Research Library
Discover insights from thousands of peer-reviewed papers on microbial electrochemical systems
Discover insights from thousands of peer-reviewed papers on microbial electrochemical systems
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Environmental Research • 2024
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Environmental Research • 2021
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BioTech • 2025
Bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) are devices capable of converting chemical energy into electrical energy using microorganisms as catalysts. These systems have been extensively studied at the laboratory level, but, due to multiple difficulties, their large-scale implementation has been explored only sparingly. This study presents the most recent technological advances for scaling up BESs. In the same way, the main technical and economic challenges that hinder the correct implementation of these systems at a large scale are mentioned. The study concludes with a review of successful case studies in scaling up BESs and discusses future directions and emerging trends.
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Sustainability • 2022
Water hyacinth (Pontederia crassipes) is a floating hydrophyte plant considered one of the 100 most harmful invasive alien species in the world. Its main uses have been developed along three lines: (1) control, (2) eradication, and (3) wastewater bioremediation. The objective of this work was to conduct a systematic literature review (SLR) focused on the documented uses of Pontederia crassipes, and to determine if there is evidence of its use as a raw material (plant biomass) for the generation of biodegradable products. This systematic literature review was conducted in six international databases, considering three inclusion criteria and three exclusion criteria. The available information about Pontederia crassipes showed a small percentage of studies aimed at the use of its biomass as a raw material for the creation of various biodegradable products, such as cardboard, paper, packaging and some other products, since this species is adaptable and prolific in multiple regions of Mexico.
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Electrochimica Acta • 2019
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Frontiers in Microbiology • 2018
mutants indicated that the overexpression of PQS signaling molecules made no significant contribution to EET. QS signaling molecules therefore have dual-edged effects on microbial EET. These findings will provide favorable suggestions on the regulation of EET, but detailed QS regulatory mechanisms for extracellular electron transfer in pure- and mixed-cultures are yet to be elucidated.
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Bioresource Technology • 2020
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Chemical Engineering Journal • 2018
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Food Control • 2023
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Energies • 2015
The formation of biofilm-electrodes is crucial for microbial fuel cell current production because optimal performance is often associated with thick biofilms. However, the influence of the electrode structure and morphology on biofilm formation is only beginning to be investigated. This study provides insight on how changing the electrode morphology affects current production of a pure culture of anode-respiring bacteria. Specifically, an analysis of the effects of carbon fiber electrodes with drastically different morphologies on biofilm formation and anode respiration by a pure culture (Shewanella oneidensis MR-1) were examined. Results showed that carbon nanofiber mats had ~10 fold higher current than plain carbon microfiber paper and that the increase was not due to an increase in electrode surface area, conductivity, or the size of the constituent material. Cyclic voltammograms reveal that electron transfer from the carbon nanofiber mats was biofilm-based suggesting that decreasing the diameter of the constituent carbon material from a few microns to a few hundred nanometers is beneficial for electricity production solely because the electrode surface creates a more relevant mesh for biofilm formation by Shewanella oneidensis MR-1.
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Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology • 2018
Desulfovibrio spp. are capable of heavy metal reduction and are well-studied systems for understanding metal fate and transport in anaerobic environments. Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough was grown under environmentally relevant conditions (i.e., temperature, nutrient limitation) to elucidate the impacts on Cr(VI) reduction on cellular physiology. Growth at 20 °C was slower than 30 °C and the presence of 50 μM Cr(VI) caused extended lag times for all conditions, but once growth resumed the growth rate was similar to that without Cr(VI). Cr(VI) reduction rates were greatly diminished at 20 °C for both 50 and 100 μM Cr(VI), particularly for the electron acceptor limited (EAL) condition in which Cr(VI) reduction was much slower, the growth lag much longer (200 h), and viability decreased compared to balanced (BAL) and electron donor limited (EDL) conditions. When sulfate levels were increased in the presence of Cr(VI), cellular responses improved via a shorter lag time to growth. Similar results were observed between the different resource (donor/acceptor) ratio conditions when the sulfate levels were normalized (10 mM), and these results indicated that resource ratio (donor/acceptor) impacted D. vulgaris response to Cr(VI) and not merely sulfate limitation. The results suggest that temperature and resource ratios greatly impacted the extent of Cr(VI) toxicity, Cr(VI) reduction, and the subsequent cellular health via Cr(VI) influx and overall metabolic rate. The results also emphasized the need to perform experiments at lower temperatures with nutrient limitation to make accurate predictions of heavy metal reduction rates as well as physiological states in the environment.
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Energies • 2023
In the modern era, where the global energy sector is transforming to meet the decarbonization goal, cutting-edge information technology integration, artificial intelligence, and machine learning have emerged to boost energy conversion and management innovations. Incorporating artificial intelligence and machine learning into energy conversion, storage, and distribution fields presents exciting prospects for optimizing energy conversion processes and shaping national and global energy markets. This integration rapidly grows and demonstrates promising advancements and successful practical implementations. This paper comprehensively examines the current state of applying artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms in energy conversion and management evaluation and optimization tasks. It highlights the latest developments and the most promising algorithms and assesses their merits and drawbacks, encompassing specific applications and relevant scenarios. Furthermore, the authors propose recommendations to emphasize the prioritization of acquiring real-world experimental and simulated data and adopting standardized, explicit reporting in research publications. This review paper includes details on data size, accuracy, error rates achieved, and comparisons of algorithm performance against established benchmarks.
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Frontiers in Chemistry • 2023
-inorganics, i.e., inorganic materials modified by organic moieties, their structure and functionalities. Inorganic constituents comprise of colloids/nanoparticles and flat surfaces/matrices comprise of metallic (noble metal, metal oxide, metal-organic framework, magnetic nanoparticles, alloy) and non-metallic (minerals, clays, carbons, and ceramics) materials; while organic additives can include molecules (polymers, fluorescence dyes, surfactants), biomolecules (proteins, carbohydtrates, antibodies and nucleic acids) and even higher-level organisms such as cells, bacteria, and microorganisms. Similarly to what was described in Part-I, we look at similar and dissimilar properties of organic-inorganic materials summarizing those bringing complementarity and composition. A broad range of applications of these hybrid materials is also presented whose development is spurred by engaging different scientific research communities.
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Environmental Research • 2022
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Journal of Hazardous Materials • 2015
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AMB Express • 2019
concentration (0.4-1.6 g/L). In conclusion, strain Pannonibacter phragmitetus F1 has a great potential to be applied in the treatment of saline wastewater containing high nitrogen concentrations, e.g. coastal aquaculture wastewater.
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International journal of energy and environmental engineering • 2017
A generalized low-order model of the biofilm in a microbial fuel cell (MFC), suitable for use in real-time engineering applications, is presented. It is based on the description of the charge transfer, diffusion process, and charge accumulation in the biofilm. Since the dynamic processes in an MFC are ruled mainly by the biofilm, it can be used for many different diffusion-based MFC types by just changing the boundary conditions. Different mode operations like batch, fed-batch, continuous, etc., are also possible. The time-responses of voltage, substrate concentration on the surface of the electrode, and Faradaic and capacitive currents have been tested under several experimental conditions.
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Scientific Reports • 2020
This work presents a small scale and low cost ceramic based microbial fuel cell, utilising human urine into electricity, while producing clean catholyte into an initially empty cathode chamber through the process of electro-osmostic drag. It is the first time that the catholyte obtained as a by-product of electricity generation from urine was transparent in colour and reached pH>13 with high ionic conductivity values. The catholyte was collected and used ex situ as a killing agent for the inactivation of a pathogenic species such as Salmonella typhimurium, using a luminometer assay. Results showed that the catholyte solutions were efficacious in the inactivation of the pathogen organism even when diluted up to 1:10, resulting in more than 5 log-fold reduction in 4 min. Long-term impact of the catholyte on the pathogen killing was evaluated by plating Salmonella typhimurium on agar plates and showed that the catholyte possesses a long-term killing efficacy and continued to inhibit pathogen growth for 10 days.
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Faraday Discussions • 2019
The development of photobioelectrochemical systems is an exciting field requiring a combination of electrochemical, biological and material science knowledge. One of the main advantages of applying anoxygenic photosynthetic microorganisms versus non-photosynthetic bacteria is the possibility to utilize sunlight as the energy source, while removing organic contaminants from a solution. Since bacterial cells utilize energy to maintain the intracellular osmolarity, bacterial species that do not rely on organic species as an energy source have an advantage over species requiring them for their sustainment. Herein, we discuss the possible use of Rhodobacter capsulatus, an extremely versatile photosynthetic purple bacteria, for application in environments within a range of low to moderately high salinity (0-25 g L-1 NaCl). Bacterial cells' capability to adapt to changing salinity, and effects on bioelectrochemical performance will be presented, as well as major drawbacks and research needs to drive future efforts and discussions.
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Water Air & Soil Pollution • 2017
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Journal of Power Sources • 2021
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Frontiers in Microbiology • 2015
In recent years, cases of botulism in cattle and other farm animals and also in farmers increased dramatically. It was proposed, that these cases could be affiliated with the spreading of compost or other organic manures contaminated with Clostridium botulinum spores on farm land. Thus, soils and fodder plants and finally farm animals could be contaminated. Therefore, the colonization behavior and interaction of the botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT D) producing C. botulinum strain 2301 and the non-toxin producing Clostridium sporogenes strain 1739 were investigated on clover (Trifolium repens) in a field experiment as well as in phytochamber experiments applying axenic and additionally soil based systems under controlled conditions. Plants were harvested and divided into root and shoot parts for further DNA isolation and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays; subsamples were fixed for fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis in combination with confocal laser scanning microscopy. In addition, we observed significant differences in the growth behavior of clover plants when inoculated with clostridial spores, indicating a plant growth promoting effect. Inoculated plants showed an increased growth index (shoot size, wet and dry weight) and an enlarged root system induced by the systemic colonization of clover by C. botulinum strain 2301. To target C. botulinum and C. sporogenes, 16S rDNA directed primers were used and to specifically detect C. botulinum, BoNT D toxin genes targeted primers, using a multiplex PCR approach, were applied. Our results demonstrate an effective colonization of roots and shoots of clover by C. botulinum strain 2301 and C. sporogenes strain 1739. Detailed analysis of colonization behavior showed that C. botulinum can occur as individual cells, in cell clusters and in microcolonies within the rhizosphere, lateral roots and within the roots tissue of clover.
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Bioresource Technology • 2022
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Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology • 2016
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BMC Microbiology • 2021
BACKGROUND: Saline and alkaline stresses damages the health of soil systems. Meanwhile, little is known about how saline or alkaline stress affects soil nitrifier and denitrifier communities. Therefore, we compared the responses of gene-based nitrifier and denitrifier communities to chloride (CS), sulfate (SS), and alkaline (AS) stresses with those in a no-stress control (CK) in pots with a calcareous desert soil. RESULTS: -N; and decreased copy numbers of amoA-AOA and amoA-AOB genes but increased those of denitrifier nirS and nosZ genes. Copies of nirK increased in SS and AS but decreased in CS. There were more copies of amoA-AOB than of amoA-AOA and of nirS than of nirK or nosZ. Compared with CK, SS and AS decreased operational taxonomic units (OTUs) of amoA-AOB but increased those of nirS and nosZ, whereas CS decreased nirK OTUs but increased those of nosZ. The numbers of OTUs and amoA-AOB genes were greater than those of amoA-AOA. There were positive linear relations between PNR and amoA-AOA and amoA-AOB copies. Compared with CK, the Chao 1 index of amoA-AOA and amoA-AOB decreased in AS, that of nirK increased in CS and SS, but that of nirS and nosZ increased in all treatments. The Shannon index of amoA-AOB decreased but that of nirS increased in CS and SS, whereas the index of nirK decreased in all treatments. Saline and alkaline stress greatly affected the structure of nitrifier and denitrifier communities and decreased potential biomarkers of nirS-type; however, AS increased those of nirK- and nosZ-type, and SS decreased those of nosZ-type. Soil water content, pH, and salinity were important in shaping amoA-AOA and denitrifier communities, whereas soil water and pH were important to amoA-AOB communities. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that the nitrifier and denitrifier communities respond to saline and alkaline stresses conditions. Communities of amoA-AOA and amoA-AOB contribute to nitrification in alluvial gray desert soil, and those of nirS are more important in denitrification than those of nirK or nosZ.
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Sustainability • 2023
Rice is a source of food for the majority of the global population. Currently, the rice yield is declining owing to extreme climate change. Farmers use nitrogen fertilizers to increase the yield; however, excessive nitrogen fertilizer application has a negative impact on plants and the environment. Nitrogen fertilizer is necessary for the growth of rice, but it is an important cause of environ-mental pollution. Carbon monoxide (CO) emitted from rice fields due to nitrogen fertilizer reacts with greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide or methane, affecting global warming. Although CO does not directly affect global warming, it is a gas that needs attention because it reacts with various other gases. In this study, a chamber was designed and manufactured to collect the CO emitted from the paddy field after nitrogen fertilizer application in 2021 and 2022. In paddy fields, nitrogen fertilizer treatment affected the pH, EC, and soil temperature, and affected various agricultural traits. Various agricultural characteristics and the number of spikes, number of tillers, and chlorophyll content increased with nitrogen fertilizer application, whereas the amylose content decreased. Adequate nitrogen fertilizer should be applied to increase the rice yield; however, excessive nitrogen fertilizer application has a serious negative effect on grain quality and can accelerate global warming by releasing CO from paddy fields. The appropriate application of nitrogen fertilizer can have a positive effect on farmers by increasing yield. However, caution should be exercised in the application of excessive nitrogen fertilizers, as excessive nitrogen fertilizers increase the emission of CO, which affects greenhouse gases.
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PLoS ONE • 2015
Thylakoid membranes contain the redox active complexes catalyzing the light-dependent reactions of photosynthesis in cyanobacteria, algae and plants. Crude thylakoid membranes or purified photosystems from different organisms have previously been utilized for generation of electrical power and/or fuels. Here we investigate the electron transferability from thylakoid preparations from plants or the cyanobacterium Synechocystis. We show that upon illumination, crude Synechocystis thylakoids can reduce cytochrome c. In addition, this crude preparation can transfer electrons to a graphite electrode, producing an unmediated photocurrent of 15 μA/cm2. Photocurrent could be obtained in the presence of the PSII inhibitor DCMU, indicating that the source of electrons is QA, the primary Photosystem II acceptor. In contrast, thylakoids purified from plants could not reduce cyt c, nor produced a photocurrent in the photocell in the presence of DCMU. The production of significant photocurrent (100 μA/cm2) from plant thylakoids required the addition of the soluble electron mediator DCBQ. Furthermore, we demonstrate that use of crude thylakoids from the D1-K238E mutant in Synechocystis resulted in improved electron transferability, increasing the direct photocurrent to 35 μA/cm2. Applying the analogous mutation to tobacco plants did not achieve an equivalent effect. While electron abstraction from crude thylakoids of cyanobacteria or plants is feasible, we conclude that the site of the abstraction of the electrons from the thylakoids, the architecture of the thylakoid preparations influence the site of the electron abstraction, as well as the transfer pathway to the electrode. This dictates the use of different strategies for production of sustainable electrical current from photosynthetic thylakoid membranes of cyanobacteria or higher plants.
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Energy & Environmental Science • 2024
Our societies must reconsider current industrial practices and find carbon-neutral alternatives to avoid the detrimental environmental effects that come with the release of greenhouse gases from fossil-energy carriers.
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RSC Advances • 2024
The physical and chemical treatment processes of leachate are not only costly but can also possibly produce harmful by products. Constructed wetlands (CW) has been considered a promising alternative technology for leachate treatment due to less demand for energy, economic, ecological benefits, and simplicity of operations. Various trends and approaches for the application of CW for leachate treatment have been discussed in this review along with offering an informatics peek of the recent innovative developments in CW technology and its perspectives. In addition, coupling CW with microbial fuel cells (MFCs) has proven to produce renewable energy (electricity) while treating contaminants in leachate wastewaters (CW-MFC). The combination of CW-MFC is a promising bio electrochemical that plays symbiotic among plant microorganisms in the rhizosphere of an aquatic plant that convert sun electricity is transformed into bioelectricity with the aid of using the formation of radical secretions, as endogenous substrates, and microbial activity. Several researchers study and try to find out the application of CW-MFC for leachate treatment, along with this system and performance. Several key elements for the advancement of CW-MFC technology such as bioelectricity, reactor configurations, plant species, and electrode materials, has been comprehensively discussed and future research directions were suggested for further improving the performance. Overall, CW-MFC may offer an eco-friendly approach to protecting the aquatic environment and come with built-in advantages for visual appeal and animal habitats using natural materials such as gravel, soil, electroactive bacteria, and plants under controlled condition.
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Sustainable Energy & Fuels • 2021
This review summaries recent development across electro-, photoelectro- and bioelectro-catalyst developments for multi-carbon products from CO 2 . It also explores the role of device design and operating conditions in enabling C–C bond generation.
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Scientific Reports • 2018
production was significantly accelerated by carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in both enrichments. Replacement of CNTs by magnetite caused similar stimulating effect. For the defined coculture, two carbon nanomaterials, CNTs and reduced graphene oxide (rGO), were tested, both showed consistently stimulating effects on butyrate oxidation. Addition of kaolinite, an electric nonconductive clay mineral, however, revealed no effect. The test on M. maripaludis in pure culture showed no effect by rGO and a negative effect by CNTs (especially at a high concentration). Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed that microbial cells were interwoven by CNTs forming cell-CNT mixture aggregates, and in case of rGO, cells were attached to surface or wrapped-up by rGO thin sheets. Collectively, our data suggest that the presence of conductive nanomaterials likely induces DIET in syntrophic butyrate oxidation.
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International Journal of Hydrogen Energy • 2020
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Frontiers in Microbiology • 2023
reduction in CWs.
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Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Bioenergetics • 2016
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Biomimetics • 2017
With the advent of nanotechnology, by looking further deep down into the molecular level, today, we are able to understand basic and applied sciences even better than ever before. Not only has nanoscience and nanotechnology allowed us to study the composing structures of materials in detail, it has also allowed us to fabricate and synthesize such nanostructures using top-down and bottom-up approaches. One such field, which has been significantly influenced by the dawn of nanotechnology is biomimetics. With powerful spectroscopic and microscopic tools presenting us with images like double nanostructured pillars on the lotus surface for superhydrophobicity, the conical protuberances of moth eye demonstrating anti-reflection properties and nanostructured spatulae of gecko feet for high adhesivity, we are now able to fabricate these structures in the lab with properties showing close resemblance to their natural counterparts. Here, we present a review of various nanostructures that exist in nature, their fabrication techniques and some of their promising future applications. We hope this review will provide the reader with a basic understanding of what biomimetics is and how nanotechnology has significantly influenced this field.
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Life • 2022
Nanotechnology has the potential to revolutionize various fields of research and development. Multiple nanoparticles employed in a nanotechnology process are the magic elixir that provides unique features that are not present in the component's natural form. In the framework of contemporary research, it is inappropriate to synthesize microparticles employing procedures that include noxious elements. For this reason, scientists are investigating safer ways to produce genetically improved Cyanobacteria, which has many novel features and acts as a potential candidate for nanoparticle synthesis. In recent decades, cyanobacteria have garnered significant interest due to their prospective nanotechnological uses. This review will outline the applications of genetically engineered cyanobacteria in the field of nanotechnology and discuss its challenges and future potential. The evolution of cyanobacterial strains by genetic engineering is subsequently outlined. Furthermore, the recombination approaches that may be used to increase the industrial potential of cyanobacteria are discussed. This review provides an overview of the research undertaken to increase the commercial avenues of cyanobacteria and attempts to explain prospective topics for future research.
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Environmental Science & Technology • 2016
A biofilm electrode reactor (BER) is proposed to effectively regenerate Fe(II)EDTA, a solvent for NOx removal from flue gas, from Fe(II)EDTA-NO, a spent solution. In this study, the performance, mechanism, and kinetics of the bioelectrochemical reduction of Fe(II)EDTA-NO were investigated. The pathways of Fe(II)EDTA-NO reduction were investigated via determination of nitrogen element balance in the BER and an abiotic electrode reactor. The experimental results indicate that the chelated NO (Fe(II)EDTA-NO) is reduced to N2 with N2O as an intermediate. However, the oxidation of NO occurred in the absence of Fe(II)EDTA in abiotic reactors. Furthermore, the accumulation of N2O was suppressed with the help of electricity. The preponderant electron donor for reduction of Fe(II)EDTA-NO was also confirmed via analysis of the electron conservation. About 87% of Fe(II)EDTA-NO was reduced using Fe(II)EDTA as the electron donor in the presence of both glucose and cathode electrons while the cathode electrons were utilized for the reduction of Fe(III)EDTA to Fe(II)EDTA. Michaelis-Menten kinetic constants of bioelectrochemical reduction of Fe(II)EDTA-NO were also calculated. The maximum reduction rate of Fe(II)EDTA-NO was 13.04 mol m(-3) h(-1), which is 50% higher than that in a conventional biofilter.
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Green Processing and Synthesis • 2022
Abstract Fe-doped ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) with different Fe contents (0.1–5.0 wt%) were prepared using extract of wild olive leaves growing in Saudi Arabia (region of Abha). The biosynthesized NPs were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and photoluminescence (PL). Characterization results showed that undoped ZnO and Fe-doped ZnO powders were crystallized in the wurtzite structure with a small shift for the doped samples. Neither Fe 3 O 4 nor another iron oxide phase was observed in the samples, which proves the incorporation of Fe into the ZnO lattice. Doping has a pronounced effect on the physical and optical properties. Indeed, the size of the crystallites, the energy of the bandgap as well as the intensity of the PL emission decreased with the Fe content. Photocatalytic tests revealed that the doped samples degraded methyl orange (MO) more efficiently than pure ZnO and pure Fe 3 O 4 . Moreover, the photocatalytic activity improved with increasing Fe content. The best photocatalyst of the series (Fe–ZnO-5) was found degrading MO by 92.1%, in 90 min in a pseudo-first order reaction.
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iScience • 2021
fixation selectively and reliably generate products. Nanomaterials harvest solar light and biocompatibly associate with microorganisms owing to similar lengths scales. Although this is a nascent field, a variety of approaches have been implemented encompassing different microorganisms and nanomaterials. To advance the field in an impactful manner, it is paramount to understand the molecular underpinnings of PBSs. In this perspective, we highlight studies inspecting charge uptake pathways and singularities in photosensitized cells. We discuss further analyses to more completely elucidate these constructs, and we focus on criteria to be met for designing photosensitizing nanomaterials. As a result, we advocate for the pairing of microorganisms with naturally occurring and highly biocompatible mineral-based semiconductor nanomaterials.
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Water • 2024
Floating aquatic macrophytes have a high level of proficiency in the removal of various contaminants, particularly nutrients, from wastewater. Due to their rapid growth rates, it is imperative to ensure the safe removal of the final biomass from the system. The ultimate macrophyte biomass is composed of lignocellulose and has enhanced nutritional and energy properties. Consequently, it can serve as a viable source material for applications such as the production of bioenergy, fertilizer and animal feed. However, its use remains limited, and in-depth studies are scarce. Here, we provide a comprehensive analysis of floating aquatic macrophytes and their efficacy in the elimination of heavy metals, nutrients and organic pollutants from various types of wastewater. This study offers a wide-ranging scrutiny of the potential use of plant biomasses as feedstock for bioenergy generation, focusing on both biochemical and thermochemical conversion processes. In addition, we provide information regarding the conversion of biomass into animal feed, focusing on ruminants, fish and poultry, the manufacture of fertilizers and the use of treated water. Overall, we offer a clear idea of the technoeconomic benefits of using macrophytes for the treatment of wastewater and the challenges that need to be rectified to make this cradle-to-cradle concept more efficient.