Hydrophilic molecularly imprinted lysozyme-BiOBr composite with enhanced visible light utilization for selective removal of trace contaminants in water

The development of high-efficiency molecularly imprinted photocatalysts is still challenging due to the lack of hydrophilic and suitable functional monomers. In this work, the bio-sourced lysozyme was developed as the hydrophilic functional monomer, and Cu-doped BiOBr was used as the photocatalysts, to prepare a novel hydrophilic molecularly imprinted lysozyme-BiOBr composite (BiOBr-Cu/LyzMIP) with enhanced visible light utilization. Lysozyme could form a transparent layer to mitigate the light transmission obstruction caused by the surface imprinting layer, making it an ideal functional monomer. The prepared BiOBr-Cu/LyzMIP possessed red-shifted visible-light absorption edge and minor reduction of light absorbance, indicating the enhanced utilization of visible light. Accordingly, BiOBr-Cu/LyzMIP demonstrated excellent degradation rate (99.4 % in 20 min), exceptional degradation efficiency (0.211 min-1), and superior reusability. Moreover, BiOBr-Cu/LyzMIP exhibited rapid adsorption equilibrium (20 min), good imprinting factor (2.67), and favourable degradation selectivity (>1.75), indicating the good imprinting effect resulting from abundant functional groups of lysozyme. Versatility experiments on different templates suggested that the proposed approach allowed flexibility in selecting a wide range of hazardous contaminants according to practical requirements. The present work expands the application of lysozyme-based composites in the environmental field, and provides a new one-stop pathway for efficient and sustainable treatment of contaminated water.

Removal of rhodamine blue dye from wastewaters by using perovskite@2D-layered nanostructured LaCoO3@g-C3N4 as super-nanosorbent material

To address water polluting hazardous and toxic dyes menace, we developed a novel LaCoO3@g-C3N4 composite, characterized it, and then employed it to adsorb rhodamine blue (RhB) from aqueous solutions. The synthesized nanomaterials consisted of LaCoO3 and Co3O4 phases of crystallite sizes 43.29 and 42.63 nm beside the nitride, with a surface area of 66.67 m2.g-1, and C, N, La, O, and Co as elemental composition, as confirmed by X-ray diffraction, BET and EDX analysis respectively. Batch sorption experiments were carried out to evaluate the performance of LaCoO3@g-C3N4 nanopowder on RhB dye removal where the experimental data well fitted the Langmuir isotherm and the pseudo-second-order kinetics models, thus validating monolayer chemisorption via hydrogen bonding and π- π electrostatic interaction. The findings indicated a high adsorption capacity of 1226 mg.g-1 and that the nanosorbent possessed good stability since it can be regenerated and reused efficiently with a very low retention rate of 90.8 %.

Efficient degradation of various emerging pollutants by wild type and evolved fungal DyP4 peroxidases

The accumulation of emerging pollutants in the environment remains a major concern as evidenced by the increasing number of reports citing their potential risk on environment and health. Hence, removal strategies of such pollutants remain an active area of investigation. One way through which emerging pollutants can be eliminated from the environment is by enzyme-mediated bioremediation. Enzyme-based degradation can be further enhanced via advanced protein engineering approaches. In the present study a sensitive and robust bioanalytical liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LCMSMS)-based approach was used to investigate the ability of a fungal dye decolorizing peroxidase 4 (DyP4) and two of its evolved variants—that were previously shown to be H₂O₂ tolerant—to degrade a panel of 15 different emerging pollutants. Additionally, the role of a redox mediator was examined in these enzymatic degradation reactions. Our results show that three emerging pollutants (2-mercaptobenzothiazole (MBT), paracetamol, and furosemide) were efficiently degraded by DyP4. Addition of the redox mediator had a synergistic effect as it enabled complete degradation of three more emerging pollutants (methyl paraben, sulfamethoxazole and salicylic acid) and dramatically reduced the time needed for the complete degradation of MBT, paracetamol, and furosemide. Further investigation was carried out using pure MBT to study its degradation by DyP4. Five potential transformation products were generated during the enzymatic degradation of MBT, which were previously reported to be produced during different bioremediation approaches. The current study provides the first instance of the application of fungal DyP4 peroxidases in bioremediation of emerging pollutants.

A dual surface inorganic molecularly imprinted Bi2WO6-CuO/Ag2O heterostructure with enhanced activity-selectivity towards the photocatalytic degradation of target contaminants

The proposed mechanism reveals that under visible light, MG and AO dyes can be selectively degraded by produced radicals at the surface of the inorganic molecularly imprinted Ag₂O-CuO-Bi₂WO₆ heterojunction.

A 2D mesoporous photocatalyst constructed by the modification of biochar on BiOCl ultrathin nanosheets for enhancing the TC-HCl degradation activity

The possible separation and transfer of charge carriers in the 15C/BiOCl materials over the TC-HCl degradation process.

Fabrication of magnetic g-C3N4 for effectively enhanced tetracycline degradation with RGO as mediator

In the present work, the ternary hybrid photocatalyst Fe₃O₄@g-C₃N₄/RGO is developed by a facile hydrothermal method, which shows a satisfactory degradation rate (90%) and stability in degrading tetracycline.

Microwave-hydrothermal synthesis of a novel, recyclable and stable photocatalytic nanoreactor for recognition and degradation of tetracycline

A unique Ppy@CdS/ZnFe₂O₄ nanoreactor is fabricated via the microwave-hydrothermal method and surface-imprinting technique, which effectively enhances the recyclability, stability, and selectivity for recognition and degradation of tetracycline under visible-light irradiation.

Enhanced selective photocatalytic properties of a novel magnetic retrievable imprinted ZnFe2O4/PPy composite with specific recognition ability

The process of the selective photocatalytic degradation of different organic contaminants over imprinted ZnFe₂O₄/PPy composite.

Construction of a magnetic Z-scheme photocatalyst with enhanced oxidation/reduction abilities and recyclability for the degradation of tetracycline

Here, we successfully designed and prepared the magnetic recyclable Z-scheme photocatalyst WO₃/Fe₃O₄/g-C₃N₄ for the first time.