Topical Collection "Feature Paper Collection in Section 'Materials in Separation Science'"

A topical collection in Separations (ISSN 2297-8739). This collection belongs to the section "Materials in Separation Science".

Viewed by 2012

Editors

Department of Chemistry, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece
Interests: sample preparation; extraction and microextraction; HPLC; nanomaterials for separation processes; environmental analysis; environmental remediation; sorbent-based remediation; separation/extraction of nanomaterials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
1. Department of Chemistry, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece
2. Institute of Materials Science and Computing, University Research Center of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece
Interests: crystal structure; metal organic framework; materials; single crystal X-ray diffraction; material characterization; structure determination; Inorganic materials; hydrothermal synthesis; solid state synthesis; coordination chemistry

Topical Collection Information

Dear Colleagues,

It is our pleasure to invite you to submit an article to the Topical Collection “Materials for Environmental Separations” launched by Separations.

This Topical Collection aims to gather high-quality original research and critical review articles on new materials or novel uses of micro-/nanomaterials for separations for environmental applications. Such applications include, but are not limited to, water purification, soil/sediment remediation, wastewater treatment, recovery of precious metals and nanomaterials, removal of viruses/bacteria, sorption of toxic gases, oil removal, etc. The articles should demonstrate the practical utilization of the materials at least in proof-of-concept demonstrations or lab-scale investigations and ideally in pilot testing, case studies, or large-scale applications. Contributions related to highly selective sorbents, broad-spectrum sorbents with multifunctional sorption properties, nanosorbents supported onto bulk supports, stand-alone separation techniques, and sorbent-based techniques suitable for the uptake of nanoparticles and micro-/nanoplastics, are particularly encouraged. 

The Topical Collection also welcomes review papers on timely topics that provide a critical evaluation of the state of the art in this specific field, discuss current challenges, and focus on future perspectives for further development. Short communications reporting preliminary but promising results are also within the scope of the Topical Collection. All manuscripts considered for publication will undergo a peer-review process by experts in the field to ensure the high quality of published papers.

Dr. Dimosthenis Giokas
Dr. Manolis Manos
Collection 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 collection 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. Separations is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2000 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

  • micro-/nanomaterials
  • environmental restoration
  • chemical and biological pollution
  • water and wastewater treatment
  • removal of emerging pollutants
  • selective sorbents
  • broad-spectrum sorbents
  • supported sorbents

Published Papers (2 papers)

2023

Jump to: 2022

Article
Development of a New Method to Estimate the Water Purification Efficiency of Bulk-Supported Nanosorbents under Realistic Conditions
Separations 2023, 10(2), 140; https://doi.org/10.3390/separations10020140 - 18 Feb 2023
Viewed by 686
Abstract
The direct use of nanosorbents for water purification is limited due to their aggregation and the lack of techniques for their recovery from natural waters. To overcome these problems, the affixation of nanomaterials onto bulk, non-mobile supports has been proposed. However, a method [...] Read more.
The direct use of nanosorbents for water purification is limited due to their aggregation and the lack of techniques for their recovery from natural waters. To overcome these problems, the affixation of nanomaterials onto bulk, non-mobile supports has been proposed. However, a method to simulate the efficiency of these sorbents under realistic conditions is still not available. To address this need, this work describes a method for evaluating the sorption efficiency of nanosorbent materials incorporated on bulk supports under non-equilibrium conditions. The method combines the principles of passive sampling, an environmental monitoring technique that is based on passive diffusion of dissolved contaminants from water to a sorbent, with batch sorption experiments that measure sorption under equilibrium conditions, to determine the parameters associated with water purification. These parameters are the maximum sorption capacity of the sorbent and the sampling rate, which is the volume of contaminated water treated per unit of time. From these variables, the deployment time of the sorbent until reaching saturation is proposed as an alternative indicator of sorbent efficiency. As proof-of-principle, the removal of oxyanions from a Zr-metal-organic framework (MOR−1) immobilized on cotton textiles was investigated. The results show that the sorption capacity under passive diffusion uptake conditions, is approximately 20 mg/g for As(VI) and 36 mg/g Se(IV), which is 10 to 30 times lower compared to that determined in batch sorption studies, indicating that conventional equilibrium sorption overestimates the efficiency of the sorbents under realistic conditions. The application of the method to a worst-case scenario, involving the severe contamination of freshwaters with arsenate species, is also demonstrated. Full article
Show Figures

Graphical abstract

2022

Jump to: 2023

Article
Elaboration of Highly Modified Stainless Steel/Lead Dioxide Anodes for Enhanced Electrochemical Degradation of Ampicillin in Water
Separations 2023, 10(1), 5; https://doi.org/10.3390/separations10010005 - 22 Dec 2022
Viewed by 1100
Abstract
Lead dioxide-based electrodes have shown a great performance in the electrochemical treatment of organic wastewater. In the present study, modified PbO2 anodes supported on stainless steel (SS) with a titanium oxide interlayer such as SS/TiO2/PbO2 and SS/TiO2/PbO [...] Read more.
Lead dioxide-based electrodes have shown a great performance in the electrochemical treatment of organic wastewater. In the present study, modified PbO2 anodes supported on stainless steel (SS) with a titanium oxide interlayer such as SS/TiO2/PbO2 and SS/TiO2/PbO2-10% Boron (B) were prepared by the sol–gel spin-coating technique. The morphological and structural properties of the prepared electrodes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). It was found that the SS/TiO2/PbO2-10% B anode led to a rougher active surface, larger specific surface area, and therefore stronger ability to generate powerful oxidizing agents. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements showed that the modified PbO2 anodes displayed a lower charge transfer resistance Rct. The influence of the introduction of a TiO2 intermediate layer and the boron doping of a PbO2 active surface layer on the electrochemical degradation of ampicillin (AMP) antibiotic have been investigated by chemical oxygen demand measurements and HPLC analysis. Although HPLC analysis showed that the degradation process of AMP with SS/PbO2 was slightly faster than the modified PbO2 anodes, the results revealed that SS/TiO2/PbO2-10%B was the most efficient and economical anode toward the pollutant degradation due to its physico-chemical properties. At the end of the electrolysis, the chemical oxygen demand (COD), the average current efficiency (ACE) and the energy consumption (EC) reached, respectively, 69.23%, 60.30% and 0.056 kWh (g COD)−1, making SS/TiO2/PbO2-10%B a promising anode for the degradation of ampicillin antibiotic in aqueous solutions. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop