Improvement of zero waste sustainable recovery using microbial energy generation systems: A comprehensive review.

The release of pharmaceuticals into the environment induces adverse effects on the metabolism of humans and other living species, calling for advanced remediation methods. Conventional removal methods are often non-selective and cause secondary contamination. These issues may be partly solved by the use of recently-developped adsorbents such as molecularly imprinted polymers. Here we review the synthesis and application of molecularly imprinted polymers for removing pharmaceuticals in water. Molecularly imprinted polymers are synthesized via several multiple-step polymerization methods. Molecularly imprinted polymers are potent adsorbents at the laboratory scale, yet their efficiency is limited by template leakage and polymer quality. Adsorption performance of multi-templated molecularly imprinted polymers depends on the design of wastewater treatment plants, pharmaceutical consumption patterns and the population serviced by these wastewater treatment plants. 

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Remediation of pharmaceuticals from contaminated water by molecularly imprinted polymers: a review

The physicochemical properties of stimuli-responsive polymers can be easily adjusted using changes in their external environment. This attribute made them to capture the attention of many researchers as this facilitates their recovery from the bulk sample after the separation process. Researchers have used stimuli-responsive materials such as pH-responsive, thermo-responsive and light-responsive polymers in separation science. They have utilized them during adsorption studies, aqueous two-phase systems and membrane systems. These applications of various types of stimuli-responsive polymers are well-articulated in this review. The advantages and limitations of some of the stimuli-responsive polymers are also summarised in this paper. In addition, the challenges and future prospects of stimuli-responsive polymer are also explored in detail in this review. 

Stimuli-responsive polymers and their applications in separation science

Inspired by the recognition mechanism of biological molecules, molecular imprinting techniques (MITs) are imparted with numerous merits like excellent stability, recognition specificity, adsorption properties, and easy synthesis processes, and thus broaden the avenues for convenient fabrication protocol of bio‐inspired molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) with desirable functions to satisfy the extensive demands of biomedical applications. Herein, the recent research progress made with respect to bio‐inspired imprinting materials is discussed in this review. First, the underlying mechanism and basic components of a typical molecular imprinting procedure are briefly explored. Then, emphasis is put on the introduction of diverse MITs and novel bio‐inspired imprinting materials. Following these two sections, practical applications of MIPs in the field of biomedical science are focused on. Last but not least, perspectives on the remaining challenges and future development of bio‐inspired imprinting materials are presented.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1002/advs.202202038

Bio‐Inspired Imprinting Materials for Biomedical Applications

Pharmaceutical wastewater (PWW) is rapidly growing into one of the world’s most serious environmental and public health issues. Existing wastewater treatment systems carry numerous loopholes in supplying the ever-increasing need for potable water resulting from rises in population, urbanization, and industrial growth, and the volume of wastewater produced is growing each day. At present, conventional treatment methods, such as coagulation, sedimentation, oxidation, membrane filtration, flocculation, etc., are used to treat PWW. In contrast to these, the application of microbial fuel cells (MFCs) for decontaminating PWW can be a promising technology to replace these methods. MFC technologies have become a trending research topic in recent times. MFCs have also garnered the interest of researchers worldwide as a promising environmental remediation technique. This review extensively discusses the flaws in standalone conventional processes and the integration of MFCs to enhance electricity production and contaminant removal rates, especially with respect to PWW. This article also summarizes the studies reported on various antibiotics and wastes from pharmaceutical industries treated by MFCs, and their efficiencies. Furthermore, the review explains why further research is needed to establish the actual efficiency of MFCs to achieve sustainable, environmentally friendly, and cost-effective wastewater treatment. A brief on technoeconomic impacts has also been made to provide a glimpse of the way these technologies might replace present-day conventional methods.

/pdf/application-of-microbial-fuel-cell-mfc-for-pharmaceutical-1ju4fx14.pdf

Application of Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) for Pharmaceutical Wastewater Treatment: An Overview and Future Perspectives

A descriptive and comparative analysis on the adsorption of PPCPs by molecularly imprinted polymers.

Carbamazepine (CBZ), which is difficult to remove in the wastewater treatment system and easily forms toxic transformation products during the treatment process, is one of the priority pollutants of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs). Increasing attention has been paid to explore their treatment technology without side effects from the treatment products. This study aims to reveal the removal and transformation of CBZ in the microbial fuel cell coupled constructed wetland (CW-MFC) system. The CW-MFC system was operated continuously at room temperature for nearly 80 days. The results show that CW-MFC system can effectively remove CBZ with an average removal rate of 97%. Three transformation products were identified by liquid chromatography−high-resolution mass spectrometry: 2-(2-oxoquinazolin-1(2H)-yl) benzoic acid (TP267), methyl 2-(2-oxoquinazolin-1(2H)-yl) benzoate (TP281), 2-(2,4-dioxo-3,4-dihydroquinazolin-1(2H)-yl) benzoic acid (TP283). Except TP281 in the influent, the other transformation products were formed in the system, which indicated that TP267 and TP283 were the main transformation products of CBZ. The formation pathway of transformation products could be explained by reactions including oxidation, hydrolysis, bond rupture and intramolecular reaction. The results also indicate that the CW-MFC system might be a promising technology for PPCPs treatment.

/pdf/removal-and-fate-of-carbamazepine-in-the-microbial-fuel-cell-1ymgpwyw5f.pdf

Jingyi Xie

Papers

A descriptive and comparative analysis on the adsorption of PPCPs by molecularly imprinted polymers.

Removal and fate of carbamazepine in the microbial fuel cell coupled constructed wetland system