X-ray analysis of ZnO nanoparticles by Williamson–Hall and size–strain plot methods

Water pollution is a global problem threatening the entire biosphere and affecting the life of many millions of people around the world. Not only is water pollution one of the foremost global risk factors for illness, diseases and death, but it also contributes to the continuous reduction of the available drinkable water worldwide. Delivering valuable solutions, which are easy to implement and affordable, often remains a challenge. Here we review the current state-of-the-art of available technologies for water purification and discuss their field of application for heavy metal ion removal, as heavy metal ions are the most harmful and widespread contaminants. We consider each technology in the context of sustainability, a largely neglected key factor, which may actually play a pivotal role in the implementation of each technology in real applications, and we introduce a compact index, the Ranking Efficiency Product (REP), to evaluate the efficiency and ease of implementation of the various technologies in this broader perspective. Emerging technologies, for which a detailed quantitative analysis and assessment is not yet possible according to this methodology, either due to scarcity or inhomogeneity of data, are discussed in the final part of the manuscript.

Sustainable technologies for water purification from heavy metals: review and analysis

Emerging natural and tailored materials for uranium-contaminated water treatment and environmental remediation

Mussel-inspired fabrication of functional materials and their environmental applications: Progress and prospects

With the development of nuclear energy, large amounts of radionuclides are inevitably released into the natural environment. It is necessary to eliminate radionuclides from wastewater for the protection of environment. Nanomaterials have been considered as the potential candidates for the effective and selective removal of radionuclides from aqueous solutions under complicated conditions because of their high specific surface area, large amounts of binding sites, abundant functional groups, pore-size controllable and easily surface modification. This review mainly summarized the recent studies for the synthesis, fabrication and surface modification of novel nanomaterials and their applications in the efficient elimination and solidification of radionuclides, and discussed the interaction mechanisms from batch experiments, spectroscopy analysis and theoretical calculations. The sorption capacities with other materials, advantages and disadvantages of different nanomaterials are compared, and at last the perspective of the novel nanomaterials is summarized.

Synthesis of novel nanomaterials and their application in efficient removal of radionuclides

Adsorption of uranium from aqueous solution by PAMAM dendron functionalized styrene divinylbenzene

NiO nanorods of diameter 50−100 nm and length 400−500 nm doped with Fe have been synthesized in the presence of ethylenediamine by the hydrothermal method. The lattice constant does not change appr...

Synthesis and Room Temperature Ferromagnetism in Fe Doped NiO Nanorods

Diglycolamide functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (DGA-MWCNTs) were synthesized by sequential chemical reactions for removal of uranium from aqueous solution. Characterization studies were carried out using FT-IR spectroscopy, XRD and SEM analysis. Adsorption of uranium from aqueous solution on this material was studied as a function of nitric acid concen- tration, adsorbent dose and initial uranium concentration. The uranium adsorption data on DGA-MWCNTs followed the Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms. The adsorption capacity of DGA-MWCNTs as well as adsorp- tion isotherms and the effect of temperature on uranium ion adsorption were investigated. The standard enthalpy, entropy, and free energy of adsorption of the uranium with DGA-MWCNTs were calculated to be 6.09 kJ mole -1 , 0.106 kJ mole -1 K -1 and -25.51 kJ mole -1 respectively at 298K. The results suggest that DGA-MWCNTs can be used as efficient adsorbent for uranium ion removal.

Diglycolamide functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes for removal of uranium from aqueous solution by adsorption

Structural and thermoelectric properties of metallic and semiconducting Sb2Te3 are reported. X-Ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy studies reveal that semiconducting sample has higher defect density. Nature and origin of possible defects are highlighted. Semiconducting Sb2Te3 hosts larger numbers of defects, which act as scattering center and give rise to the increased value of resistivity, thermopower, and power factor. Thermopower data indicate p-type nature of the synthesized samples. It is evidenced that the surface states are often mixed with the bulk state, giving rise to metallicity in Sb2Te3. Role of different scattering mechanism on the thermoelectric property of Sb2Te3 is discussed.

A. K. Deb

Papers

Adsorption of uranium from aqueous solution by PAMAM dendron functionalized styrene divinylbenzene

Synthesis and Room Temperature Ferromagnetism in Fe Doped NiO Nanorods

Diglycolamide functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes for removal of uranium from aqueous solution by adsorption

Defect induced structural and thermoelectric properties of Sb2Te3 alloy

Enhanced magnetic behavior of Al substituted LaFeO3 (La(1 − x)AlxFeO3, x = 0.10 and 0.30)