Lignocellulosic pruning waste adsorbents to remove emerging contaminants from tyre wear and pharmaceuticals present in wastewater in circular economy scenario.

The following work explores a sustainable approach to repurpose organic waste from poplar pruning into lignocellulosic waste-based activated carbons (LPWACs) through environmentally friendly thermochemical processes and in line with circular economy principles. The developed LPWACs, activated by potassium hydroxide (KOH) at two different temperatures and weight ratios, exhibited promising textural properties with BET surface area (S) and total pore volume (V) reaching up to 1336 m·g and 0.588 cm·g, respectively.

Use of organic fertilizers in solar photo-Fenton process as potential technology to remove pineapple processing wastewater in Costa Rica.

This work studied the use of the organic fertilizers DTPA-Fe and EDDS-Fe as iron chelates for solar driven photo-Fenton process at natural pH. This process was proposed to investigate its performance on removing a mixture of agrochemicals (propiconazole, imidacloprid and diuron) from pineapple processing wastewater to obtain a suitable effluent to be reused in the agricultural sector. Experiments were carried out in a solar simulator with a stirred cylindric photoreactor, with a volume of 150 mL and controlled temperature (20°C).

Role of sunlight and oxygen on the performance of photo-Fenton process at near neutral pH using organic fertilizers as iron chelates.

Nowadays, reaction mechanisms of photo-Fenton process with chelated iron are not yet clearly defined. In this study, five organic fertilizers were used as iron complexes to investigate the role of sunlight and oxygen in photo-Fenton at near neutral pH. UV absorbance and stability constant of each selected iron chelate is different, and this work demonstrates that these parameters affect the reaction mechanisms in SMX degradation.

Mixtures of chelating agents to enhance photo-Fenton process at natural pH: Influence of wastewater matrix on micropollutant removal and bacterial inactivation.

Three organic fertilizers (EDTA (Ethylenedinitrilotetraacetic acid), EDDS (Ethylenediamine-N, N'-disuccinic acid) and DTPA (Diethylene triamine pentaacetic acid)) were tested as Fe-complexes in photo-Fenton process at natural pH for micropollutants (MPs) abatement and simultaneous E.coli inactivation. Less stable Fe-complexes show high iron precipitation, stopping MPs degradation.

Can ozone inactivate SARS-CoV-2? A review of mechanisms and performance on viruses.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has challenged societies around the globe. Technologies based on ozone, a powerful oxidant, have been evaluated to inactivate this virus in aerosols and fomites. However, the high data diversity hinders the possibility of establishing a common ground for determining best practices for the use of these technologies.