•Review on the current trends and developments of oil/water separation.•Fiber-based membranes have unique advantages in oil/water separation.•The design and fabricating process, main types of the ...fiber-based membranes are presented.•Insights for future perspectives of fiber-based membranes have been cautiously provided.
The separation of oily wastewater, including immiscible oil/water mixtures and emulsified oil/water mixtures, is a worldwide challenge because of the large amount of oily wastewater produced in many industrial processes and daily life. For the treatment of oily wastewater, membrane technology is considered the most efficient method because of its high separation efficiency and relatively simple operational process. Due to highly specific surface areas, interconnected nanoscale pore structures, controllable pore size, the potential of surface texture, and ease of chemical modification, fiber-based membranes with superwetting have become promising versatile platforms for the separation of oil/water mixtures and emulsions. Such fiber-based membranes can be categorized based on type of fiber membrane substrate and the surface wettability. Here, the theory and design of various superwetting states for selective oil/water separation including superhydrophobicity/superoleophilicity, superhydrophilicity/underwater superoleophobicity, Janus wettability, and smart wettability are discussed. Two types of fiber-based membrane substrate including inorganic fibers (e.g. metal mesh, carbon nanotube, and inorganic oxide fibers) and organic fibers (e.g. fabrics fiber and nonwoven fibers) are summarized. The unique advantages of each type fibers have been highlighted, with emphasis on the membrane wetting properties, membrane fouling and representative works. Moreover, the detail progress of fiber-based membrane for separation of both immiscible oil/water mixtures and emulsified ones were introduced. Finally, the challenges and future research directions of fiber-based membrane were briefly discussed.
With the massive discharge of industrial oily wastewater and the frequent occurrence of oil spills at sea in recent years, the fabrication of superhydrophobic and durable oil-absorbing materials is ...urgently required for oil recovery and disposal of oily water in practical applications. In this paper, ultralight, elastic, superhydrophobic and durable carbon fiber aerogels (CFAs) derived from sisal leaves were prepared via simple alkalization, bleaching, freeze-drying and carbonization. The prepared CFAs were characterized using X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, N
2
adsorption–desorption, contact angle measurement and scanning electron microscopy. The as-prepared CFAs with 3D porous architectures and excellent flexibility under compression were found to be effective oil absorption material for various oils and organic solvents. Textural analyses showed that the CFAs consist of fiber morphologies with high porosity originating from vacancies between individual fibers. The nitrogen sorption analysis confirmed that the material is mesoporous with average pore diameter of 3.03 nm and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area of 399.85 m
2
/g. The contact angle measurements revealed that CFAs show both superoleophilic and superhydrophobic properties simultaneously with an oil contact angle of 0° and a static water contact angle of 153 ± 1°, thus the aerogels possessed a good oil–water separation ability. Furthermore, the CFAs exhibited a superior absorption capacity in the range from 90 to 188 times of their own weight for different organic solvents and oils. After recycling 10 times, the CFAs still exhibit excellent oils absorption properties, as well as exhibit excellent stability under harsh conditions, showing that the CFAs has excellent reusability performance. This work provides a green strategy to utilize low-cost biomass as raw materials to fabricate superhydrophobic CFAs as an oil absorbent, which has great potential in application of disposal of oily water and environmental protection.
Multifunctional nanomaterials with efficient tumor‐targeting and high antitumor activity are highly anticipated in the field of cancer therapy. In this work, a synergetic tumor‐targeted, ...chemo‐photothermal combined therapeutic nanoplatform based on a dynamically PEGylated, borate‐coordination‐polymer‐coated polydopamine nanoparticle (PDA@CP‐PEG) is developed. PEGylation on the multifunctional nanoparticles is dynamically achieved via the reversible covalent interaction between the surface phenylboronic acid (PBA) group and a catechol‐containing poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) molecule. Due to the acid‐labile PBA/catechol complex and the weak‐acid‐stable PBA/sialic acid (SA) complex, the nanoparticles can exhibit a synergetic targeting property for the SA‐overexpressed tumor cells, i.e., the PEG‐caused “passive targeting” and PBA‐triggered “active targeting” under the weakly acidic tumor microenvironment. In addition, the photothermal effect of the polydopamine core and the doxorubicin‐loading capacity of the porous coordination polymer layer endow the nanoparticles with the potential for chemo‐photothermal combination therapy. As expected, the in vitro and in vivo studies both verify that the multifunctional nanoparticles possess relatively lower systematic toxicity, efficient tumor targeting ability, and excellent chemo‐photothermal activity for tumor inhibition. It is believed that these multifunctional nanoparticles with synergetic tumor targeting property and combined therapeutic strategies would provide an insight into the design of a high‐efficiency antitumor nanoplatform for potential clinical applications.
Double‐insurance: A synergetic tumor targeted and chemo‐photothermal cancer therapeutic nanoplatform based on dynamically PEGylated and borate‐coordination‐polymer‐coated polydopamine nanoparticles is demonstrated here. The combination of PEGylation‐caused “passive targeting” and phenylboronic acid‐triggered “active targeting” endow the antitumor nanoplatform with low systematic toxicity, efficient tumor targeting, and excellent antitumor activity in vivo.
With the booming requirements for diabetes management, food quality control, and bioprocess inspection, monitoring of glucose in various matrices has drawn unprecedented interest of both academic and ...industrial researchers recently. As a relatively new class of glucose sensors, enzyme-free detection of the target is capable of providing several fascinating characters such as ultra-high sensitivity, excellent stability, and simple fabrication. Considering the rapid expansion of the glucose determination field without using any biological enzymes, here we focus our attention on updating the latest advances in non-enzymatic electrochemical glucose sensors based on non-noble transition metal materials achieved in the past few years. In this minireview, both the superiorities and the intrinsic drawbacks of detecting glucose by employing non-precious materials including Ni, Cu, Co, Mn, and Fe are intensively highlighted, followed by a systematic discussion on the important progress harvested for enzymeless glucose sensing. Finally, the potential opportunities of non-noble transition metal materials in fabricating high-performance enzyme-free glucose sensors are given, and the current challenges for their practical applications are also summarized.
We summarize the latest advances of non-enzymatic glucose detection using non-noble transition metal materials, highlighting their opportunities and challenges.
Tellurium, a rare element with special properties, has practical industrial application value, but the extensive utilization of tellurium has caused irreparable damage to the ecological environment ...and human health. Meanwhile, the toxicity of Te(IV) is higher than that of Te(VI), thus it is crucial to develop an environmentally friendly material for removing Te(IV). In this work, bacterial cellulose membrane (BCM) was prepared by dissolution and regeneration of bacterial cellulose (BC), and then a novel TiO
2
coated BCM (TiO
2
@BCM) was prepared by in-situ growth of TiO
2
on the surface of BCM by hydrothermal method, which can be used for tellurium adsorption from tellurium-containing contaminants with maximum adsorption capacity of 103.64 mg/g. Importantly, BC is a sustainable, degradable and renewable material that is widely used worldwide. It also can be used as a novel support for TiO
2
with the advantages of enhanced adsorption recycling. Besides, kinetics and thermodynamics studies show that tellurium was adsorbed onto TiO
2
@BCM by chemical interactions through the monolayer. Furthermore, the possible adsorption mechanism is also proposed, which was achieved by ion exchange between -OH on the surface of TiO
2
@BCM and TeO
3
2−
in aqueous solution. Additionally, TiO
2
@BCM has excellent regenerability and still achieve 50% removal efficiency after the ninth cycle. Therefore, these unique advantages of TiO
2
@BCM make it as a potential candidate for practical application in tellurium separation.
Graphic abstract
Adsorption process of tellurium by TiO2@BCM with good cycle and high adsorption capacity.
Due to frequent oil spill accidents and the increase of industrial oily wastewater, the removal of oil and organic pollutants from water is highly desired. In this work, a low-cost and durable ...flexible membrane made of layered double hydroxides nanosheets on cellulose support is successfully fabricated by combining the in situ growth technique and hydrophobic modification. Firstly, the rough surface is fabricated by in situ growth of Zn-Al layered double hydroxide nanosheets. Then, the superhydrophobic surface is obtained by grafting the silane coupling agent. The relevant results revealed that the obtained membrane showed both superhydrophobic and superoleophilic propertied simultaneously. The samples not only show high separation efficiency (all above 94.4%), great chemical durability and good recyclability, but also display excellent separation properties for surfactant-stabilized water-in-oil emulsions with high separation efficiency (less than 25 ppm) and good flux (500 Lm−2h−1) without extra energy. Therefore, the superhydrophobic layered double hydroxide/cellulose membranes enable an efficient separation for various oil/water emulsions, showing attractive potential for practical oil/water separation.
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•LDH/cellulose membrane is prepared by in situ growth and hydrophobic modification.•The membrane exhibits superhydrophobic/superoleophilic property.•Reusability and corrosion resistance of membranes are investigated.•The membrane can efficiently separate free oil and emulsion pollution.
In the view of sustainable development and environmental protection, degradable agricultural films with on-demand thermal insulation properties have attracted growing research interest in the last ...few decades due to the deteriorating environment and extreme climate on the growth and existence of crops. Here, a general strategy has been developed to fabricate degradable silver nanowires modified cellulose (AgNW/cellulose) hybrid film with controllable thermal insulation and antibacterial properties by using plant cellulose and AgNWs as building blocks, PVA and PEG as film forming solvent, as well as their agriculture application. The results show that the AgNWs are evenly dispersed in the three-dimensional grid of cellulose, that they form a film that can withstand a certain tensile force and have good thermal stability. Due to the excellent electrical conductivity, the AgNW/cellulose hybrid films can provide excellent Joule heating, generating rapid thermal response and uniform electrical heating at a low supply voltage of 3 V. In the antibacterial tests against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, the AgNW/cellulose hybrid films exhibited large diameters of inhibition zones, revealing the high antibacterial activity. Additionally, the AgNW/cellulose hybrid films showed highly stretchable behavior by delivering a breaking strain of 1.5% with a tensile stress of 0.45 MPa owing to the cross-linked structures of cellulose and AgNWs. Based on the above properties, this study not only provides a potential strategy for the fabrication of flexible and biodegradable agricultural films but also may provide new insights for agricultural thermal management.
Paper cultural relics are prone to embrittlement, yellowing, powdering, mildew and damage due to the brittleness of materials, natural deterioration, microbial corrosion, and man-made destruction. To ...prolong the expected life of paper cultural relics, a series of novel microcrystalline cellulose/TiO
2
/fluorine/styrene-acrylate coatings were prepared with modified microcrystalline cellulose, modified nano-TiO
2
, dodecafluoroheptyl methacrylate, and several acrylate monomers. The prepared coatings were analyzed by infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, UV–Vis spectroscopy, and performance-testing devices. In addition, the optimized protective coatings were coated on the simulated paper cultural relic surface, and its protective effects were evaluated by tensile strength retention rate and weight loss rate. When the content of modified nano-TiO
2
was 1.0 wt%, the protective coatings exhibited good hydrophobicity, oil repellency, mechanical strength, anti-aging, and reversibility.
Graphic abstract
Recovery of the tellurium from wastewater is significant for both industrial applications and sustainable development due to the adverse impacts emanating from environmental pollution and strategic ...values in the photovoltaic industry. Herein, this study presents the recovery of tellurium from wastewater by flower-like structure ZnO−Ag@cellulose (ZAC) composite. Cellulose was first extracted from waste wood debris by an alkaline extraction process. Then, the flower-like structure of ZAC composite was synthesized by a facile one-step hydrothermal method. The obtained materials were conducted under different parameters to investigate tellurium adsorption properties. Thermodynamic and kinetic results indicate that the adsorption process of tellurium is dominated by monolayer exothermic chemisorption. Besides, as-prepared ZAC exhibited excellent performance for tellurium elimination from wastewater with superior removal efficiency of 98.86%. ZAC also shows outstanding antifouling performance in polluted environments, and still achieves 94.23% adsorption efficiency for tellurium. Moreover, the ZAC composite reveals high reusability and stability after six desorption-regeneration cycles. Importantly, the ZAC composite exhibits disinfection performance against E. coli and S. aureus. Therefore, this work not only demonstrates that ZAC composite is an efficient adsorbent with antifouling and antibacterial ability, but also provides an effective channel for wastewater decontamination and practical application as a promising candidate.
Graphic abstract
The energy consumption for building cooling occupies non-ignorable part of global energy consumption, causing the increasing aggravation of energy crisis and environmental deterioration. Because of ...the zero consumption and discharge features, researchers have attached much importance to the passive radiative cooling which is considered as a promising method with practical application potential. In this work, a superhydrophobic ZnO nanorods@cellulose membrane for efficient building radiative cooling was fabricated via in-situ growth method and followed by a modification process with sodium laurate. The obtained cellulose membrane exhibited high visible reflectance up to 93.6% and thermal emissivity of 0.841 in atmosphere window spectrum. An average 5 °C temperature reduction under direct radiation was obtained in simulation experiment owing to its good optical performance. Moreover, a water contact angle over 150° and the rolling angle less than 7° indicated the super hydrophobicity and associated self-cleaning properties. The good flexibility derived from cellulose enables membranes to adhere well to complex shaped surfaces. Therefore, the hydrophobic and flexible ZnO nanorods@cellulose membrane with effective passive radiative cooling performance is promising for applications in residential building cooling or even vehicles, machines and facilities cooling and maintain.
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