Special Issue "Enzyme Immobilization and Their Interaction with Nano Materials for Sustainable Application"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 December 2021.

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Shahid Hussain
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Guest Editor
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Jiangsu University, Jiangsu, China
Interests: MOS–MOF–MXene nanomaterials; gas sensors; electrochemical supercapacitors; Li–S batteries
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals
Dr. Awais Ahmad
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry, University of Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan
Interests: nanomaterials; photocatalysis; energy applicatons; coated composite materials; biosensor; electrochemical sensor; photocatalysis
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals
Dr. Shagufta Kamal
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of BioChemistry, GC University, Faisalabad, Pakistan
Interests: enzyme immobilization; nanomaterials; antimicrobial activity; docking study

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Due to the decrease in water availability from 299 m³ per capita in 1997 to 100 m³ per capita in 2006, Pakistan is considered among the 36 countries with the greatest water scarcity. Exploration of some alternative water resources is, therefore, a current pressing need; consequently, the use of wastewater for irrigation has attracted attention. In Pakistan, domestic and industrial wastewaters are discharged either directly to natural drains in a nearby field or to the sewerage system. This water remains untreated except in certain big cities of Pakistan like Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Faisalabad and Sargodha. These treatment plants can treat small proportions of wastewater, leaving behind micropollutants in treated water. Moreover, anaerobic treatment plants act as major source of greenhouse gases. Irrigation with wastewater is valuable for farmers because of its reliability, nutrient contents, and positive effect on monthly income, household, agriculture land values, and employment. However, there are certain ill effects associated with the use of wastewater, such as health-related risks due to human food chain contamination and alteration of chemical and physical properties of soils, which are of prodigious concern. Therefore, the enhanced remediation of such chemicals is receiving increasing interest, and tertiary wastewater treatment is now a requirement of the present day. This Special Issue is focused on the efficient removal of micropollutants from wastewater which, at the same time, also addresses greenhouse gas emissions. Specifically, this may include designs such as involving an oxidative enzyme loaded polydimethyl siloxane (PS) polyethylene glycol hydrogel (PEG) membranes and crosslinked enzyme aggregate-based reactors.

Prof. Dr. Shahid Hussain
Dr. Awais Ahmad
Dr. Shagufta Kamal
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • nanomaterials
  • enzyme immobilization
  • antimicrobial study
  • sustainable applications
  • docking
  • wastewater treatment

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

Article
Extraction and Chemical Characterization of Humic Acid from Nitric Acid Treated Lignite and Bituminous Coal Samples
Sustainability 2021, 13(16), 8969; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13168969 - 11 Aug 2021
Viewed by 323
Abstract
Currently, conversion of coal into alternative fuel and non-fuel valuable products is in demand and growing interest. In the present study, humic acid was extracted from two different ranks of coal, i.e., low rank and high rank (lignite and bituminous), through chemical pretreatment [...] Read more.
Currently, conversion of coal into alternative fuel and non-fuel valuable products is in demand and growing interest. In the present study, humic acid was extracted from two different ranks of coal, i.e., low rank and high rank (lignite and bituminous), through chemical pretreatment by nitric acid. Samples of lignite and bituminous coal were subjected to nitric acid oxidation followed by extraction using KOH and NaOH gravimetric techniques. The chemical pretreatment of both types of coal led to enhanced yields of humic acid from 21.15% to 57.8% for lignite low-rank coal and 11.6% to 49.6% bituminous high rank coal. The derived humic acid from native coal and nitric acid treated coal was analyzed using elemental analysis, E4/E6 ratio of absorbance at 465 nm and 665 nm using UV-Visible spectrophotometry and Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy FTIR. The chemical characteristics of coal treated with nitric acid have shown increased molecular weight and improved aromaticity with more oxygen and nitrogen and lower C, H, and sulphur content. The E4/E6 ratio of nitric acid-treated low and high ranks of coal was high. The FTIR spectroscopic data of nitric acid-treated lignite coal indicates an intensive peak of carboxyl group at 2981.84 cm−1, while bituminous coal was shown in cooperation with the N-H group at 2923.04 cm−1. SEM was performed to detect the morphological changes that happen after producing humic acid from HNO3 treatment and native coal. The humic acid produced from HNO3 treated coal had shown clear morphological changes and some deformations on the surface. SEM-EDS detected the major elements, such as nitrogen, in treated humic acid that were absent in raw coal humic acid. Hence, the produced humic acid through HNO3 oxidation showed a more significant number of humic materials with improved efficiency as compared to native coal. This obtained humic acid can be made bioactive for agriculture purposes, i.e., for soil enrichment and improvement in growth conditions of plants and development of green energy solutions. Full article
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