Iron-doped biochar, an agricultural and environmentally beneficial fertilizer.

The utilization of agricultural waste to create value-added goods has benefited waste management while resolving cost-effectiveness and food shortage problems. Returning biochar produced from agricultural waste to the agricultural field is a sustainable method of enhancing crop production while lowering the environmental effect of typical fertilizers. It also enhances soil condition by modulating pH, soil organic carbon, water retention capacity, and soil ion exchange potential. The current work concentrated on the production of iron oxide-loaded biochar from banana peels. Pyrolysis was carried out at temperatures ranging from 400 to 500 °C. The co-precipitation technique was utilized to impregnate Fe3O4 nanoparticles on biochar, and it showed to be an effective and trustworthy method. Loading was done in situ. Characterization techniques such as XRD, FTIR, CHNS, and TGA were employed to characterize synthesized materials. Swelling ratio, water retention, absorbance, and equilibrium water content percentage were used to study the adsorption capabilities of Fe3O4-loaded biochar, soil, and raw biochar. As a consequence, Fe3O4-enriched biochar was shown to have better adsorption capability than raw biochar, which in turn showed better adsorption properties than soil. Iron-loaded biochar was employed as a fertilizer in Abelmoschus esculentus (Okra), and the results showed that it is a cost-effective, environmentally friendly fertilizer.

Sequestration of cyanide ions from aqueous medium by physio-chemically fabricated biochar of peels of banana and grape fruit in ecofriendly way.

Pakistan is an agricultural country producing plenty of fruits, like: mango, banana, apple, peaches, grapes, plums, variety of citrus fruits including lemon, grapefruit, and oranges. So far the peels of most of the fruits are usually wasted and not properly utilized anywhere. In this work, the peels of banana and grapefruit are converted into biochar by slow pyrolysis under controlled supply of air and used for sequestering cyanide ions from aqueous medium after chemical modification with ZnCl2 and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). The modified biochar was characterized by various instrumental techniques, like: SEM, FTIR, TGA, and CHNS. Different parameters, like: time, temperature, pH, and dose of adsorbent affecting the adsorption of cyanide ions, onto prepared biochar were optimized and to understand the adsorption phenomenon, kinetic and thermodynamic studies were performed. Concentration of cyanide ions was estimated by employing standard ion selective electrode system and it is found that Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate treated biochar of banana peels shown more adsorption capacity, i.e.,: 17.080 mg/g as compared to all samples. Present work revealed that the biochar produced from the fruit waste has sufficient potential to eliminate trace quantities of cyanide from water, especially after treatment with sodium dodecyl sulfate.

An industrial area in Asian and African countries where mining is done using traditional techniques is the major cause of cyanide toxicity in wastewater streams. So, here chemically fabricated biochar made by peels of banana and grape fruit is employed for removal of cyanide ion for controlling aquatic pollution using local resources in green way. Favorable results indicated the feasibility of this process, which is cost effective, convenient, ecofriendly, and sustainable.

Effective application of citric acid treated Trapa natans and Citrullus lanatus lignocellulosic macromolecules for adsorptive remediation of acid Violet-7 dye.

The peels of Trapa natans (TRA) and Citrullus lanatus (CIT), were modified with a variety of chemicals to boost their surface for the optimization of adsorption performance by providing a greater number of additional active binding sites. Citric acid-processed peels (TRAC and CITC) had shown more favorable adsorption performance to eradicate acid violet 7 dye (AVS). Extra and additional active sites generated after chemical processing, including hydroxyl (OH), carboxyl (COOH), amines NH2, carbonyl, and ester (-O-CO-) groups, as evidenced from FTIR and SEM characterizations, may boost the potential of physicochemical integration of adsorbent surface activity in order to promote and encourage the retention of hazardous and risky AVS molecules from the water. The Langmuir isotherm assessed the qmax for the adsorption of AVS on TRAC, CITC, TRA, and CIT to be 212.8, 294, 24.3, and 60.6 mg/g, respectively, whereas the correlation coefficients assessed for both TRAC and CITC were 0.98 and for TRA and CIT were 0.97, closer to unity reflecting monolayer physio-sorption. According to Temkin, the adsorption of AVS on TRAC, TRA, CITC, and CIT gives "BT" values of 1.275, 0.947, 1.085, and 1.211 mg/g, also suggesting physio-sorption. Therefore, chemically modified peels can be employed for detoxification of AVS.

Separation of Amino Acids, Dyes, and Pigments Using Novel Pressurized Circular TLC Assembly for Secure Medical Imaging Applications.

A novel pressurized flow system for circular thin-layer chromatography (PC-TLC) has been successfully established and employed for the separation of amino acids, dyes, and pigments for safe medical imaging applications. In this system, the mobile phase is applied to a regular TLC plate through the tube and needle of an intravenous infusion set. The needle was fused in a hole underneath the center of the plate, while the second side end of the tube was connected to a microburette containing the solvent. This new assembly proved itself better in terms of separation time (within 5 minutes) and controlled flow of the solvent and horizontal movement of analyte components over chromatograms with better separation and R f values (glutamine: 0.26, valine: 0.44, phenylalanine: 0.60, chlorophyll a: 0.52, chlorophyll b: 0.43, xanthophyll: 0.18, carotenoid: 0.97, and pheophytin: 0.60) when a number of samples of amino acids, dyes, and pigments were separated by the developed apparatus and the conventional TLC procedure. The developed method was found distinctly rapid, precise, and eco-friendly (less solvent consuming) as compared to traditional ascending TLC.

Efficacy of Various Types of Berries Extract for the Synthesis of ZnO Nanocomposites and Exploring Their Antimicrobial Potential for Use in Herbal Medicines.

Nanoscience has developed various greener approaches as an alternate method for the synthesis of nanoparticles and nanocomposites. The present study discusses the efficacy of berries extract for the synthesis of ZnO nanocomposites. Characterization of synthesized nanocomposite were done by SEM, UV/VIS spectrophotometry, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and XRD techniques. The crystalline nature of the synthesized nanoparticles was verified by XRD pattern in the range of 10-80 nm. The UV absorption peak of Elaeagnus umbellata (ZnO-EU) nanocomposite at 340 nm, Rubus idaeus (ZnO-Ri) nanocomposite at 360 nm, and Rubus fruticosus (ZnO-Rf) nanocomposite at 360 nm was observed. The nanocomposites were analyzed for their antimicrobial activity and found to be effective against three phytopathogens. The antimicrobial activity of ZnO nanocomposites showed good results against Escherichia coli (341), Staphylococcus aureus (345B), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (5994 NLF). This study presents a simple and inexpensive approach for synthesizing zinc oxide nanocomposites with effective antibacterial activity.

Removal of chromium on Polyalthia longifolia leaves biomass.

Adsorption is an environmental friendly process for removal and/or recovery of heavy metals from wastewater. In recent years, it has been substantiated as a popular technique to treat industrial waste effluents, with significant advantages. In this work, batchwise removal of chromium (III) ions from water by Polyalthia longifolia leaves was studied as a function of adsorbent dose, pH, contact time, and agitation speed. Surface characteristics of the leaves were evaluated by recording IR spectra. The Langmuir, Freundlich, and Temkin adsorption isotherms were employed to explain the sorption process. It was found that one gram of leaves can remove 1.87 mg of trivalent chromium when working at pH 3.0. It has been concluded that Polyalthia longifolia leaves can be used as cost-effective and benign adsorbents for removal of Cr(III) ions from wastewater.

Removal of Pb(II) and Cd(II) from water by adsorption on peels of banana.

The adsorption of lead(II) and cadmium(II) on peels of banana has been studied in batch mode using flame atomic absorption spectroscopy for metal estimation. Concerned parameters like adsorbent dose, pH, contact time and agitation speed were investigated. Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin isotherms were employed to describe adsorption equilibrium. The maximum amounts of cadmium(II) and lead(II) adsorbed (qm), as evaluated by Langmuir isotherm, were 5.71 mg and 2.18 mg per gram of powder of banana peels, respectively. Study concluded that banana peels, a waste material, have good potential as an adsorbent to remove toxic metals like lead and cadmium from water.