Benthic microbial fuel cells (BMFCs) are considered to be one of the eco-friendly bioelectrochemical cell approaches nowadays. The utilization of waste materials in BMFCs is to generate energy and concurrently bioremediate the toxic metals from synthetic wastewater, which is an ideal approach. The use of novel electrode material and natural organic waste material as substrates can minimize the present challenges of the BMFCs. The present study is focused on cellulosic derived graphene-polyaniline (GO-PANI) composite anode fabrication in order to improve the electron transfer rate. Several electrochemical and physicochemical techniques are used to characterize the performance of anodes in BMFCs. The maximum current density during polarization behavior was found to be 87.71 mA/m2 in the presence of the GO-PANI anode with sweet potato as an organic substrate in BMFCs, while the GO-PANI offered 15.13 mA/m2 current density under the close circuit conditions in the presence of 1000 Ω external resistance. The modified graphene anode showed four times higher performance than the unmodified anode. Similarly, the remediation efficiency of GO-PANI was 65.51% for Cd (II) and 60.33% for Pb (II), which is also higher than the unmodified graphene anode. Furthermore, multiple parameters (pH, temperature, organic substrate) were optimized to validate the efficiency of the fabricated anode in different environmental atmospheres via BMFCs. In order to ensure the practice of BMFCs at industrial level, some present challenges and future perspectives are also considered briefly.
Titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) is added in sunscreens due to its ability to absorb ultraviolet (UV) light. However, upon irradiation of UV light, reactive oxygen species particularly hydroxyl radical which can damage human skin will be generated. In this study, lignin/TiO 2 composites were employed to quench the hydroxyl radicals generated by the TiO 2 . The lignin was extracted from oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) via kraft and soda pulping processes. The kraft lignin composite was labelled as KL/TiO 2 whereas the soda lignin composite was labelled as SL/TiO 2 . The lignins and the composites were characterized by FTIR, UV spectroscopy, 13 C NMR, SEM, EDX, and XRD. The relative hydroxyl radical production of composites and TiO 2 were compared through photo-oxidation of coumarin to 7-hydroxycoumarin as a test medium. The effect of types and amounts of lignin used were studied. The KL/TiO 2 composite showed the least radical production due to higher phenolic hydroxyl content of kraft lignin. The activity of the hydroxyl radicals will be quenched when it abstract hydrogen atoms from the phenolic hydroxyl groups.
A new bioelectrochemical approach based on metabolic activities inoculated bacteria, and the microbial fuel cell (MFC) acts as biocatalysts for the natural conversion to energy of organic substrates. Among several factors, the organic substrate is the most critical challenge in MFC, which requires long-term stability. The utilization of unstable organic substrate directly affects the MFC performance, such as low energy generation. Similarly, the interaction and effect of the electrode with organic substrate are well discussed. The electrode-bacterial interaction is also another aspect after organic substrate in order to ensure the MFC performance. The conclusion is based on this literature view; the electrode content is also a significant challenge for MFCs with organic substrates in realistic applications. The current review discusses several commercial aspects of MFCs and their potential prospects. A durable organic substrate with an efficient electron transfer medium (anode electrode) is the modern necessity for this approach.
Background: The 2-phenylphenol is used as an agricultural fungicide. It is generally applied for the post-harvest treatment of fruits and vegetables to protect against microbial damage. It is also used for waxing of citrus fruits and for disinfection of seed boxes. It has been reported that 2-phenyphenol has some toxic effects human beings due to its disposal in the environment. Therefore, preparation of selective materials for the extraction of 2-phenylphenol is important. For this purpose, molecular imprinting polymer (MIP) were prepared by precipitation polymerization using 2-phenylphenol as the template molecule, styrene as the functional monomer, and divinyl benzene as the cross-linker with a non-covalent approach.Results: The polymers were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), Fourier transform infra red spectroscopy (FT-IR), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET). The results obtained from SEM depicted that the shape of polymer particles is spherical with uniform size in micrometers. The BET results also showed better surface area (131.44 m 2 g −1 ), pore size (7.9587 Å), and pore volume (5.23 cc g −1 ) of MIP as compared to NIP. The batch adsorption test was conducted to select a most specific polymer in terms of affinity towards the template. A series of parameters such as initial concentration, polymer dosage, effect of pH, and selectivity with structural analog were conducted. The selectivity of MIP towards the 2pp was very appreciable as compared to its structural analog biphenyl with a good adsorption capacity. Moreover, the MIP as an extractant was successfully applied for extraction of 2-phenylphenol from the spiked blood serum (93%) and river water sample (88%). Conclusion:Molecular imprinting polymer has been successfully synthesized for the selective extraction of 2-phenylphenol from biological and environmental samples. The synthesized material has been applied for the extraction of 2-phenylphenol from blood serum and river water.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.