Ricerc@Sapienza

Hydrophobic pollutants as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and dibenzofurans (PCDFs) have frequently been identified in several matrices of aquatic ecosystems.
The knowledge of the actual concentrations of these pollutants is essential for integrated water quality management. Due to their very low, but toxicologically relevant levels in natural waters, direct determination of their concentrations is difficult with common analytical techniques.

The aim of this work was to study the potential of food waste materials (banana peel, potato peel, apple peel, lemon peel, coffee waste, decaf coffee waste, grape waste, and carob peel) as low-cost adsorbents for the removal of aliphatic and aromatic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from wastewater. The ability of examined food waste materials to adsorb VOCs from synthetic multi-component standard solutions was evaluated and the examined food waste materials showed high removal efficiency.

Two different types of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), multi-walled and single-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs and SWCNTs, respectively), have been characterized as new potential sorbents for contaminant removal from aqueous phase and can be used through different technological implementations. The performance of the materials has been evaluated in comparison with the most commonly used carbonaceous material, activated carbon (AC). Adsorption properties were evaluated by kinetic and equilibrium batch tests in aqueous solution at different salinity levels.

Nanostructured nickel oxide (NiO) was deposited in the configuration of thin film (thickness, l = 2–6 m)
onto fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrates via plasma-assisted rapid discharge sintering (RDS). Electrochemical
cycling of RDS NiO in 3-methoxy-propionitrile (3-MPN) revealed two characteristic peaks
of NiO oxidation which were associated to the surface-confined redox processes Ni(II) ? Ni(III) and

The removal of hexavalent Chromium from aqueous solutions by adsorption method has been investigated. In this study, magnetic nanoparticles were used as adsorbent materials and their synthesis was performed by using two different ways including a classical ammonia synthesis (nMG) and a green approach by using fructose and NaOH (GnMG). The Cr(VI) removal tests demonstrated that the synthesis procedure adopted did not influence the results.

Yerba mate (Ilex paraguarensis, YM) was used as biomaterial for the removal of anionic and cationic compounds from wastewater. Chromium hexavalent Cr(VI), Remazol brilliant blue (RBB) and methylene blue (MB) were selected as pollutants. A calcination step was performed after the washing and drying steps to evaluate its effectiveness at increasing the adsorption capacity of the solid. Both YM and calcinated YM (CYM) were characterized by means of scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis.

Hexavalent Chromium species are classified as hazardous compounds due to their high toxic potential, considering also their remarkable solubility and redox potential. Various processes have been developed to remove/recover Cr(VI) species from polluted groundwater, such as membrane processes, ion-exchange and adsorption and chemical or biochemical reduction. Indeed, the reduction/removal process of Cr(VI) through iron-based materials usually leads to a pH increase of the reaction medium, allowing to facilitate the subsequent precipitation of the Cr(III) species.

Lead is a highly toxic element and can cause serious illnesses, as a consequence of this, stringent limits have been set for this element, especially regarding drinking water. In this paper, the potential of manganese oxides (MnOx) as adsorbents for the removal of lead (as Pb II) from synthetically contaminated water was investigated. These oxides were recovered from alkaline batteries by a bio-hydrometallurgical process through potassium permanganate (KMnO4) precipitation.

In vivo liposomes, like other types of nanoparticles, acquire a totally new ‘biological identity’ due to the formation of a biomolecular coating known as the protein corona that depends on and modifies the liposomes’ synthetic identity. The liposome–protein corona is a dynamic interface that regulates the interaction of liposomes with the physiological environment. Here we show that the biological identity of liposomes is clearly linked to their sequestration from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of healthy donors that ultimately leads to removal from the bloodstream.

Contamination of groundwater by arsenic due to natural processes is rather common worldwide and hinders its use for drinking water supply. In many cases, arsenic contamination is found together with high levels of vanadium and fluoride. Therefore, more than one type of treatment is required to reduce concentrations of all these contaminants below non-hazardous levels so to make the source drinkable. The present study investigated the uptake capacity of arsenic, vanadium and fluoride by three iron-based adsorbent media differing for particle size, iron content and specific surface.