Eleni Vaiopoulou

Bio: Eleni Vaiopoulou is an academic researcher from Democritus University of Thrace. The author has contributed to research in topics: Wastewater & Chemical oxygen demand. The author has an hindex of 11, co-authored 22 publications receiving 633 citations.

Efficient techniques for the removal of toxic heavy metals from aquatic environment: A review

Abstract: The controversy related to the environment pollution is increasing in human life and in the eco-system. Especially, the water pollution is growing rapidly due to the wastewater discharge from the industries. The only way to find the new water resource is the reuse of treated wastewater. Several remediation technologies are available which provides a convenience to reuse the reclaimed wastewater. Heavy metals like Zn, Cu, Pb, Ni, Cd, Hg, etc. contributes various environmental problems based on their toxicity. These toxic metals are exposed to human and environment, the accumulation of ions takes place which causes serious health and environmental hazards. Hence, it is a major concern in the environment. Due to this concern, the significance of developing technology for removing heavy metals has been increased. This paper contributes the outline of new literature with two objectives. First, it provides the sketch about treatment technologies followed by their heavy metal capture capacity from industrial effluent. The treatment performance, their remediation capacity and probable environmental and health impacts were deliberated in this review article. Conclusively, this review paper furnishes the information about the important methods incorporated in lab scale studies which are required to identify the feasible and convenient wastewater treatment. Moreover, attempts have been made to confer the emphasis on sequestration of heavy metals from industrial effluent and establish the scientific background for reducing the discharge of heavy metals into the environment.

A review on detection of heavy metal ions in water – An electrochemical approach

Abstract: Most of the metal ions are carcinogens and lead to serious health concerns by producing free radicals. Hence, fast and accurate detection of metal ions has become a critical issue. Among various metal ions arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury and chromium are considered to be highly toxic. To detect these metal ions, electrochemical biosensors with interfaces such as microorganisms, enzymes, microspheres, nanomaterials like gold, silver nanoparticles, CNTs, and metal oxides have been developed. Among these, nanomaterials are considered to be most promising, owing to their strong adsorption, fast electron transfer kinetics, and biocompatibility, which are very apt for biosensing applications. The coupling of electrochemical techniques with nanomaterials has enhanced the sensitivity, limit of detection, and robustness of the sensors. In this review, toxicity mechanisms of various metal ions and their relationship towards the induction of oxidative stress have been summarized. Also, electrochemical biosensors employed in the detection of metal ions with various interfaces have been highlighted.

Sulfur-driven autotrophic denitrification: diversity, biochemistry, and engineering applications

Abstract: Sulfur-driven autotrophic denitrification refers to the chemolithotrophic process coupling denitrification with the oxidation of reduced inorganic sulfur compounds. Ever since 1904, when Thiobacillus denitrificans was isolated, autotrophic denitrifiers and their uncultured close relatives have been continuously identified from highly diverse ecosystems including hydrothermal vents, deep sea redox transition zones, sediments, soils, inland soda lakes, etc. Currently, 14 valid described species within α-, β-, γ-, and e-Proteobacteria have been identified as capable of autotrophic denitrification. Autotrophic denitrification is also widely applied in environmental engineering for the removal of sulfide and nitrate from different water environments. This review summarizes recent researches on autotrophic denitrification, highlighting its diversity, metabolic traits, and engineering applications.