The presence of micropollutants in surface water is a potential threat for the production of high quality and safe drinking water. Adsorption of micropollutants onto granular activated carbon (GAC) in fixed-bed filters is often applied as a polishing step in the production of drinking water. Activated carbon can act as a carrier material for biofilm, hence biodegradation can be an additional removal mechanism for micropollutants in GAC filters. To assess the potential of biofilm to biodegrade micropollutants, it is necessary to distinguish adsorption from biodegradation as a removal mechanism. We performed experiments at 5 °C and 20 °C with biologically active and autoclaved GAC to assess the biodegradation of micropollutants by the biofilm grown on the GAC surface. Ten micropollutants were selected as model compounds. Three of them, iopromide, iopamidol and metformin, were biodegraded by the GAC biofilm. Additionally, we observed that temperature can increase or decrease adsorption, depending on the micropollutant studied. Finally, we compared the adsorption capacity of GAC used for more than 100,000 bed volumes and fresh GAC. We demonstrated that used GAC shows a higher adsorption capacity for guanylurea, metformin and hexamethylenetetramine and only a limited reduction in adsorption capacity for diclofenac and benzotriazole compared to fresh GAC.

Supplemental data for the paper: Biodegradation and adsorption of micropollutants by biological activated carbon from a drinking water production plant

Bioremediation and decontamination potentials of metallic nanoparticles loaded nanohybrid matrices – A review

The current nanotechnological advancements provide an astonishing insight to fabricate nanomaterials for nano-bioremediation purposes. Exciting characteristics possessed by hybrid matrices at the nanoscale knock endless opportunities to nano-remediate environmentally-related pollunanomaterials tants of emerging concern. Nanometals are considered among the oldest generation of the world has ever noticed. These tiny nanometals and nanometal oxides showed enormous potential in almost every extent of industrial and biotechnological domains, including their potential multipurpose approach to deal with water impurities. In this manuscript, we discussed their role in the diversity of water treatment technologies used to remove bacteria, viruses, heavy metals, pesticides, and organic impurities, providing an ample perspective on their recent advances in terms of their characteristics, attachment strategies, performance, and their scale-up challenges. Finally, we tried to explore their futuristic contribution to nano-remediate environmentally-related pollutants of emerging concern aiming to collect treated yet safe water that can be reused for multipurpose. 

Anchoring CuO nanospindles on g-C3N4 nanosheets for photocatalytic pollutant degradation and CO2 reduction

Synthesis of ZnO/SmMnO3 in a hexane-water interface with increased photocatalytic malachite green degradation.

A 2D/3D g-C3N4/ZnO heterojunction enhanced visible-light driven photocatalytic activity for sulfonamides degradation

The application of a three-dimensional flower-like heterojunction containing zinc oxide nanoparticles and modified carbon nitride for enhanced photodegradation

Mia Consalvo

Papers

A 2D/3D g-C3N4/ZnO heterojunction enhanced visible-light driven photocatalytic activity for sulfonamides degradation

A 2D/3D g-C3N4/ZnO heterojunction enhanced visible-light driven photocatalytic activity for sulfonamides degradation

The application of a three-dimensional flower-like heterojunction containing zinc oxide nanoparticles and modified carbon nitride for enhanced photodegradation

The application of a three-dimensional flower-like heterojunction containing zinc oxide nanoparticles and modified carbon nitride for enhanced photodegradation

Towards understanding double extension twinning behaviors in magnesium alloy during uniaxial tension deformation