Special Issue "Application of Catalysis in Wastewater Treatment"

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Wastewater Treatment and Reuse".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 May 2023 | Viewed by 1585

Special Issue Editor

Department of Chemistry, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
Interests: nanomaterials; nanocatalysts; environmental remediation; energy production; characterization of nanomaterials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The growing demand for clean water and the increasing contamination of water resources by toxic contaminants have motivated innovations in water and wastewater treatment and environmental remediation areas for the removal of recalcitrant contaminants. Some biological, chemical and physical techniques are used to acquire high-quality effluents in wastewater treatment. Nevertheless, these techniques have some restrictions related to the treatment efficiency, inactivation by toxic pollutants, high energy and cost requirements, production of secondary sludge, etc. Catalytic treatment of polluted water is considered a promising alternative for the removal of aqueous organic contaminants. Heterogeneous catalytic technologies involving the production of different reactive species have recently emerged with capabilities to convert organic contaminants in aqueous media. The contaminants falling under this category include detergents, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, microplastics, dyes, personal care products, plasticizers, illicit drugs, disinfection byproducts, endocrine-disrupting compounds, artificial sweeteners, estrogens, anticorrosives, etc. This Special Issue will mainly consider novel research works and reviews focusing on the recent trends and progress in the development of heterogeneous catalytic processes for water treatment through modifications of system designs and fabrication of novel materials. Different catalytic technologies including photo/electrochemical techniques, photocatalysis, sonocatalysis, Fenton and Fenton-like processes, catalytic ozonation, catalysis-membrane-integrated processes, self-purifying methods with reduced resource and energy consumption, persulfate activation, novel activation methods, modeling and simulation, etc. are covered as effective techniques for the removal of pollutants in this Special Issue. Investigations on the synthesis and use of advanced nanomaterials and economic analyses of developing techniques for environmental remediation are also welcomed.

Dr. Peyman Gholami
Guest Editor

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.

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. Water 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 2200 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

  • water treatment
  • water quality
  • removal of pollutants
  • advanced oxidation processes
  • catalysis
  • photocatalysis
  • Fenton-based processes
  • sonocatalysis
  • catalytic ozonation
  • nanomaterials
  • refractory organic pollutants
  • photodegradation
  • reactive species
  • catalytic materials
  • catalysis-membrane-integrated processes
  • catalytic reactor systems
  • hybrid processes (photo-electrocatalysis, sono-photocatalysis, photo-electro-Fenton, photo-Fenton, electro-Fenton, photocatalytic-Fenton)
  • modeling and kinetics

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

Article
Facile Green Synthesis of ZnO NPs and Plasmonic Ag-Supported ZnO Nanocomposite for Photocatalytic Degradation of Methylene Blue
Water 2023, 15(3), 384; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15030384 - 17 Jan 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 701
Abstract
Removing organic pollutants, textile dyes, and pharmaceutical wastes from the water bodies has become an essential requirement for a safe environment. Therefore, the present study aimed to prepare semiconductor zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) and plasmonic Ag-supported ZnO nanocomposite (ZnO–Ag) using an environmentally [...] Read more.
Removing organic pollutants, textile dyes, and pharmaceutical wastes from the water bodies has become an essential requirement for a safe environment. Therefore, the present study aimed to prepare semiconductor zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) and plasmonic Ag-supported ZnO nanocomposite (ZnO–Ag) using an environmentally friendly bio-approach as an alternative to hazardous synthesis approaches. ZnO NPs and ZnO–Ag nanocomposite were characterized by using UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV–DRS) (the Ag-supported ZnO nanocomposite exhibited an absorption band between 450–550 nm, attributed to the Ag NPs surface plasmon resonance (SPR)), Photoluminescence (PL) spectral investigation, which revealed the PL emission intensity of ZnO–Ag NPs was lower than pure ZnO NPs, describing an extended electron-hole pair (e--h+) lifespan of photogenerated charge carriers, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), FT-Raman, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses were deduced. In addition, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) were performed and further ascertained the successful biosynthesis and thermally stable ZnO Nps and ZnO–Ag nanocomposite. The as-prepared ZnO–Ag nanocomposite displayed increased photocatalytic characteristics due to the decline in the bandgap energy from 3.02 eV (ZnO NPs) to 2.90 eV (ZnO–Ag nanocomposite). The photocatalytic activity of the developed nanocomposite for the degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye, a primary textile industry released water-pollutant, was conducted under UV light irradiation. Meanwhile, the maximum % degradation of MB dye molecules was attained by 98.0 % after 60 min exposure of UV-light irradiation. Increased photocatalytic activity of ZnO–Ag nanocomposites and a faster rate of MB degradation were achieved by the deposition of plasmonic Ag NPs and the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect possessed by Ag NPs. The primary oxidative route that resulted in MB degradation was the production of hydroxyl radicals (OH). The SPR effect of the photocatalyst induced the synergistic enhancement of the optical response and separation of the photo-induced charge carriers. The combined study gives comprehensive information and directions for future research on noble metal-modified nanocatalysts for direct applications in the photocatalytic degradation of textile and organic wastes in water. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of Catalysis in Wastewater Treatment)
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Article
Development of ZnFeCe Layered Double Hydroxide Incorporated Thin Film Nanocomposite Membrane with Enhanced Separation Performance and Antibacterial Properties
Water 2023, 15(2), 264; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15020264 - 08 Jan 2023
Viewed by 614
Abstract
Developing thin-film nanocomposite (TFN) membranes by incorporating nanomaterials into the selective polyamide (PA) layer is an effective strategy to improve separation and antibacterial properties. In this study, TFN nanofiltration (NF) membranes were fabricated by interfacial polymerization of piperazine (PIP) and trimesoyl chloride (TMC) [...] Read more.
Developing thin-film nanocomposite (TFN) membranes by incorporating nanomaterials into the selective polyamide (PA) layer is an effective strategy to improve separation and antibacterial properties. In this study, TFN nanofiltration (NF) membranes were fabricated by interfacial polymerization of piperazine (PIP) and trimesoyl chloride (TMC) with the addition of Zinc-Iron-Cerium (ZnFeCe) layered double hydroxide (LDH). The improved surface hydrophilicity of TFN membranes was investigated by water contact angle analyses and pure water flux measurements. Successful production of the PA layer on the membrane surface was determined by Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) analysis. Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) images showed that the addition of LDH into the membrane resulted in a smoother surface. The scanning electron microscope and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDS) mapping of TFN membrane proved the presence of Ce, Fe, and Zn elements, indicating the successful addition of LDH nanoparticles on the membrane surface. TFN 3 membrane was characterized with the highest flux resulting in 161% flux enhancement compared to the pristine thin film composite (TFC) membrane. All membranes showed great rejection performances (with a rejection higher than 95% and 88% for Na2SO4 and MgSO4, respectively) for divalent ions. Additionally, TFN membranes exhibited excellent antibacterial and self-cleaning properties compared to the pristine TFC membrane. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of Catalysis in Wastewater Treatment)
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