Performance and cost-benefit analysis of anaerobic moving bed biofilm reactor for pretreatment of textile wastewater.

Performance of an anaerobic moving bed biofilm reactor (AnMBBR) was evaluated for pretreatment of real textile desizing wastewater at organic loading rate (OLR) of 1±0.05 to 6.3±0.37 kgCOD/m3/d. After OLR optimization, the performance of AnMBBR was evaluated for biodegradation of reactive dyes. AnMBBR was operated under a mesophilic temperature range of 30 to 36 °C, while the oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) and pH were in the range of 504 to 594 (-mV) and 6.98 to 7.28, respectively. By increasing the OLR from 1±0.05 to 6.3±0.37 kgCOD/m3/d, COD and BOD5 removal was decreased from 84 to 39% and 89 to 49%, respectively. While the production of biogas was increased from 0.12 to 0.83 L/L·d up to an optimum OLR of 4.9±0.43 kgCOD/m3/d. With increase in the dye concentration in the feed, COD, BOD5, color removal and biogas production reduced from 56, 63, 70% and 0.65 L/L·d to 34, 43, 41% and 0.08 L/L·d, respectively. Based on the data obtained, a cost-benefit analysis of AnMBBR was also investigated for the pretreatment of real textile desizing wastewater. Cost estimation of anaerobic pretreatment of textile desizing wastewater indicated a net profit of 21.09 million PKR/yr (114,000 €/yr) and a potential payback period of 2.54 years.

Critical review of photocatalytic disinfection of bacteria: from noble metals- and carbon nanomaterials-TiO2 composites to challenges of water characteristics and strategic solutions.

This critical review covers ways to improve TiO2-based photocatalysts, how water characteristics may affect photocatalytic disinfection, and strategies to tackle the challenges arising from water characteristics. Photocatalysis has shown much promise in the disinfection of water/wastewater, because photocatalysis does not produce toxic by-products, and is driven by green solar energy. There are however several drawbacks that are curbing the prevalence of photocatalytic disinfection applications: one, the efficiency of photocatalysts may limit popular utilization; two, the water characteristics may present some challenges to the process. TiO2-based photocatalysts may be readily improved if composited with noble metals or carbon nanomaterials. Noble metals give TiO2-based composites a higher affinity for dissolved oxygen, and induce plasmonic and Schottky effects in the TiO2; carbon nanomaterials with a tunable structure, on the other hand, give the composites an improved charge carrier separation performance. Other than photocatalyst materials, the characteristics of water/wastewater is another crucial factor in the photocatalysis process. Also examined in this review are the crucial impacts that water characteristics have on photocatalysts and their interaction with bacteria. Accordingly, strategies to address the challenge of water characteristics on photocatalytic disinfection are explored: one, to modify the semiconductor conduction band to generate long-lifetime reactive species; two, to improve the interaction between bacteria and photocatalysts.

Role of surface functional groups of hydrogels in metal adsorption: From performance to mechanism.

Hydrogels have been studied quite intensively in recent decades regarding whether their metal adsorption abilities may be modified or even enhanced via functionalization (i.e., functionalizing the surfaces of hydrogels with specific functional groups). Studies have found that functionalizing hydrogels can in fact give them higher adsorptive power. This enhanced adsorptive performance is articulated in this paper through critically reviewing more than 120 research articles in such terms as the various techniques of synthesizing functionalized hydrogels, the roles that specific functional groups play on adsorption performance, selectivity, reusability, as well as on adsorption mechanism. Moreover, this critical review offers insight into future designs of functionalized hydrogels with specific metal adsorption capabilities.

Elucidating the predominant role of crystal disorders in hierarchical photocatalysts governing their charge carrier separation and associated activity in photocatalytic water treatment.

The superiority of a hierarchical photocatalyst for water treatment applications is mostly rationalized in terms of two features: light harvestability and adsorption capability. Not only a conclusive evidence to support these claims is missing, knowledge on the 'key material property' governing photocatalyst performance is also unclear. Herein, a hierarchical BiOBr photocatalyst was studied in comparison with its plate-like counterpart. Found from the photocatalytic water treatment experiments, the hierarchical BiOBr exhibited three times faster reaction kinetics compared to the plate-like BiOBr. While light harvestability and adsorption capability of the two structures was not significantly different, a ca. 36% higher photocurrent and a ca. 16% longer charge carrier lifetime observed in hierarchical BiOBr demonstrated its superior charge carrier separability. Compared to other material properties, crystal disorders were found to predominantly influence the photocatalytic activity, which was verified through Raman spectroscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction analyses. The findings provide an insight into the role of crystallographic disorders in hierarchical photocatalysts which is a useful advancement towards the pursuit of rational photocatalyst design particularly for interfacial photocatalytic water treatment applications.

Recent developments and challenges in practical application of visible-light-driven TiO2-based heterojunctions for PPCP degradation: A critical review.

The ability of the TiO2-based photocatalysis process to mineralize organic pollutants has attracted attention worldwide for the degradation of recalcitrant pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs). Nevertheless, (1) the limited exploitation of the solar spectrum, i.e., activation under UV light (only 2-3% of solar spectrum), and (2) the high recombination rate of photo-generated charge carriers, i.e., electrons and holes, have limited its application which can, however, be improved by developing a TiO2-based heterojunction. The objective of this critical review paper is to discuss the recent developments (2009-2019) in visible-light-driven (VLD) TiO2-based heterojunctions for PPCP degradation and their degradation mechanisms. Compared to the conventional heterojunctions, Schottky and Z-scheme heterojunctions, which are non-conventional heterojunctions, are found to be more effective for PPCP degradation due to their more efficient separation of charge carriers and the occurrence of redox reactions at a relatively higher redox potential. Furthermore, the enhancement strategies for the development of a VLD TiO2-based heterojunction are also explored which can be achieved by selecting the (1) highly photocatalytically active {001} facet of anatase TiO2, (2) synthesis methods governing the structural changes at the junction interface, and (3) heterojunction components which can efficiently generate the powerful •OH radicals. The challenges in practical applications are also discussed which include factors, viz., cost reduction, recycling, stability, byproducts analysis, evaluation of the environmental effectiveness, and reactor design and scale-up of the VLD TiO2-based heterojunctions. Accordingly, the prospects of VLD TiO2-based heterojunctions for PPCP degradation in real environmental applications are discussed.

Unravelling mechanistic reasons for differences in performance of different Ti- and Bi-based magnetic photocatalysts in photocatalytic degradation of PPCPs.

Despite numerous developments in the field of heterogeneous photocatalysis, particularly its environmental applications, there remain fundamental uncertainties regarding the key properties which primarily govern the performance of a photocatalyst. In this study, four visible-light-driven magnetic photocatalysts, viz., Ag/Fe,N-TiO2/Fe3O4@SiO2, g-C3N4/TiO2/Fe3O4@SiO2, BiOBr/Fe3O4@SiO2, and BiOBr0.9I0.1/Fe3O4@SiO2, were synthesized and comparatively studied in terms of their material characteristics, charge transfer efficiency, and photocatalytic performance in the degradation of two model pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), ibuprofen and benzophenone-3. Amongst the tested photocatalysts, the g-C3N4/TiO2/Fe3O4@SiO2 exhibited the fastest degradation kinetics for both the PPCPs. Property-performance relationships were evaluated in which the dependence of the photocatalytic performance on various adsorption-related, electronic band-structure-related, reactive species-related, and charge carriers-related properties was examined. The strongest performance relationship was found to be with photocurrent density-an indicator of charge transfer efficiency-for both PPCPs, indicating its influential role in governing the photocatalytic performance. The findings unfold a potential research direction towards exploration of factors which can enhance the charge transfer efficiency, thereby possibly enabling the rational design of highly efficient photocatalysts for PPCPs removal.

Visible-light-driven N-TiO2@SiO2@Fe3O4 magnetic nanophotocatalysts: Synthesis, characterization, and photocatalytic degradation of PPCPs.

TiO2-based photocatalysis offers certain advantages like rapid degradation and mineralization of organic compounds. However, the practical applicability of photocatalysts in degradation of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) is still restricted by challenges including their limited photocatalytic activity under visible light and difficulty in their separation from suspension. To overcome these challenges, a visible-light-driven magnetic N-TiO2@SiO2@Fe3O4 nanophotocatalyst was developed through fine-tuning the pertinent factors (calcination temperature, Fe3O4 loading, and nitrogen doping) involved during synthesis process, on the basis of degradation of ibuprofen (a typical PPCP). The TEM-EDX, XRD and XPS analyses confirmed the successful synthesis of nanophotocatalyst. By comparing nanophotocatalyst's performance on ibuprofen under two visible light sources, i.e., compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) and light emitting diodes (LEDs) of similar irradiance, CFLs of irradiance 320µWcm-2 and peak emissive wavelength 543nm served as a better source, resulting in 94% degradation. Furthermore, 93% of benzophenone-3 within 5h and 71% of carbamazepine within 9h was degraded under visible light emitted by CFLs. The superparamagnetic behavior of the nanophotocatalyst enabled its successful magnetic separation (95% efficiency) from the suspension within 20-25min under an electromagnetic field of ∼200mT.

Magnetically separable BiOBr/Fe3O4@SiO2 for visible-light-driven photocatalytic degradation of ibuprofen: Mechanistic investigation and prototype development.

The increasingly ubiquitous release of emerging refractory pollutants into water is a serious concern due to associated risks. In this study, mesoporous hierarchical BiOBr/Fe3O4@SiO2-a solvothermally synthesized visible-light-driven magnetic photocatalyst-not only exhibited fast kinetics (t1/2 = 8.7 min) in the photocatalytic degradation of ibuprofen in water but also achieved almost complete mineralization over a prolonged irradiation of 6 h. Various reactive species, including O2¯, OH, and H2O2, were detected, while the scavenging experiments revealed that eCB--mediated reactions and direct-hole oxidation are the major degradation routes. The magnetically recycled BiOBr/Fe3O4@SiO2 maintained ∼80% of its initial photocatalytic activity even after five consecutive cycles. The typically copresent wastewater constituents, including NOM and anions, inhibited the photocatalytic performance to varying extents, and hence necessitated an increase in the photocatalyst dosage to achieve complete ibuprofen degradation in real sewage. Based on the findings of batch experiments, the process was scaled up by developing a 5 L prototype photocatalytic reactor integrated with an electromagnetic separation unit. The results of prototype photocatalytic experiments were comparable to those of batch experiments, and an electromagnetic separation efficiency of ∼99% was achievable in 5 min.

Removal of ionizable aromatic pollutants from contaminated water using nano γ-Fe2O3 based magnetic cationic hydrogel: Sorptive performance, magnetic separation and reusability.

Acid dyes found in textile industrial effluents are hazardous aromatic pollutants which ionize in aqueous environments. Owing to their non-biodegradability, conventional wastewater treatment processes are not able to remove them and sorptive treatment systems can alternatively be employed. In this study, a nano γ-Fe2O3 based magnetic cationic hydrogel, synthesized through a facile method, was applied for the removal of two acid dyes (Acid Red 27 and Acid Orange 52). The sorption performance (e.g., capacity and kinetics) and solution matrix effects (e.g., pH and competing anions) were investigated. Furthermore, different regeneration conditions (e.g., composition, strength and amount) were tested to develop a suitable regeneration strategy, based on which, reusability of the material was investigated for 30 consecutive sorption-desorption cycles. The material exhibited a rapid sorption rate (99% dye removal within 5min) and sorption isotherm data agreed well with the Langmuir model with an estimated maximum capacity of 833mg/g and 1430mg/g for Acid Red 27 and Acid Orange 52, respectively. The high sorptive performance persisted not only over a wide pH range but also over 30 consecutive rounds of sorption-desorption. Moreover, the impregnated γ-Fe2O3 nanoparticles rendered the hydrogel superparamagnetic allowing its convenient magnetic separation.

A holistic review of hydrogel applications in the adsorptive removal of aqueous pollutants: Recent progress, challenges, and perspectives.

Due to the unique physical and chemical characteristics of hydrogels, such as hydrophilicity, swellability, and modifiability, there is increasing research interest in the development and application of novel hydrogels in water and wastewater treatment. Hydrogels have exhibited superior performance in the adsorptive removal of a wide range of aqueous pollutants including heavy metals, nutrients, and toxic dyes. However, there remain certain challenges which need to be addressed in order to evolve hydrogel based treatment systems from the lab-scale to practical applications. This review provides a coverage of the latest developments in the application of hydrogels for the adsorptive removal of aqueous pollutants. A holistic overview of different steps involved in the hydrogel based treatment systems is provided, and the influencing factors and mechanisms of pollutants removal are reviewed. Major challenges pertaining to adsorption kinetics, operational pH range, interference, and hydrogel recovery are examined. Important considerations such as stability and reusability of hydrogels and resource recovery are also discussed, for economic and sustainability concerns.