Extraction and Analysis of Emerging Environmental Pollutants

A special issue of Separations (ISSN 2297-8739). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Separations".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2023) | Viewed by 6587

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Interests: emerging pollutant; transport fate; spatial anaylsis; risk assessment
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Guest Editor
School of Environment, Tsinghua University, 30 Shuangqing Road, Beijing, 100084, China
Interests: econometric analysis; economic effect and benefit analysis of environmental pollution; environmental pollution, carbon reduction, and synergy; environmental pollution and sustainable development
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Key Laboratory of Environmental Nanotechnology and Health Effects Research, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China
Interests: environmental analysis; environmental modeling; pollution control; risk management

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Guest Editor
Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Environment and Ecology of China, Nanjing 210042, China
Interests: emerging persistent organic pollutants; analytical method; risk assessment; risk management

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Nowadays, over 150 million chemicals have been registered for commercial use globally, and the production of chemicals is predicted to increase. Some chemicals enter the environment and are identified to have adverse effects on human health and ecosystem safety, and are even outside the safe operating space of our planetary boundary. Although traditional target analytical methodologies have detected some harmful chemicals present in the environment, there are still large amounts of chemicals remaining that are unknown. Recent advances in high-resolution mass spectrometry have increased the interest in non-target screening approaches to all identifiable substances. Thus, using a novel methodology to extract and analyze these emerging (unknown) environmental pollutants is feasible and of great significance to know their environment hazards as well as promote their phase-out.

This research topic is being proposed to act as a platform for researchers to share their findings on issues related to the extraction and analysis of emerging environmental pollutants. In this research topic, we welcome submissions of original research and review articles focused on, but not limited to, the following topics:

  • Identifying emerging (unknown) pollutants using novel technologies, such as non-target screening.
  • Analyzing the occurrence, spatial distribution, and temporal variation of emerging environmental pollutants in the environment.
  • Determining sources, pathways, and sinks of emerging environmental pollutants via field investigations or model simulations.
  • Assessing the ecological and health risks of emerging environmental pollutants using meta-analyses, machine learning, or risk ranking.
  • Formulating policies, regulations, or strategies for mitigating contamination levels of emerging environmental pollutants.

Dr. Yunqiao Zhou
Dr. Sheng Zhang
Dr. Bin Shi
Dr. Yueqing Zhang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Separations is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • emerging environmental pollutants
  • extraction method
  • non-target screening
  • transport process
  • pollution control
  • model simulation
  • risk assessment
  • meta-analysis
  • machine learning
  • policy

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 4078 KiB  
Article
Effective Removal of Methylene Blue by Mn3O4/NiO Nanocomposite under Visible Light
by Komal Majeed, Jaweria Ambreen, Saeed Ahmed Khan, Saz Muhammad, Aqeel Ahmed Shah, Muhammad Ali Bhatti, Syeda Sitwat Batool, Muhammad Farooq, Syed Nizam Uddin Shah Bukhari, Ali Dad Chandio, Sadaf Jamal Gilani and May Nasser Bin Jumah
Separations 2023, 10(3), 200; https://doi.org/10.3390/separations10030200 - 14 Mar 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1977
Abstract
Wastewater treatment is indispensable as wastewater can lead to adverse health effects and deteriorate the quality of life on earth. Photocatalysis is a facile methodology to address this issue. In this study, nanocomposites (NCs) of manganese oxide (Mn3O4) and [...] Read more.
Wastewater treatment is indispensable as wastewater can lead to adverse health effects and deteriorate the quality of life on earth. Photocatalysis is a facile methodology to address this issue. In this study, nanocomposites (NCs) of manganese oxide (Mn3O4) and nickel oxide (NiO) were synthesized in different weight ratios via the solid-state reaction route. Structural properties, optical properties, surface morphology, and functional group analysis of the synthesized nanomaterials were conducted using X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV– Vis spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) along with energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, respectively. The bandgap of the nanocomposite decreases significantly from 2.35 eV for the Mn3O4 NPs to 1.65 eV for the Mn3O4/NiO nanocomposite (NC). Moreover, adsorption studies followed by the photocatalytic performance of the Mn3O4/NiO NCs were evaluated to determine the removal of methylene blue (MB) dye from wastewater. The photocatalytic performance of the nanocomposite enhances as the ratio of Mn3O4 in the composite increases from one weight percentage to three weight percentage. The photocatalytic degradation efficiency was calculated to be 95%. The results show that the synthesized NCs could play an important role in photocatalytic wastewater purification and environmental remediation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Extraction and Analysis of Emerging Environmental Pollutants)
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12 pages, 3237 KiB  
Article
Inter-Comparisons of Major Ions and Organic Matter Using Aerodyne Aerosol Mass Spectrometer, Ion Chromatography and Sunset Lab Carbon Analyzer in Aged Aerosols from Okinawa in the Western North Pacific Rim
by Bhagawati Kunwar, Kazuhiro Torii, Akinori Takami and Kimitaka Kawamura
Separations 2022, 9(12), 430; https://doi.org/10.3390/separations9120430 - 11 Dec 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1745
Abstract
Inorganic components were measured in the aged ambient aerosols from Cape Hedo, Okinawa, an outflow region of East Asia, using online quadrupole Aerodyne aerosol mass spectrometer (Q-AMS) and offline ion chromatography (IC) and Sunset Lab carbon analyzer. Here, we performed an inter-comparison study [...] Read more.
Inorganic components were measured in the aged ambient aerosols from Cape Hedo, Okinawa, an outflow region of East Asia, using online quadrupole Aerodyne aerosol mass spectrometer (Q-AMS) and offline ion chromatography (IC) and Sunset Lab carbon analyzer. Here, we performed an inter-comparison study on nitrate (NO3), ammonium (NH4+) and sulfate (SO42−) that were measured by IC and AMS. Sulfate and ammonium showed a good agreement between two instruments. However, abundances of NO3 by AMS are on average twice overestimated compared to nitrate obtained by IC. We also found that a significant amount of organic nitrogen (ON) was detected in the filter samples from Okinawa. The online measurement (Q-AMS) data and offline filter based-NO3 data need to be carefully evaluated when ON is abundantly present in aerosols. The OM/OC ratios derived from AMS are consistent with the bulk OMAMS/OCSunset ratios (2.1). This study demonstrates that the OM/OC of 2.1 is the reasonable criteria for more aged aerosols. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Extraction and Analysis of Emerging Environmental Pollutants)
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14 pages, 2191 KiB  
Article
Effect of Oily Aerosol Charge Characteristics on the Filtration Efficiency of an Electrostatically Enhanced Fibrous Filter System
by Yi Yu, Di Pan, Kai Kang, Shu-Pei Bai, Hao Han, Hua Song and Jian Kang
Separations 2022, 9(10), 320; https://doi.org/10.3390/separations9100320 - 20 Oct 2022
Viewed by 1024
Abstract
The synergistic effect of electrostatically enhanced fibrous filtration originates from the charging characteristics of aerosol particles and electret fibers in an electric field. Two electrostatically enhanced fibrous filter systems are designed in this study to investigate the mechanism of the effects of the [...] Read more.
The synergistic effect of electrostatically enhanced fibrous filtration originates from the charging characteristics of aerosol particles and electret fibers in an electric field. Two electrostatically enhanced fibrous filter systems are designed in this study to investigate the mechanism of the effects of the charging characteristics of oily aerosol on the filtration efficiency. We investigate the charging characteristics and their effects on the filtration efficiency of dioctyl-phthalate (DOP) aerosol particles of various sizes by setting different filter systems and electric field intensities. The experimental results show that the charge of DOP particles increases with the strength of the electric field, and the average charge increases with the particle size. The maximum charge of DOP particles reaches 4760 eC/P, and the filtration efficiency of the coupled system improves when DOP particles are amply charged. For 0.25 μm DOP particles as the most penetrating particle size, the system had good long-term stability, and the filtration efficiency is approximately 72% higher than that of the fiber acting alone. Meanwhile, the problem of oily aerosol deposition reducing the electret filtration efficiency is solved, providing a basis for long-term filtration and oily aerosol purification by electret fiber. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Extraction and Analysis of Emerging Environmental Pollutants)
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10 pages, 5386 KiB  
Article
Surface Acidification of BiOI/TiO2 Composite Enhanced Efficient Photocatalytic Degradation of Benzene
by Ziwang Zhao, Hao Wang, Chunyu Wang, Yuan Sun, Hao Han, Jian Kang, Yanchun Dong and Lei Wang
Separations 2022, 9(10), 315; https://doi.org/10.3390/separations9100315 - 17 Oct 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1295
Abstract
A novel BiOI/TiO2 nano-heterojunction was prepared using hydrothermal and sol-gel methods. The composite material was characterized by X-ray diffraction, ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflection spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The crystallinity and response to light of BiOI/TiO2 were controlled by [...] Read more.
A novel BiOI/TiO2 nano-heterojunction was prepared using hydrothermal and sol-gel methods. The composite material was characterized by X-ray diffraction, ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflection spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The crystallinity and response to light of BiOI/TiO2 were controlled by preparation conditions such as the optimal solvent condition and heat treatment temperature. The photocatalytic activity of the BiOI/TiO2 catalyst was examined using benzene as a test molecule. The benzene degradation rate of the composite catalyst under visible light was enhanced compared to pure TiO2, thus reaching 40% of the original benzene concentration, which increased further to >60% after surface acidification. The fluorescence spectra, light current, and electron paramagnetic resonance confirmed that the enhanced activity was attributed to carrier separation by the heterojunction. The acid sites and active chlorine of hydrochloric acidification offer a novel mechanism for photocatalytic reactions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Extraction and Analysis of Emerging Environmental Pollutants)
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