Applications of Nanocomposites in the Adsorption and Degradation of Pollutants

A special issue of Nanomaterials (ISSN 2079-4991). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Nanoscience and Nanotechnology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 March 2026) | Viewed by 1215

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
College of Resources and Environment, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China
Interests: porous materials; pollutants removal; graphene oxide; wastewater treatment; nano minerals; nanotubes
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Porous nano-mineral materials have unique potential applications in electronics, optics, and catalysis due to their porous structure, high chemical stability, and simple processing requirements. Porous nano-materials are being used to improve the quality of environments due to their efficient adsorption properties, controllability, surface activity, and environmental friendliness. They not only adsorb pollutants but can also be utilized for catalysis, separation, energy storage, and other applications.

According to previous reports, the porous nano-mineral materials that have a wide range of effects include alginate sodium/montmorillonite composite beads, halloysite, hydrotalcite, etc. The limited large-scale application of some of these high-performance natural nano-minerals is due to their composition defects, relatively low surface activity, small reserves, and scattered distribution. Synthetic or modified nano-mineral materials enable us to regulate the composition, structure, and morphology of mineral materials, optimize the performance of nano-mineral materials, and avoid the limitations of scarce natural nano-mineral reserves and their distribution.

In terms of current water pollution treatment technologies, adsorption, membrane technology, biological treatments, and chemical precipitation are those most often used to remove target pollutants. Precipitation technology relies on the redissolution phenomenon. The quality of the effluent after using membrane technology is restricted by the membrane’s pollution and other factors. Biological treatments take a long time and lead to the accumulation of toxic biomasses. In contrast, the adsorption method has low selectivity and can be applied to a wide range of target pollutants.

The research interests of this Special Issue on the applications of porous nanomaterials in pollutant removal include, but are not limited to, the following: natural clay minerals; organic and inorganic modifications, including modifications with biochar; and the use of nanomaterials in the removal of a wide range of water pollutants (both inorganic and organic), including contaminants of emerging concern, from the environment.

Prof. Dr. Po-Hsiang Chang
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • porous materials
  • pollutant removal
  • graphene oxide
  • nano-minerals
  • natural clay minerals

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

13 pages, 3627 KB  
Article
Ion-Exchanged Beta-Based Cobalt Catalyst for Efficient Degradation of Aqueous Dye Acid Orange II
by En Fu, Xiang Liao, Chun He, Shaodan Xu and Huanxuan Li
Nanomaterials 2025, 15(21), 1630; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano15211630 - 26 Oct 2025
Viewed by 811
Abstract
A highly active Co/Beta catalyst was prepared via ion-exchange method, in which sodium cations in the beta zeolite framework were replaced by cobalt ions using an aqueous cobalt nitrate solution. Based on XRD, SEM, TEM, XPS, and nitrogen adsorption–desorption analyses, it was confirmed [...] Read more.
A highly active Co/Beta catalyst was prepared via ion-exchange method, in which sodium cations in the beta zeolite framework were replaced by cobalt ions using an aqueous cobalt nitrate solution. Based on XRD, SEM, TEM, XPS, and nitrogen adsorption–desorption analyses, it was confirmed that cobalt species successfully took the place of sodium ions in beta zeolite, while the cobalt species diffused with a uniform dispersion. Strong electronic coupling between cobalt species and zeolite framework oxygen stabilizes Co2+ sites in the material. The catalysts perform high efficiency in dye Acid Orange II (AO7) degradation reactions, which gives more than 99.5% removal efficiency at room temperature and initial pH within 10 min under low catalyst dosage. The advantages of the Co/Beta catalyst are reasonably attributed to its maximized metal−zeolite synergistic efficiency. Full article
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