Advanced Sustainable Systems最新文献

In recent years, antibiotics have been widely used in multiple fields such as agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry as well as human health due to their high efficiency and low price in treating bacterial infections. However, the misuse of antibiotics has posed a serious threat to both ecological environment and human health, resulting in the antibiotic contamination as a global issue. Therefore, the development of novel materials and technologies to remove antibiotics from water has become a research frontier and hotspot. Meanwhile, mesoporous silica materials have been gradually used in the removal of antibiotics via adsorption and degradation due to their controllable structure, tunable pore size as well as diverse sources. This mini review focuses on the research progress of mesoporous silica in removing antibiotics from aquatic environments. The main types and controllable synthesis procedures of mesoporous silica is introduced first, followed by their application in antibiotics removal via both adsorption and catalytic degradation. Furthermore, it proposes the future directions of this field, providing insights for the use of mesoporous silica materials in water pollution control.

Because of its excellent catalytic activity and stability, perovskite materials are widely used in advanced oxidation processes to remove refractory organic pollutants. In this study, a series of catalysts Pr_0.6Sm_0.4Co_xMn_1-xO₃ (x = 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6,0.8 and 1) with limited range effect are prepared by sol–gel method with the regulation strategy of injecting active metal Co at B site in the crystal lattice of perovskite catalyst Pr_0.6Sm_0.4MnO₃. Under the optimal conditions, the Pr_0.6Sm_0.4Co_0.8Mn_0.2O₃/PMS/RhB system showed superior catalytic performance, and the removal rate of Rhodamine B (100 mg L⁻¹) is close to 100% within 40 min. In addition, the Pr_0.6Sm_0.4Co_0.8Mn_0.2O₃ catalyst has a wider pH (2-10) tolerance range and still has outstanding catalytic properties after multiple cycle tests. The quenching experiment and EPR test confirmed that a variety of active species are produced in the system, and the singlet oxygen as the leading path of a variety of active substances assisted to promote the efficient degradation of Rhodamine B in wastewater. This study provides a new reaction system and regulatory strategy of active structural sites for the design of Fenton-like catalytic systems based on novel perovskite oxides.

In the quest for high-performance supercapacitor electrode materials, layered double hydroxides (LDHs) containing transition metals, particularly nickel–cobalt layered double hydroxides (NiCo-LDH), have garnered significant attention due to their distinctive structural and electrochemical properties. In this study, five different temperatures, five distinct reaction times, and four varied Ni:Co ratios to determine the optimal reaction conditions are established. Utilizing these parameters, NiCo-LDH via a one-step hydrothermal method is synthesized. Under optimal conditions the specific capacitance reaches 400.2 C g⁻¹ at a current density of 1 A g⁻¹. The assembled supercapacitor has a high energy density of 51.59 µWh cm⁻² at a power density of 1.125 mW cm⁻². After 10 000 cycles, the capacity retention is 70%, indicating good cycling stability and demonstrating potential for application in supercapacitors. These tests provide theoretical and data-based support for subsequent experiments and present new opportunities for advancing energy storage and conversion technologies.

Lithium batteries represent a significant energy storage technology, with a wide range of applications in electronic products and emerging energy sectors. Concurrently, the high-value recycling and utilization of waste lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) has emerged as a prominent area of research. This review commences with an examination of the structural composition, operational methodology, and inherent challenges associated with the recycling process of lithium-ion batteries. Subsequently, the study conducts a comprehensive examination of the recycling technologies employed in the processing of waste lithium-ion batteries over the past few years. This encompasses an in-depth analysis of both primary treatment methodologies, including disassembly, discharge, and classification, as well as advanced treatment techniques such as pyrometallurgy, hydrometallurgy, bio metallurgy technology, and direct regeneration, specifically tailored to LIBs. In addition, this article introduces several process strengthening technologies for traditional treatment methods, identifies current research limitations, and proposes recommendations for the future recycling and reuse of waste lithium-ion battery cathodes.

The problem of microbial resistance to antibiotics makes it necessary to develop new materials capable of overcoming the resistance to the chemicals currently used. Herein, the antibacterial properties of modified bamboo powder are tested and compared with modified cellulose isolated from soybean hulls. Such biomasses are functionalized in a water solution with (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane to introduce primary amino groups, and two different functionalization procedures are adopted: the first requires conventional heating steps, whereas the second implies microwave radiation use. The main outcomes from the characterizations evidence that the materials prepared with the thermal treatment are stabler than those obtained by the microwave-assisted procedure and that bamboo-derived samples react with the (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane through different functionalities other than hydroxyl groups. Finally, the antibacterial activity measured against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus shows that all the functionalized samples could efficiently remove Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria (removal > 93%). Moreover, active filters are realized by packing the material powders: when the bacterial inoculum passes through them in a continuous flow, some differences are observed between cellulose and bamboo-based materials, but the overall performances show that after 17 min and five recirculation cycles, both the samples reach an excellent Escherichia coli removal of about 100%.

With the rapid development of the global oil industry, the problem of oil-contaminated soil has become increasingly prominent, posing a serious threat to the natural environment and human health. Therefore, bioremediation technology as an environmentally friendly and cost-effective solution has been widely studied and concerned. This paper reviewed the progress and application status of bioremediation technology for oil-contaminated soil, and analyzed the classification and principle of bioremediation technology. Through the comprehensive analysis of the actual cases at home and abroad, the actual effects and challenges of bioremediation technology are comprehensively evaluated. These cases not only show the remarkable effect of this technology in the treatment of oil-contaminated soil, but also reveal the problems existing in its practical application. On this basis, the future development direction of bioremediation technology is prospected.

Hard carbon (HC) anodes used in secondary batteries have attracted increasing recent attention in particular to transition to new energy storage formats. To date, HC is produced exclusively by charring organic precursors in inert atmospheres. One would not expect to find HC in rice hull ash (RHA), the byproduct of rice hull combustion processes. However, in developing approaches to depolymerize RHA SiO₂ (90:10 wt% SiO₂:C) to produce silica-depleted RHA or SDRHA_40-60 (40–60 wt% SiO₂) to tailor C:SiO₂ ratios for carbothermal reduction reactions, the SDRHA carbon component is recently revisited. In more detailed efforts to characterize the form of carbon present in SDRHA, a series of analyses reveal graphitized carbon domains in amorphous matrices, i.e., HC, despite RHA being produced via combustion in an oxidizing atmosphere. Comprehensive electrochemical analyses on SDRHA_40-60 find unexpected capacities far in excess (>700 mAh g⁻¹) of reported values for HC and graphite. Electrochemical and STEM characterization suggest that the unexpected capacity may come from the nanoscale morphology of the amorphous carbon component. Given that RHA is a biowaste generated in kilotons/year worldwide, there seems to be an opportunity to develop sustainable high-capacity anode materials for alkali-ion storage systems.

The regulation of nanostructures and composition can significantly enhance the electrochemical activity and accelerate electrochemical reaction kinetics of electrode material. Herein, metal organic framework(MOF) is used as self-sacrificing templates to prepare CoNiSe-P by hydrothermal with following selenylation and phosphorization treatment. Due to the hollow porous structure, rich electrochemical active sites and elements synergistic influence, the obtained CoNiSe-P electrode shows a high capacity of 838 C g⁻¹, which is much higher than CoNiSe (322 C g⁻¹) and CoNiP (616 C g⁻¹). Furthermore, CoNiSe-P electrode shows excellent rate characteristic (685 C g⁻¹ at 20 A g⁻¹) and ultrahigh electrochemical stability with capacity retention of 99.6% after 10 000 cycles. More importantly, an asymmetric supercapacitor is assembled with CoNiSe-P as the positive electrode and nitrogen-doped porous carbon as the negative electrode delivers an energy density of 42.4 Wh kg⁻¹ at 266.6 W kg⁻¹ and maintains a specific capacitance of 96.8% after 10 000 cycles. Significantly, the asymmetric supercapacitor shows a high energy density up to 21.3 Wh kg⁻¹ at a very high power density of 21.3 kW kg⁻¹, higher than those of previously reported asymmetric supercapacitors.

Electrochemical Water Splitting Systems

In article number 2400059, Young Soo Kang, Uk Sim, and co-workers study and present the synthesis of Ni/Ni₃N@NC and their application as dual-functional catalysts in water electrolyzers. The accelerated electrochemical oxygen and hydrogen evolution reaction (EOER/EHER) is due to its heterostructure and ambipolar behavior leading to the presence of active sites for EOER and EHER, as confirmed by in-situ Raman analysis.