials
  • environmental remediation
  • nanomaterials
  • biomaterials
  • porous materials
  • composites
  • water purification
  • air purification
  • soil remediation

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

28 pages, 11351 KiB  
Article
g-C3N4 Modified with Metal Sulfides for Visible-Light-Driven Photocatalytic Degradation of Organic Pollutants
by Shoaib Mukhtar, Erzsébet Szabó-Bárdos, Csilla Őze, Tatjána Juzsakova, Kornél Rácz, Miklós Németh and Ottó Horváth
Molecules 2025, 30(2), 253; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules30020253 - 10 Jan 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 955
Abstract
Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) proved to be a promising semiconductor for the photocatalytic degradation of various organic pollutants. However, its efficacy is limited by a fast electron hole recombination, a restricted quantity of active sites, and a modest absorption [...] Read more.
Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) proved to be a promising semiconductor for the photocatalytic degradation of various organic pollutants. However, its efficacy is limited by a fast electron hole recombination, a restricted quantity of active sites, and a modest absorption in the visible range. To overcome these limitations, g-C3N4-Bi2S3 and g-C3N4-ZnS composites were effectively produced utilizing a starch-assisted technique. The findings from FT-IR, XRD, EDX, XPS, BET, SEM, and TEM demonstrated that the enhanced photocatalytic activity of g-C3N4-Bi2S3 and g-C3N4-ZnS composites was primarily due to their improved photocarrier separation and transfer rates. The photocatalyst facilitated the aerobic photocatalytic degradation of colorless contaminants such as coumarin and para-nitrophenol (4-NP). For the decomposition of 4-NP, g-C3N4-Bi2S3 exhibited a maximum efficiency of 90.86% in UV light and 16.78% in visible light, with rate constants of 0.29 h1 and 0.016 h1, respectively. In contrast, g-C3N4-ZnS demonstrated a maximum efficiency of 100% in UV light and 15.1% in visible light, with rate constants of 0.57 h1 and 0.018 h1, respectively. The bioinspired synthesis combined with the modification with metal sulfides proved to considerably enhance the photocatalytic activity of g-C3N4, increasing its potential for practical applicability in environmentally friendly water treatment systems for the efficient removal of recalcitrant organic contaminants. Full article
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28 pages, 8760 KiB  
Article
Revitalization of Soil Contaminated by Petroleum Products Using Materials That Improve the Physicochemical and Biochemical Properties of the Soil
by Jadwiga Wyszkowska, Agata Borowik, Magdalena Zaborowska and Jan Kucharski
Molecules 2024, 29(24), 5838; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29245838 - 11 Dec 2024
Viewed by 898
Abstract
One of the key challenges in environmental protection is the reclamation of soils degraded by organic pollutants. Effective revitalization of such soils can contribute to improving the climate and the quality of feed and food, mainly by eliminating harmful substances from the food [...] Read more.
One of the key challenges in environmental protection is the reclamation of soils degraded by organic pollutants. Effective revitalization of such soils can contribute to improving the climate and the quality of feed and food, mainly by eliminating harmful substances from the food chain and by cultivating plants for energy purposes. To this end, research was carried out using two sorbents, vermiculite and agrobasalt, to detoxify soils contaminated with diesel oil and unleaded gasoline, using maize as an energy crop. The research was carried out in a pot experiment. The level of soil contamination with petroleum products was set at 8 cm3 and 16 cm3 kg−1 d.m. of soil, and the dose of the revitalizing substances, i.e., vermiculite and agrobasalt, was set at 10 g kg−1 of soil. Their effect was compared with uncontaminated soil and soil without sorbents. The obtained research results prove that both diesel oil and gasoline disrupt the growth and development of Zea mays. Diesel oil destabilized plant development more than gasoline. Both products distorted the activity of soil oxidoreductases and hydrolases, with diesel oil stimulating and gasoline inhibiting. The applied sorbents proved to be useful in the soil revitalization process, as they reduced the negative effects of pollutants on Zea mays, increased the activity of soil enzymes, enhanced the value of the biochemical soil quality indicator (BA), and improved the cation exchange capacity (CEC), the sum of exchangeable base cations (EBC), pH, and the Corg content. Agrobasalt demonstrated a greater potential for improving soil physicochemical properties, inducing an average increase in CEC and EBC values of 12% and 23%, respectively, in soil under G pressure, and by 16% and 25% in DO-contaminated soil. Full article
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