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This paper investigates the effect of seashell (SS) powders of 75 µm size, reinforced in multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT)-added nylon 66 polymer composite, by studying its mechanical and thermal properties for suitable application in the automotive industry. Seashells were collected from the seashores and the mechanical ball milling method is employed to ground the SSs into powders using a sieve machine, and the desired particulate size of 75 µm is obtained. These particulate SSs are reinforced in the matrix of nylon 66 in different proportions, viz., 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15% by weight along with 1 wt.% of MWCNTs. Twin-screw extruder and injection molding are employed to prepare the testing specimens. Mechanical and thermal tests were carried out as per ASTM standards. From the mechanical and thermal analyses, it is observed that tensile strength and coefficient of linear thermal expansion decrease with an increase in SS content, whereas flexural strength, shore hardness, impact strength, Vicat softening point, and heat deflection temperature rise with higher wt.% of SSs. This is owing to the thermoplastic’s decreased flexibility, which increases its resilience to deflection and load and its high thermal stability. The added MWCNTs improved the bonding strength and mechanical properties due to their higher surface area-to-volume ratio.

The reuse of electro-coagulated sludge as an adsorbent for Cr(VI) ion reduction was investigated in this study. Electro-coagulated sludge was obtained during the removal of citric acid wastewater by the electrocoagulation process. The following parameters were optimized for Cr(VI) reduction: pH (5–7), initial Cr(VI) concentration (10–50 mg/L), contact time (10–45 min), and adsorbent dosage (0.5–1.5 g/L). Cr(VI) reduction optimization reduction experimental sets were designed using response surface design. Cr(VI) reduction optimization results 97.0% removal efficiency and 15.1 mg/g adsorption capacity were obtained at pH 5.0, 1.5 g/L electro-coagulated Fe 3 O 4 sludge, 10 mg/L initial Cr(VI) concentration and 45 min reaction time. According to the isotherm results, the experimental data are compatible with the Freundlich isotherm model, and since it is defined by the pseudo-second order model emphasizes that the driving forces of the Cr(VI) reduction process are rapid transfer of Cr(VI) to the adsorbent surface. The reusability of the adsorbent was investigated and Cr(VI) reduction was achieved at a high rate even in the 5th cycle. All these results clearly show that electro-coagulated Fe 3 O 4 sludge is an effective, inexpensive adsorbent for Cr(VI) removal from wastewater.

To prevent water scarcity, wastewater must be discharged to the surface or groundwater after being treated. Another method is to reuse wastewater in some areas after treatment and evaluate it as much as possible. In this study, it is aimed to recover and reuse the caustic (sodium hydroxide, NaOH) used in the recycling of plastic bottles from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) washing wastewater. Chemical substances used in the industry will be significantly reduced with chemical recovery from wastewater. Ultrafiltration (UP150) and nanofiltration (NP010 and NP030) membranes were used for this purpose in our study. Before using nanofiltration membranes, pre-treatment was performed with coagulation-flocculation process to reduce the pollutant accumulation on the membranes. Different coagulants and flocculants were used to find suitable coagulants and flocculants in pre-treatment. The pre-treated wastewater using aluminum oxide, which supplied the highest chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal (76.0%), was used in a dead-end filtration system to be filtered through NP010 and NP030 membranes at different pressures (10–30 bar). In the same filtration system, raw wastewater was filtered through a UP150 membrane. Among these treatment scenarios, the best method that could remove pollutants and provide NaOH recovery was selected. After each treatment, pH, conductivity, COD, and NaOH analyses were performed. The maximum NaOH recovery (98.6%) was obtained with the UP150 membrane at 5 bar.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important non-coding, single-stranded RNAs possessing crucial regulating roles in human body. Therefore, miRNAs have received extensive attention from various disciplines as the aberrant expression of miRNAs are tightly related to different types of diseases. Furthermore, the exceptional stability of miRNAs has presented them as biomarker with high specificity and sensitivity. However, small size, high sequence similarity, low abundance of miRNAs impose difficulty in their detection. Hence, it is of utmost importance to develop accurate and sensitive method for miRNA biosensing. Electrochemical biosensors have been demonstrated as promising solution for miRNA detection as they are highly sensitive, facile, and low-cost with ease of miniaturization. The incorporation of nanomaterials to electrochemical biosensor offers excellent prospects for converting biological recognition events to electronic signal for the development of biosensing platform with desired sensing properties due to their unique properties. This review introduces the signal amplification strategies employed in miRNA electrochemical biosensor and presents the feasibility of different strategies. The recent advances in nanomaterial-based electrochemical biosensor for the detection of miRNA were also discussed and summarized based on different types of miRNAs, opening new approaches in biological analysis and early disease diagnosis. Lastly, the challenges and future prospects are discussed.

The experimental investigation was meant to investigate the effect of water depth in the basin, the water temperature at the inlet of solar still, and adding circular fins to the pyramid solar still on freshwater output. The investigation was divided into three sections. The first area of research is to study effect of increasing water depth in the solar still, which ranged from 2 to 6 cm, second section concentrated on varying the inflow water temperature from 30 to 50ºC, and third section investigated the influence of incorporating circular fins into the solar still basin on the water output and quality. The experimental findings showed that basin depth considerably impacts freshwater flow. The highest significant difference, 38%, was recorded by changing the water level in the basin from 2 to 6 cm. Freshwater yielded the most at a depth of 2 cm, totalling 1250.3 mL, followed by 1046 mL at a depth of 3 cm. A water depth of 4 cm produced 999 mL, whereas a water depth of 5 cm made 911 mL. The lowest production occurred at a water depth of 6 cm, producing 732 mL; furthermore, including fins at the bottom increased productivity by 8.2%. Elevating the temperature from 30 to 50ºC of the inlet water led to a water output increase of 15.3% to 22.2%. These findings underscore the profound potential of harnessing solar energy to address global water challenges and pave the way for further advancements in efficient freshwater production

This study investigates the treatment of sesame wastewater (SW) using the Electro-Fenton (EF) process followed by membrane filtration. The EF process was optimized by adjusting key parameters, including current density (100–700 A/m²), pH (4–10), hydrogen peroxide concentration (125–500 µL/250 mL), and reaction time (30–120 min) to achieve maximum treatment efficiency. Wastewater characterization was conducted by analyzing chemical oxygen demand (COD), pH, electrical conductivity (EC), and total organic carbon (TOC). The optimal EF conditions—500 A/m² current density, pH 8.0, 250 µL H₂O₂ per 250 mL wastewater, and 120 min reaction time—resulted in a COD removal efficiency of 69.28%. Following EF treatment, ultrafiltration (UF) and nanofiltration (NF) membrane filtration were applied to further purify the wastewater. The NF270 membrane demonstrated superior performance, achieving 97.68% COD removal and 82.41% salt recovery. Notably, while traditional Fenton processes operate optimally in acidic conditions (pH ~ 3), this study found that maximum COD removal occurred under basic conditions (pH 8–10). SW samples were collected from a sesame processing plant in Mersin, Turkey, and maintained at + 4 °C throughout the study. Membrane filtration following EF treatment proved effective for wastewater purification, with the NP030 membrane offering a viable option for COD removal and salt recovery. These findings highlight the potential of an integrated EF-membrane filtration approach for treating high-salinity industrial wastewater, providing an efficient and sustainable solution for wastewater management in the food processing industry.

In this study, L-histidine zwitterionic carbon dots (HZCDs) were synthesized using the hydrothermal method. The synthesized HZCDs were used to modify polyethersulfone (PES) membranes. Additionally, the HZCDs-modified membranes were activated using the protease enzyme to prepare protease-activated composite membranes. The prepared materials underwent extensive characterization and validation using various techniques, including Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) analyses. The blending or activation of HZCDs by the protease enzyme reduced the contact angle of the prepared membranes. The contact angle decreased from 78.75° to 50.12° and 40.02° for 2.0 wt.% HZCDs-PES and PES/Protease-HZCDs membranes, respectively. As the contact angle decreased, the hydrophilic nature of the prepared membranes increased, reflecting a strong affinity for water and efficient wettability. In this context, the pure water flux (PWF) values of PES membranes increased from 140.5 ± 5.3 to 248.7 ± 8.4 L/m 2 .h with rising HZCDs amount from 0 to 2 wt.% HZCDs-PES. Additionally, PWF values for protease-activated composite membranes increased from 140.5 ± 5.3 to 321.1 ± 9.2 L/m 2 . h. BSA flux values of PES membranes increased from 56.4 ± 2.4 to 82.9 ± 0.9 L/m 2 .h with increasing HZCDs amount from 0 to 2.0 wt.% HZCDs-PES. Besides, BSA values for protease-activated composite membranes increased from 56.4 ± 2.4 to 89.8 ± 2.2 L/m 2 .h. The purpose of this modification was to impart hydrophilic properties to the PES membrane and address the issue of membrane fouling, which is a common problem in filtration processes. 2.0 wt.% HZCDs-PES and enzyme-activated membranes PES membranes demonstrated 100% BSA removal efficiency. Also, 2.0 wt.% HZCDs-blended membranes and 2.0 wt.% protease-HZCDs-blended membranes demonstrated remarkable antifouling properties up to 87.7% and 88.8% flux recovery ratio (FRR), respectively. In contrast, BSA flux recovery reached only 67.8% for the pristine PES. When compared to pristine PES membranes, enzyme-activated membranes demonstrated superior filtration and protein rejection efficiencies.

Oil-contaminated water is among the most significant environmental challenges from various industries and manufacturing processes. Oily water poses a severe environmental threat and is toxic to many forms of life. This study aims to investigate the potential of natural adsorbents, namely animal bones (ABs) and anise residues (ARs), for removing oil from water using a batch adsorption process. The effects of adsorbent dosage (0.2–2 g), oil concentration (200–1000 mg/L), and contact time (30–120 min) on the adsorption process were evaluated. This study is the first to employ ABs and ARs as adsorbents for oil removal, and their efficacy for this purpose has not been previously reported. The results indicate that ABs exhibit superior oil removal capacity compared to ARs. Specifically, ABs removed 45 mg/g of oil from water, while ARs removed only 30 mg/g of oil. Furthermore, ABs achieved a percentage removal rate of 94%, whereas ARs had a percentage removal rate of 70%. The adsorbents were characterised using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometry, contact angle measurements before and after adsorption, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). In addition to the experimental analysis, several kinetic and adsorption models were employed to investigate the adsorption process. The pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order models were used to represent the kinetics of the reaction, while the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models were used to represent the adsorption isotherm. Marquardt’s percent standard deviation (MPSD) error function was used to confirm the fit of the experimental data with the isotherm model, in addition to the correlation coefficient R2. The isotherm studies indicated that the experimental data of the two adsorbents used with the Langmuir isotherm model were consistent with one another. The kinetics study demonstrated that the adsorption process using the two adsorbents adheres to a pseudo-second-order kinetics model.

The wastewater generated from the oil and gas sector is one of the major environmental issues. Varieties of techniques are employed for the treatment of generated wastewater. In this work, an attempt has been made to treat industrial saline wastewater from the oil and gas industry using a combination of synthesized biopolymer, chitosan, with graphene. Chitosan has been synthesized from a bioresource using marine spent. Chitosan was characterized using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Batch experiments were conducted by varying the composition of graphene viz 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 w/w with respect to a fixed amount of chitosan. The percentage removal efficiency of chemical oxygen demand (COD), total dissolved solids (TDS), total suspended solids (TSS), turbidity, and oil and grease were evaluated. A combination of chitosan and graphene has effectively removed the pollutants present in oil produced water (OPW) compared to chitosan alone. The maximum percentage removal efficiencies of COD (84%), TDS (91%), TSS (80%), turbidity (95%), and oil and grease (99.9%) were obtained for a mixture of chitosan (0.5 g/100 mL) and 5 wt% graphenes. The Freundlich equilibrium isotherm model suited the adsorption data well.

The cultivation of Plectonema terebrans BERC10 in wastewater and integrating the wastewater-derived biomass followed by its processing for multiple products in a biorefinery could help in achieving environmental sustainability and cost effectiveness. This study evaluated the resource recovery potential of the cyanobacterium Plectonema terebrans BERC10 from urban wastewater followed by the cascading processing of the biomass into multiple bioproducts. The annual biomass productivity ranged from 0.035–0.064 gL−1d−1 and contained 40–46% lipids and 20–38% protein. The cascading processing of the biomass resulted in multiple products, including 53 mgg−1 of high-value pigments and high-quality biodiesel in accordance with American and European standards. The pigment-free and de-fatted residual biomass was used as a sole feedstock (30–70 gL−1) to produce enzymes and mycoproteins via fungal fermentation employing Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus oryzae. Interestingly, A. oryzae produced 28 UmL−1 of α-amylase and the final residues were mycoproteins after 96 h. Furthermore, the strain removed 80–90% of total phosphorous, 90–99% of total nitrogen, and significantly lowered the COD, BOD, and TDS of urban wastewater. The data demonstrated that P. terebrans has substantial potential for resource recovery and could become a candidate for a wastewater-derived algal biorefinery.