Resource Recovery Strategy of Rapid Screening Kits for Diseases through Ozonation

Abstract

Rapid disease screening kits are widely used due to their efficiency and convenience in disease screening. However, the resulting medical waste poses a significant environmental burden. Recycling this waste in a resourceful manner not only protects the environment from pollution but also maximizes savings in resources and energy consumption. In this study, we developed a scalable, simple, and efficient method for the resourceful recovery of assay kits. The method achieves simultaneous 100% pathogen inactivation in the kits, complete leaching of gold nanoparticles (Au NPs), and nondestructive recovery of plastics and tampons. Additionally, our mechanistic study on Au leaching has demonstrated that water plays a crucial role as the initiator for the Au dissolution reaction, and the hydroxyl radical (•OH) serves as an important reactive oxygen species. This research introduces a novel approach for dissolving the precious metal gold and provides a viable technology for the resource utilization of waste disease screening kits.

Enhancing Tetracycline Removal Efficiency through Ozone Micro–Nano Bubbles: Environmental Implication and Degradation Pathway

“…When the surface tension of the micronano bubble exceeds the internal pressure, the micronano bubble undergoes a violent collapse. This event releases the internal high pressure, leading to localized high temperature, which, in turn, cleave water molecules and promote the conversion of OH – adsorbed on the surface and free OH – in the water into •OH (eqs and ) . The drastic environmental changes caused by the breakage of micronano bubbles will also accelerate the decomposition of ozone, produce more active 1 O 2 , and under alkaline conditions, water molecules (H 2 O) can react with superoxide anions (O 2 – ) to form hydroxyl radicals (•OH) and hydroxide ions (OH – ) (eq ).…”