Cadmium sulfide (CdS) nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized by using banana peel extract as a convenient, non-toxic, eco-friendly 'green' capping agent. Cadmium nitrate and sodium sulfide are main reagents. A variety of CdS NPs are prepared through changing reaction conditions (banana extracts, the amount of banana peel extract, solution pH, concentration and reactive temperature). The prepared CdS colloid displays strong fluorescence spectrum. X-ray diffraction analysis demonstrates the successful formation of CdS NPs. Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) spectrogram indicates the involvement of carboxyl, amine and hydroxyl groups in the formation of CdS NPs. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) result reveals that the average size of the NPs is around 1.48 nm.

To meet the requirement of capturing tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNA) for environment protection, a unique microenvironment was carefully created inside the channels of mesoporous silica MCM-41. In situ carbonization of template micelles at 923 K, combined with the excess aluminum used in one-pot synthesis of MCM-41, is adopted to tailor the tortuosity of mecsoporous channels, while loaded metal oxides (5 wt %) and the Al component in the framework are employed to exert the necessary electrostatic interaction toward the target carcinogens TSNA in solution. The elaborated microenvironment created in mesoporous sorbents was characterized with XRD, N adsorption-desorption, TEM, XPS, and TG-DSC methods. Various solutions of Burley- and Virginia-type tobaccos were used to assess the adsorption performance of new mesoporous sorbents, and the influence of the solid-to-liquid ratio, adsorption time, and loading amount of CuO on the adsorption was carefully examined. The representative sample 5%Cu/AM-10c could capture 27.2% of TSNA in Burley tobacco solution, and its capacity reached 0.3 mg g in Snus tobacco extract solution, offering a promising candidate for the protection of the environment and public health.

Super-hydrophobic silicic xerogel (SG) was prepared from methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) and dimethyldimethoxysilane (DMDMS), and the optimized MTMS to DMDMS molar ratio was determined to be 3/2. To fabricate new effective nitrosamines sorbent in tobacco extract solution, SG was modified by epitaxial growth of mesoporous silica to form the coated composite named as MSGx with a large surface area (152-208 m 2 g -1 ) and pore volume (0.133-0.162 mLg -1 ), and the new sorbent could capture 54~59% of nitrosamines in tobacco solution, superior to zeolite and mesoporous silica. 1 IntroductionNitrosamines are deemed to be the widespread carcinogens characterized with N-nitroso group, including volatile nitrosamines (VNA), non-volatile nitrosamines and tobacco specific nitrosamines (TSNA). TSNA are a group of carcinogens found only in tobacco products. They can cause various cancers or tumors in laboratorial animals and possess the potential carcinogenicity to human though their content in tobacco and tobacco products is in the range of μg g -1 (ppm) or ng g -1 (ppb). Among various efforts controlling the pollution of nitrosamines in environment, one strategy is to adsorb TSNA in tobacco extract solution in order to reduce the injurant at source [1][2][3][4], and effective sorbent is the key. TSNA are oily molecules and their adsorption in tobacco extract solution is inevitably interfered by water [1], so the favorable separation performance between water and oil is vital. Nowadays, many porous hydrophobic materials have been extensively studied [5], including carbon based materials [6], metal oxide nanowires [7,8], biological nanometer fiber [9,10], organic polymer [11,12] and macroporous aerogel [13][14][15], etc. However, complex synthesis and high cost hinders their actual application.Recently, hydrophobic polymethylsilsesquioxane (PMSQ) materials have been synthesized by crosslinking polymerization of methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS), in which mesopores and macropore could be produced through phase separation [16,17].Also, flexible marshmallow-like silicic aerogel/xerogel was synthesized from MTMS and dimethyldimethoxysilane (DMDMS) co-precursor [18]. This aerogel is expected to

Based on the synthesis of super hydrophobic silicic xerogel (SG) from methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) and dimethyldimethoxysilane (DMDMS), siliceous hydrophobic nanoparticles were fabricated within the mesoporous channels of SBA-15, in order to enhance the efficiency of adsorbing tobacco specific N-nitrosamines (TSNA) in aqueous solution. The concentration of precursor solution was adjusted to master the distribution of hydrophobic particles and the mean hydrophobicity of resulting composite, 150% increasing the capacity of SBA-15 in liquid adsorption of TSNA.