Suchergebnisse

This is the final version. Available on open access from Elsevier via the DOI in this record ; Emerging contaminants continue to pose a threat to environmental quality that warrant mitigation. Novel technologies are being investigated that offer promise in their removal, yet it is important that the environmental costs of these treatments do not overshadow their benefits. With sustainability a key priority in global infrastructure development, insights into the environmental impact of new technologies is necessitated. In the present work, the environmental burden of three novel GBM (graphene-based material) filters (porous graphene, graphene oxide-based foam and hybrid combination) are quantified and compared at a flow rate of 1 m3/d by way of life cycle impact assessment with an alternative solution, an AOP-PPT (advanced oxidation process by pulsed power treatment). Initial results demonstrated negligible differences in overall environmental impact between the three GBM filter formats (7.7-7.9 pt), while significant asymmetry was observed with the AOP-PPT that incurred a total impact score of 67.9 pt. This disparity was attributed to the high energy demand of the AOP-PPT that was a key predictor of environmental cost in an India context due to the high proportion of non-renewable energy sourced. The GBM filters were also considered at a range of breakthrough times and contrasted against the AOP-PPT. Results showed that differences between GBM filters were negligible at all breakthrough periods and that multiple breakthroughs a day would be required before the AOP-PPT became environmentally favourable. Finally, due to the AOP-PPT affording inclusive disinfection, the environmental burden of a GBM filter was compared under different scenarios of incorporated disinfection. The total impact of the AOP-PPT achieving full disinfection was found to be 242.5 pt compared to only 26.8 pt for the GBM filter coupled with UV254 (ultraviolet 254 nm) treatment and 13.9 pt when incorporating chlorination/de-chlorination. These findings should support sustainable development goals when combating prevailing emerging contaminants in municipal wastewater. ; Department of Science and Technology, Government of India ; Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)

This is the final version. Available on open access from MDPI via the DOI in this record ; Emerging contaminants (ECs) continue to threaten our fragile ecosystem, yet their mitigation remains limited by economic factors. Meanwhile, a relatively expensive material, Graphene Oxide (GO), has shown promise as a solution for EC removal following further development into three graphene-based materials (GBMs): Porous graphene adsorbent (PGa), Graphene-oxide foam adsorbent (GOFa), and the hybrid filter. Due to the nuances of each synthesis process, financial costs will differ throughout the GBMs' life cycle which have been quantified and compared in the present work at a range of possible breakthrough times. Finally, economic and environmental costs have been combined for each technology to compare eco-efficiency. Results demonstrated a substantial economic advantage of the GBMs when compared to alternative technologies, most notably the GOFa filter that incurred the lowest life-cycle costs at $1.73 ± 0.09/m3. This was mainly attributed to the lower demand of GOFa on the most expensive material required for material synthesis, hydrazine. In addition, the material demands of GOFa were more evenly distributed which suggest a higher resilience of the overall costs to price hikes of individual materials required for synthesis. In terms of eco-efficiency the GOFa filter also demonstrated the greatest improvement when compared to the reference technology These results have provided robust total investment costs for several technologies that can now offer contrast to other EC-removal solutions. ; Department of Science and Technology, Government of India ; Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)

This is the final version. Available on open access from MDPI via the DOI in this record ; Data Availability Statement: The research data supporting this publication are given within this paper and as supplementary material. ; Graphene and its counterparts have been widely used for the removal of contaminants from (waste)water but with limited success for the removal of pharmaceutical contaminants. Driven by this need, this study reports, for the first time, the removal of pharmaceuticals from real contaminated water samples using porous graphene (PG) as a filter-based column. This work systematically evaluates the performance of PG as a filter medium for the removal of widely consumed pharmaceutical/emerging contaminants (ECs) such as atenolol, carbamazepine, ciprofloxacin, diclofenac, gemfibrozil and ibuprofen. Several factors were investigated in these column studies, including different reactive layer configurations, bed packing heights (5-45 mm), filter sizes (inner diameter 18-40 mm), adsorbent dosages (100-500 mg-PG) and water bodies (distilled water, greywater, and actual effluent wastewater). Sustainable synthesis of PG was carried out followed by its use as a filter medium for the removal of pharmaceuticals at high concentrations (10.5 ± 0.5 mg/L) and trace concentrations (1 mg/L). These findings revealed that the double-layered PG-sand column outperformed a PG single-layered configuration for the removal of most of the ECs. The removal efficiency of ECs from their solutions was improved by increasing PG dosages and filter bed height and size. Although the treatment of mixed pharmaceutical solutions from different water bodies was affected by the negative interference caused by competing water compounds, the treatment of ECs-contaminated greywater was not severely affected. Our findings suggest that PG, as a highly efficient filter medium, could be used for the removal of emerging pharmaceutical contaminants from water and wastewater. ; Department of Science and Technology, Government of India ...

This is the final version. Available on open access from Wiley via the DOI in this record ; Data Availability Statement; The data that support the findings of this study are available in the supplementary material of this article. ; Graphene-based materials have emerged as alternative adsorbents, but their success in removing pharmaceutical contaminants has been limited due to degradation caused by restacking and limited control over their sizes and porosities. Driven by this issue, in the current study, to counteract the restacking behavior, graphene sheets are supported on a thread/rod-like matrix structure in a boron nitride foam material, and a novel porous composite foam-supported graphene is synthesized. The as-prepared novel composite offers extraordinary features, such as high absorption kinetics, large available surface area, high porosity (>98%), ecofriendliness and cost-effective synthesis, and excellent affinity to emerging pharmaceutical contaminants. When batch-testing graphene-based foam material and porous graphene nanosheets to remove gemfibrozil (GEM) from wastewater samples, rapid adsorption kinetics (<5 min) are exhibited by the graphene-based foam. Column filter studies are conducted for both materials to test their performance in removing GEM from distilled water, synthetic graywater, and actual wastewater. Overall, the foam composite-based filter marginally outperforms the sand-supported graphene filter and significantly outperforms the unsupported graphene filter. A numerical MATLAB model is developed to simulate the reactive solute transport of GEM influent through the foam filter. Also, a formal sensitivity analysis is conducted to identify the key parameters influencing the model results. ; Department of Science and Technology, Government of India ; Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)