Md. Fahim Murshed, Nusrat Fardin Arpita, Amit Hasan Anik, Maisha Binte Sultan
{"title":"The hidden threat of microplastics in urban freshwater ecosystem: A comprehensive review","authors":"Md. Fahim Murshed, Nusrat Fardin Arpita, Amit Hasan Anik, Maisha Binte Sultan","doi":"10.1016/j.enmm.2025.101054","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enmm.2025.101054","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Microplastic (MP) pollution has become a pressing environmental issue, particularly in urban freshwater ecosystems, where it poses significant risks to water quality and public health. By integrating new data and insights, this article aims to deepen the understanding of MP contamination in urban freshwater ecosystems and its broader environmental implications. This article reviews the current literature of MPs focusing on urban freshwater ecosystems, often overlooked in favor of marine settings. It uniquely addresses the sources, pathways, and biomagnification of MPs in these environments, linking ecological effects to public health, and advocating for collaborative stakeholder action and innovative management strategies. This holistic approach provides a comprehensive view of MP pollution in urban contexts where aquatic organisms can ingest MPs present in these freshwater ecosystems and move through the food chain thus ultimately reaching the human body. The effects of MPs on the food chain are examined, particularly how they accumulate in organisms, transfer between different levels of the food chain, and increase in concentration as they move up through different trophic levels. To successfully tackle MP contamination, it pushes for collaborative action among stakeholders, including researchers, policymakers, and the community. It calls for enhanced research efforts to fill existing knowledge gaps and develop innovative management strategies to mitigate the impacts of MPs. Ultimately, this serves as a crucial resource for informing future policies and initiatives to preserve water quality and protect public health in the face of growing plastic pollution.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11716,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Nanotechnology, Monitoring and Management","volume":"23 ","pages":"Article 101054"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143445504","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abd El-Hakeim T. Kandil , Bahig M. Atia , Farida M.S.E. El-Dars , Mohamed Y.M. Hussein , Mohamed F. Cheira
{"title":"The prospect of using polyvinyl chloride with -n-hydroxyl amine, a metal binding agent, to adsorb uranium from its aqueous solution","authors":"Abd El-Hakeim T. Kandil , Bahig M. Atia , Farida M.S.E. El-Dars , Mohamed Y.M. Hussein , Mohamed F. Cheira","doi":"10.1016/j.enmm.2025.101055","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enmm.2025.101055","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Polyvinyl chloride-based N-hydroxyl amine (PVC-NHA) was demonstrated as a straightforward and innovative way to remove U(VI) from solutions. The PVC-NHA composite was exposed to exact testing using various techniques, including FT-IR, TGA, BET, <sup>1</sup>H NMR, SEM-EDX, <sup>13</sup>C NMR, and GC–MS assessments, all of which demonstrated the successful preparation of PVC-NHA. The specifications for this composite were accurately carried out, guaranteeing a good result. The optimization of various experimental parameters led to the refinement of measurements such as pH, temperature, agitation time, starting U(VI) concentration, interfering ions, PVC-NHA composite dose, and eluting agents. The optimization adjustments were gained at a temperature of 25 °C, a pH of 3.5, 15 min agitation time, and 0.63 × 10<sup>-3</sup> mol/L U(VI). The PVC-NHA composite exhibited an impressive maximum uptake capacity of 63 mg/g. This uptake capacity was equivalent to a remarkable 126 mg/L of U(VI) ions. The sorption isotherm modelling showed that Langmuir’s model fitted the practical results quite well, which was superior to the performance of the Freundlich model. The theoretical value obtained from Langmuir’s model is 61.7 mg/g, which closely supports the experimental rate of 63 mg/g. Based on U(VI) kinetic adsorption modelling, the adsorption reaction of U(VI) and PVC-NHA could be accurately illustrated by mixed pseudo-first and second-order kinetic modelling. According to thermodynamics, the adsorption process was spontaneous, exothermic, and highly favorable at tiny temperatures. Notably, the loaded composite could be efficiently eluted using 1 M H<sub>2</sub>SO<sub>4</sub>, achieving a remarkable 99 % efficiency rate from an economic standpoint. The PVC-NHA composite exposed excellent selectivity towards most interfering ions, demonstrating a high tolerance limit.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11716,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Nanotechnology, Monitoring and Management","volume":"23 ","pages":"Article 101055"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143430279","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Imran Khan Rind , Ahmet Sarı , Mustafa Tuzen , Muhammad Farooque Lanjwani , Tawfik A. Saleh
{"title":"Development of fly ash/melamine composites for crystal violate dye removal from aqueous media","authors":"Imran Khan Rind , Ahmet Sarı , Mustafa Tuzen , Muhammad Farooque Lanjwani , Tawfik A. Saleh","doi":"10.1016/j.enmm.2025.101056","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enmm.2025.101056","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Fly ash (FA) as a low-cost and easily obtainable by-product from thermal power plants is considered for the decontamination of inorganic and organic pollutants from wastewater. In this work, FA was grafted with melamine and the obtained composite was used for the adsorption of crystal violet (CV) from water. By modification of melamine, the surface of FA was enhanced with amide groups as effective binding groups for CV molecules and therefore achieved higher sorption capacity. The chemical and textural characteristics of the FA/Melamine composite were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Factorial designing was used for evaluating optimum adsorption parameters. ANOVA analysis of the P-value of individuals and combined variables was significant due to a P-value of less than 0.05 and a higher F-value. Equilibrium results show a monolayer isotherm model by Langmuir isotherm model with a maximum CV uptake capacity of 487 mg g<sup>−1</sup> under optimized conditions (250 mg adsorbent dosage, 10 ppm concentration, 30 min contact time and pH 6.0). Kinetic studies revealed that CV removal was nominated by the pseudo-second-order (PSO) model. CV dye molecules were adsorbed onto FA/Melamine composite via electrostatic attractions dipole–dipole interactions and n-π stacking interactions. Furthermore, the obtained results exposed that the synthesized FA/Melamine composite can be assessed as a promising sorbent for CV dye removal with high adsorption capacity.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11716,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Nanotechnology, Monitoring and Management","volume":"23 ","pages":"Article 101056"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143437394","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jai Kishan Rajak , Nitin Khandelwal , Zahid Ahmad Ganie , Dieter Schild , Gopala Krishna Darbha
{"title":"Reactive transport and sorption behavior of pollutants in presence of redox-sensitive nano Fe0 impregnated graphene: Advancing towards continuous water filtration","authors":"Jai Kishan Rajak , Nitin Khandelwal , Zahid Ahmad Ganie , Dieter Schild , Gopala Krishna Darbha","doi":"10.1016/j.enmm.2025.101053","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enmm.2025.101053","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Fe<sup>0</sup> impregnated graphene has shown promising candidature for removing both organic and inorganic contaminants from aqueous solutions. The current study investigates and fills some of the missing gaps in their large-scale environmental applicability, including- contaminants removal from complex water matrices, simultaneous separation of multiple contaminants, and continuous water filtration possibilities. Both metals and dyes were chosen of varying ionic behavior to broaden the scope of the work.</div><div>One-step graphene oxide (GO) delamination and iron reduction were performed to prepare Fe<sup>0</sup> impregnated graphene (GOI) composite. Results have shown growth of smaller spherical Fe<sup>0</sup> nanoparticles (< 50 nm) on graphene with good dispersion and preserved redox state. XPS analysis of reaction precipitate confirmed that GOI could reduce CrO<sub>4</sub><sup>2-</sup> to less toxic Cr(III) through reductive sorption. Removal capacities in batch mode were Ni (30.5 mg/g) < Cr (49.8 mg/g) < Cd (93.7 mg/g) < As (143.6 mg/g) in mono-metallic system. In a multi-metallic system, efficient total metal removal capacity (>340 mg/g) and continuous filtration efficiency (85 mg/g) was observed. GOI composite has also shown efficient removal and continuous separation of cationic methylene blue (81.3 mg/g), anionic methyl orange (79.7 mg/g), and zwitterionic rhodamine-B (31.7 mg/g). Electrostatic attraction on heterogeneous GOI surface, redox transformation, complexation, and co-precipitation with generated iron-oxy-hydroxide were major contaminant removal mechanisms. Results conclude a good potential of GOI composite in the separation of multiple pollutants from environmental matrices and continuous filtration of contaminated waters.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11716,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Nanotechnology, Monitoring and Management","volume":"23 ","pages":"Article 101053"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143422308","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Carbon-Based adsorbents for heavy metal removal in Wastewater: Green technology or environmental Burden?","authors":"Yudha Gusti Wibowo","doi":"10.1016/j.enmm.2025.101051","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enmm.2025.101051","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Water pollution from industrial, agricultural, and municipal sources demands effective and sustainable treatment solutions. Carbon-based adsorbents, such as activated carbon, biochar, carbon nanotubes, and graphene, offer promising pollutant removal capabilities due to their high adsorption capacities and versatility. However, their energy-intensive production, emissions, and challenges in regeneration raise concerns about environmental sustainability. This is the first study to provide a comprehensive evaluation of both the performance and environmental trade-offs associated with carbon-based adsorbents. Novelty of this study presents a new perspective, highlighting the double-edged nature of these materials—they offer significant pollutant removal potential but impose environmental burdens through energy consumption and chemical waste. It explores key applications, challenges, and trade-offs, such as variability in adsorption efficiency, high production costs, and risks of nanoparticle toxicity. Additionally, this study emphasizes the need for green production processes, composite adsorbents, and sustainable regeneration technologies to optimize their use. This review contributes a new perspective by addressing the dual role of carbon-based adsorbents as both solutions for and contributors to environmental challenges, providing actionable insights for advancing their application in sustainable water treatment systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11716,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Nanotechnology, Monitoring and Management","volume":"23 ","pages":"Article 101051"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143430222","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Photocatalytic degradation of antibiotics using Cu doped-SnO2/CQDs nanocomposites","authors":"L.A.S. Adolf Marvelraj, V.S. Priya","doi":"10.1016/j.enmm.2025.101052","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enmm.2025.101052","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In this study, a copper-doped tin oxide/carbon quantum dot (CuSCs) nanocomposite was developed and applied for the photocatalytic degradation of antibiotics, specifically tetracycline (TCH) and sulfamethazine (SMT). The nanocomposite was characterized by the presence of metallic, carboxyl, and hydroxyl functional groups, with copper and CQDs uniformly distributed on the SnO<sub>2</sub> surface. The incorporation of Cu reduced the bandgap of the material, enhancing its visible-light absorption and photocatalytic activity. At an optimal dose of <em>40 mg/100 mL</em>, the nanocomposite achieved <em>100 %</em> degradation of TCH and <em>72 %</em> degradation of SMT within <em>120 min</em>. The variation in degradation efficiency was attributed to reactive species generated during photocatalysis, which preferentially disrupted the benzene ring in TCH over the sulfur-nitrogen bond in SMT. Maximum degradation was observed at an initial antibiotic concentration of <em>10 ppm</em>. Light absorption by the solution was found to limit the production of oxidizing species, while pH optimization studies showed the highest degradation efficiencies at neutral pH (<em>6.7–7.0</em>). High-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) identified possible TCH degradation pathways, and mineralization experiments demonstrated a <em>47 %</em> reduction in total organic carbon (TOC) for TCH within <em>120 min</em>. Reactive species trapping experiments revealed that h<sup>+</sup> and O<sub>2</sub>•<sup>−</sup> were the primary contributors to TCH degradation. These findings highlight the potential of CuSCs nanocomposites for the efficient degradation of antibiotic pollutants under visible-light irradiation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11716,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Nanotechnology, Monitoring and Management","volume":"23 ","pages":"Article 101052"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143422307","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Soil geochemistry and health risk assessment: A study of Kabini Basin, southern Western Ghats, India with special reference to heavy metalloids","authors":"Himanshi Gupta , Appukuttanpillai Krishnakumar , Krishnan Anoop Krishnan","doi":"10.1016/j.enmm.2025.101048","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enmm.2025.101048","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The present study analyzed the adulteration and health risk evaluation in the agricultural soil of Kabini basin. Along with the physico-chemical properties the geochemistry of ten heavy metalloids [HM<em>(oids)</em>] (V, Cr, Cu, Ni, Zn, Rb, Ga, Y, Ba, Zr, Sr) were studied by wavelength dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (WD-XRF) for monsoon and non-monsoon seasons. All the HM<em>(oids)</em> except for Sr and seasonal Zr are found to exceed the standards given by upper continental (UCC). The most diverse seasonal variation in the region is observed for Y (114%) and Rb (99%). The increasing population along the region demands higher resources and resulted in changing HM<em>(oids)</em> distribution along the basin. The evidence from the pollution assessment; geo-accumulation index (Igeo) and contamination factor (Cf) shows the moderate pollution risk due to Cr, V and Cu and overall evaluation as of pollution load index (PLI) shows low to moderate pollution conditions. The changing toxicity of HM<em>(oids)</em> in the soil imparts significant risk to the human health in all age groups. The common pathway; ingestion in the area shows high non-carcinogenic risk for both child and adult (for both seasons) and in dermal pathway Cu and Zr toxicity is observed among the child (both seasons). Additionally, Ni and Cr being the prominent carcinogens detected in the region, that might cause the chance of respiratory or lung related issues in the basin. The overall sources of these HM<em>(oids)</em>and their correlations was performed using PCA and Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient suggest both geogenic and anthropogenic activities in the region. The source of (V, Cr, Ni, Ga, Rb) are geogenic and (Cu, Zn, Y, Zr, Ba, Sr) are anthropogenic in the terrain.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11716,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Nanotechnology, Monitoring and Management","volume":"23 ","pages":"Article 101048"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143103968","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Khaled M. Ossoss , Abbas A. Abdullahi , Shaikh A. Ali , Tawfik A. Saleh
{"title":"Graphene Oxide@4-(2-Aminoethyl)Benzo-12-Crown-4 Grafted- PVDF/Polyamide nanocomposite for water treatment","authors":"Khaled M. Ossoss , Abbas A. Abdullahi , Shaikh A. Ali , Tawfik A. Saleh","doi":"10.1016/j.enmm.2025.101050","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enmm.2025.101050","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Separation techniques based on membrane technology are crucial due to high efficiency, good durability, and mechanical stability. The separation process can be enhanced by improving the separation efficiency for heavy metals and hydrocarbons and the surface wettability of membranes. Herein, the dopamine crown ether was first synthesized. <sup>1</sup>H NMR, <sup>13</sup>C NMR, and <sup>15</sup>N NMR spectra confirmed the formation of dopamine crown ether. This compound was then grafted on the graphene oxide via nucleophilic addition where amine interacted with the epoxy of the graphene. This was achieved by covalent bonding of GO with dopamine crown ether moieties through a chemical grafting reaction. The obtained modified graphene (GO@12-C-4) was then embedded into the polyamide via interfacial polymerization onto the polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane support. The polyamide layer (PAm) with nanocomposite of graphene oxide@12-Crown-4 (GO@12-C-4) adjusted the surface of the membrane. The influence of the PAm and GO@12-C-4 on the structure, and morphology of the GO@12-C-4-g- PAm/PVDF membrane was investigated. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction results indicate the successful preparation. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) was used to evaluate the membrane surface morphology. When it was used in water treatment, the prepared membrane was very stable under an operating pressure of 300 kPa with 23.8 L.m<sup>-2</sup>h<sup>−1</sup> flux. The membrane showed a rejection of about 99 % for hydrocarbons (pentane, toluene, hexadecane, and isooctane), and over 90 % for the tested heavy metals (lead, cobalt, and strontium). It showed also a good rejection of salts. The results indicated the comparable performance of the reported new membrane compared with those reported in the literature. This study provides new insights into surface transformation to advance PVDF membranes’ flux and separation properties in water purification.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11716,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Nanotechnology, Monitoring and Management","volume":"23 ","pages":"Article 101050"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143402574","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A comprehensive study on silica nanoparticles: Green synthesis and photodegradation of organic dyes","authors":"Suman , Gita Rani , Siddharth , Sakshi Choudhary , Rachna Ahlawat","doi":"10.1016/j.enmm.2025.101049","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enmm.2025.101049","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Synthetic dyes have the potential to negatively affect aquatic ecosystems by lowering oxygen levels, interfering with photosynthesis, and decreasing sunlight penetration, all of which are hazardous for aquatic life. Many kinds of nanoparticles, including metal oxides, metal organic frameworks, silver and gold nanoparticles, are used to break down dye, but they still have certain drawbacks, including accumulation, stability issues, expense, and harmful chemical waste. Therefore, among the several kinds of green sources, green synthesis of silica nanoparticles is a novel and environmentally benign technique that has attracted a lot of interest due to its potential for environmental remediation, especially in the degradation of dyes. High surface area and porosity, two distinctive features of the produced silica nanoparticles, increase their catalytic activity in the degradation of dyes. Green synthesis of SNPs from different sources by following various methods along with their structure, particle size, surface area, and purity has been reported by multiple studies. The excellent photodegradation capabilities of SNPs and their composites under different light sources (such as sunlight, LED lamp, xenon lamp, and mercury lamp), along with the reaction time, reaction kinetics, and pH condition, have been documented by multiple studies. This thorough study aims to support researchers with a better understanding of this cost-effective, simple, and eco-friendly research area and to follow this to synthesize SNPs for future studies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11716,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Nanotechnology, Monitoring and Management","volume":"23 ","pages":"Article 101049"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143104513","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
J.C. Gómez-Vilchis , G. García-Rosales , L.C. Longoria-Gándara , D. Tenorio-Castilleros
{"title":"Hedgehog-like ZnO nanostructures naturally formed in biochar: An innovative approach for cephalexin removal","authors":"J.C. Gómez-Vilchis , G. García-Rosales , L.C. Longoria-Gándara , D. Tenorio-Castilleros","doi":"10.1016/j.enmm.2025.101046","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.enmm.2025.101046","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study developed hedgehog-like ZnO nanostructures supported on biochar (B/ZnO), characterized by three-dimensional nanocrystal clusters radiating from a central core. These structures exhibit high specific surface area and porosity, enhancing their performance in adsorption and photocatalysis for removing emerging contaminants such as cephalexin (CEX) from aqueous solutions. The growing concern over antibiotics and their metabolites in water, coupled with the rise of antibiotic resistance, highlights the need for efficient methods to mitigate their environmental, agricultural, and health impacts. While optimization of ZnO particles for contaminant removal continues, this research introduces a biochar-supported ZnO hedgehog composed of nano-rods with a substantial specific surface area of 265 ± 0.2 m<sup>2</sup> g<sup>−1</sup>. This feature significantly enhances its adsorption capacity and photocatalytic efficiency in the degradation of CEX. Experimental results indicate that the Langmuir adsorption model accurately describes the data, suggesting that adsorption predominantly occurs in a monolayer and follows a pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Photodegradation reaction rates of 2.70 × 10<sup>−2</sup> min<sup>−1</sup>, 2.2 × 10<sup>−2</sup> min<sup>−1</sup>, and 1.8 × 10<sup>−2</sup> min<sup>−1</sup> demonstrate the material’s high photocatalytic efficiency, reinforcing its potential as a viable solution for treating antibiotic-contaminated water.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11716,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Nanotechnology, Monitoring and Management","volume":"23 ","pages":"Article 101046"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143103967","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}