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Studies in Surface Science and Catalysis

Abatement of various types of VOCs by adsorption/catalytic oxidation: A review

New generation nano-adsorbents for the removal of emerging contaminants in water

Poor air quality is globally the largest environmental health risk. Epidemiological studies have uncovered clear relationships of gaseous pollutants and particulate matter (PM) with adverse health outcomes, including mortality by cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Studies of health impacts by aerosols are highly multidisciplinary with a broad range of scales in space and time. We assess recent advances and future challenges regarding aerosol effects on health from molecular to global scales through epidemiological studies, field measurements, health-related properties of PM, and multiphase interactions of oxidants and PM upon respiratory deposition. Global modeling combined with epidemiological exposure-response functions indicates that ambient air pollution causes more than four million premature deaths per year. Epidemiological studies usually refer to PM mass concentrations, but some health effects may relate to specific constituents such as bioaerosols, polycyclic aromatic compounds, and transition metals. Various analytical techniques and cellular and molecular assays are applied to assess the redox activity of PM and the formation of reactive oxygen species. Multiphase chemical interactions of lung antioxidants with atmospheric pollutants are crucial to the mechanistic and molecular understanding of oxidative stress upon respiratory deposition. The role of distinct PM components in health impacts and mortality needs to be clarified by integrated research on various spatiotemporal scales for better evaluation and mitigation of aerosol effects on public health in the Anthropocene.

Aerosol Health Effects from Molecular to Global Scales

Advanced materials are essential to the quality of modern day life, but the synthesis of these compounds is often inefficient in terms of energy, time and resources; especially when considering the hydrothermal batch methods used to prepare many such compounds – often requiring week-long reaction times with variable yields and product quality. In contrast, Continuous flow synthesis (CFS) provides a more readily scalable means for the efficient, effective and reproducible synthesis of inorganic compounds. This publication demonstrates the novel CFS of several metal ammonium phosphates and compare the effect of synthesis route on particle size, size distribution, and crystallinity.

Genesis of Pure Se(0) Nano- and Micro- structures in Wastewater

Urban PM2.5 oxidative potential: Importance of chemical species and comparison of two spectrophotometric cell-free assays

The composition of PM1 and PM2.5 samples, metals and their water soluble fractions in the Bologna area (Italy)

The adsorption behaviour of three commonly used drugs, namely ketoprofen, hydrochlorothiazide and atenolol, from diluted aqueous solutions on beta zeolites with different SiO2/Al2O3 ratio (i.e. 25, 38 and 360) was investigated by changing the ionic strength and the pH, before and after thermal treatment of the adsorbents. The selective adsorption of drugs was confirmed by thermogravimetry and X-ray diffraction. The adsorption capacity of beta zeolites was strongly dependent on both the solution pH and the alumina content of the adsorbent. Such a remarkable difference was interpreted as a function of the interactions between drug molecules and zeolite surface functional groups. Atenolol was readily adsorbed on the less hydrophobic zeolite, under pH conditions in which electrostatic interactions were predominant. On the other hand, ketoprofen adsorption was mainly driven by hydrophobic interactions. For undissociated molecules the adsorption capability increased with the increase of hydrophobicity.

Factors affecting drug adsorption on beta zeolites.

Contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), including pharmaceuticals, are frequently detected at low concentrations in natural water and can cause adverse effect in biota, such as antibiotic resistance. Therefore, it is important to reduce their introduction in the environment by increasing their removal efficiency from wastewaters. In this work, a new photocatalytic method for removal of three CECs target molecules (i.e. atenolol, levofloxacin, trimethoprim) from water is proposed. The photoactive species is decatungstate anion both in solution and immobilized on modified silica particles. The degradation process is studied at ambient temperature, atmospheric pressure and at pH values similar to that of natural waters. EPR spin trapping technique and HPLC–MS analysis give evidence that degradation is mediated by OH radicals. The heterogeneous catalyst is stable and can be recycled without a significant loss of efficiency thus opening the possibility of developing new solid materials with interesting photocatalytic performance.

Elena Sarti

Papers

Urban PM2.5 oxidative potential: Importance of chemical species and comparison of two spectrophotometric cell-free assays

The composition of PM1 and PM2.5 samples, metals and their water soluble fractions in the Bologna area (Italy)

Factors affecting drug adsorption on beta zeolites.

Degradation of emerging concern contaminants in water by heterogeneous photocatalysis with Na4W10O32

Determination of n-alkanes, PAHs and nitro-PAHs in PM2.5 and PM1 sampled in the surroundings of a municipal waste incinerator