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Nanomaterials
Special Issues
Environmental Applications and Implications of Nanotechnology
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Environmental Applications and Implications of Nanotechnology

A special issue of Nanomaterials (ISSN 2079-4991).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2017) | Viewed by 76016

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Yongsheng Chen

grade E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 200 Bobby Dodd Way, Atlanta, GA 30332-0373, USA
Interests: high-density algal cultivation; crop protection; membrane technology for water/wastewater treatment and water and nutrient recycling for algal biomass production; life cycle analysis (LCA) of biofuel production
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue seeks submissions that address environmental applications and implications of nanotechnology. To make green nanotechnology, this Special Issue will focus on environmental applications of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) and biosynthesized nanomaterials (BNMs) such as inorganic nanoparticles synthesized by microorganisms, fungi, algae and plants. At the same time, we will also cover difference between ENMs and BNMs in terms of their environmental applications, behavior and effects including interactions between these nanomaterials and natural organic matter and their physicochemical transformation in aquatic environment.

Dr. Yongsheng Chen
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Nanomaterials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

 

Keywords

  • biosynthesis
  • nanomaterials
  • environmental applications
  • environmental behavior

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

Jump to: Review

5016 KiB  
Article
Plant Mediated Green Synthesis of CuO Nanoparticles: Comparison of Toxicity of Engineered and Plant Mediated CuO Nanoparticles towards Daphnia magna
by Sadia Saif, Arifa Tahir, Tayyaba Asim and Yongsheng Chen
Nanomaterials 2016, 6(11), 205; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano6110205 - 9 Nov 2016
Cited by 145 | Viewed by 17808
Abstract
Research on green production methods for metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs) is growing, with the objective to overcome the potential hazards of these chemicals for a safer environment. In this study, facile, ecofriendly synthesis of copper oxide (CuO) nanoparticles was successfully achieved using aqueous [...] Read more.
Research on green production methods for metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs) is growing, with the objective to overcome the potential hazards of these chemicals for a safer environment. In this study, facile, ecofriendly synthesis of copper oxide (CuO) nanoparticles was successfully achieved using aqueous extract of Pterospermum acerifolium leaves. P. acerifolium-fabricated CuO nanoparticles were further characterized by UV-Visible spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and dynamic light scattering (DLS). Plant-mediated CuO nanoparticles were found to be oval shaped and well dispersed in suspension. XPS confirmed the elemental composition of P. acerifolium-mediated copper nanoparticles as comprised purely of copper and oxygen. DLS measurements and ion release profile showed that P. acerifolium-mediated copper nanoparticles were more stable than the engineered CuO NPs. Copper oxide nanoparticles are used in many applications; therefore, their potential toxicity cannot be ignored. A comparative study was performed to investigate the bio-toxic impacts of plant-synthesized and engineered CuO nanoparticles on water flea Daphnia. Experiments were conducted to investigate the 48-h acute toxicity of engineered CuO NPs and plant-synthesized nanoparticles. Lower EC50 value 0.102 ± 0.019 mg/L was observed for engineered CuO NPs, while 0.69 ± 0.226 mg/L was observed for plant-synthesized CuO NPs. Additionally, ion release from CuO nanoparticles and 48-h accumulation of these nano CuOs in daphnids were also calculated. Our findings thus suggest that the contribution of released ions from nanoparticles and particles/ions accumulation in Daphnia needs to be interpreted with care. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Applications and Implications of Nanotechnology)
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Graphical abstract

Graphical abstract
Full article ">Figure 1
<p><span class="html-italic">Pterospermum acerifolium</span> tree.</p> Full article ">Figure 2
<p>UV-Visible spectroscopy of <span class="html-italic">P. acerifolium</span>-synthesized copper oxide (CuO) nanoparticles (NPs).</p> Full article ">Figure 3
<p>(<b>a</b>) Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) images and (<b>b</b>) energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) profile of plant-synthesized CuO nanoparticles.</p> Full article ">Figure 4
<p>(<b>a</b>) X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) survey spectrum of <span class="html-italic">P. acerifolium</span>-synthesized CuO nanoparticles; (<b>b</b>) Cu 2p scan; (<b>c</b>) O 1s scan.</p> Full article ">Figure 5
<p>Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra of (<b>i</b>) <span class="html-italic">P. acerifolium</span> leaf extract; (<b>ii</b>) <span class="html-italic">P. acerifolium</span>-synthesized CuO nanoparticles.</p> Full article ">Figure 6
<p>Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image of engineered CuO nanoparticles.</p> Full article ">Figure 7
<p>Size and size distribution of plant-synthesized nanoparticles (<b>a</b>) initial; (<b>b</b>) 24 h; (<b>c</b>) 48 h and (<b>d</b>) 72 h.</p> Full article ">Figure 8
<p>Size and size distribution of engineered copper nanoparticles (<b>a</b>) initial; (<b>b</b>) 24 h; (<b>c</b>) 48 h and (<b>d</b>) 72 h.</p> Full article ">Figure 9
<p>Copper ion release (<b>a</b>) engineered CuO nanoparticles and (<b>b</b>) plant-synthesized CuO nanoparticles (Mean ± standard deviation (SD) (<span class="html-italic">n</span> = 3)).</p> Full article ">Figure 10
<p>Acute toxicity by nanoparticles (<b>a</b>) engineered CuO and (<b>b</b>) plant-synthesized CuO (Mean ± SD) (<span class="html-italic">n</span> = 3)).</p> Full article ">Figure 10 Cont.
<p>Acute toxicity by nanoparticles (<b>a</b>) engineered CuO and (<b>b</b>) plant-synthesized CuO (Mean ± SD) (<span class="html-italic">n</span> = 3)).</p> Full article ">Figure 11
<p>Accumulation of CuO NPs in <span class="html-italic">Daphnia</span>.</p> Full article ">
8681 KiB  
Article
A Novel Polyvinylidene Fluoride Tree-Like Nanofiber Membrane for Microfiltration
by Zongjie Li, Weimin Kang, Huihui Zhao, Min Hu, Na Wei, Jiuan Qiu and Bowen Cheng
Nanomaterials 2016, 6(8), 152; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano6080152 - 19 Aug 2016
Cited by 33 | Viewed by 5808
Abstract
A novel polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) tree-like nanofiber membrane (PVDF-TLNM) was fabricated by adding tetrabutylammonium chloride (TBAC) into a PVDF spinning solution via one-step electrospinning. The structure of the prepared membranes was characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy [...] Read more.
A novel polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) tree-like nanofiber membrane (PVDF-TLNM) was fabricated by adding tetrabutylammonium chloride (TBAC) into a PVDF spinning solution via one-step electrospinning. The structure of the prepared membranes was characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and pore size analysis, and the hydrophilic property and microfiltration performance were also evaluated. The results showed that the tree-like nanofiber was composed of trunk fibers and branch fibers with diameters of 100–500 nm and 5–100 nm, respectively. The pore size of PVDF-TLNM (0.36 μm) was smaller than that of a common nanofiber membrane (3.52 μm), and the hydrophilic properties of the membranes were improved significantly. The PVDF-TLNM with a thickness of 30 ± 2 μm showed a satisfactory retention ratio of 99.9% against 0.3 μm polystyrene (PS) particles and a high pure water flux of 2.88 × 104 L·m−2·h−1 under the pressure of 25 psi. This study highlights the potential benefits of this novel PVDF tree-like nanofiber membrane in the membrane field, which can achieve high flux rates at low pressure. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Applications and Implications of Nanotechnology)
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Graphical abstract

Graphical abstract
Full article ">Figure 1
<p>Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) images of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) nanofiber membranes with different tetrabutylammonium chloride (TBAC) concentration: (<b>a</b>) no salt (pure PVDF); (<b>b</b>) 0.05 mol·L<sup>−1</sup> polyvinylidene fluoride tree-like nanofiber membrane-1 (PVDF-TLNMs-1); (<b>c</b>) 0.10 mol·L<sup>−1</sup> (PVDF-TLNMs-2); and (<b>d</b>) 0.15 mol·L<sup>−1</sup> (PVDF-TLNMs-3) (the inset is the pore size distribution of the membrane).</p> Full article ">Figure 2
<p>Schematic diagram for the electrospinning process of (<b>a</b>) pure PVDF solution and (<b>b</b>) PVDF/TBAC solution; (<b>c</b>) FE-SEM images of polyvinylidene fluoride nanofiber membranes (PVDF-NMs) and (<b>d</b>) PVDF-TLNMs.</p> Full article ">Figure 3
<p>Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) spectroscopy for: (<b>a</b>) PVDF-NMs; (<b>b</b>) PVDF-TLNMs-3.</p> Full article ">Figure 4
<p>Contact angle of PVDF nanofiber membranes with different contents of TBAC.</p> Full article ">Figure 5
<p>FE-SEM images of the top surface, bottom surface and cross-section of the membranes after a filtration test: (<b>a1</b>–<b>a3</b>) PVDF-NMs; (<b>b1</b>–<b>b3</b>) PVDF-TLNMs-1; (<b>c1</b>–<b>c3</b>) PVDF-TLNMs-2; (<b>d1</b>–<b>d3</b>) PVDF-TLNMs-3 (inset: photographs of the filtrate solutions).</p> Full article ">Figure 6
<p>The pure water flux of PVDF-NMs, PVDF-TLNMs-1 (0.05 mol·L<sup>−1</sup>), PVDF-TLNMs-2 (0.10 mol·L<sup>−1</sup>) and PVDF-TLNMs-3 (0.15 mol·L<sup>−1</sup>).</p> Full article ">

Review

Jump to: Research

2569 KiB  
Review
Behavior and Potential Impacts of Metal-Based Engineered Nanoparticles in Aquatic Environments
by Cheng Peng, Wen Zhang, Haiping Gao, Yang Li, Xin Tong, Kungang Li, Xiaoshan Zhu, Yixiang Wang and Yongsheng Chen
Nanomaterials 2017, 7(1), 21; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano7010021 - 22 Jan 2017
Cited by 126 | Viewed by 10116
Abstract
The specific properties of metal-based nanoparticles (NPs) have not only led to rapidly increasing applications in various industrial and commercial products, but also caused environmental concerns due to the inevitable release of NPs and their unpredictable biological/ecological impacts. This review discusses the environmental [...] Read more.
The specific properties of metal-based nanoparticles (NPs) have not only led to rapidly increasing applications in various industrial and commercial products, but also caused environmental concerns due to the inevitable release of NPs and their unpredictable biological/ecological impacts. This review discusses the environmental behavior of metal-based NPs with an in-depth analysis of the mechanisms and kinetics. The focus is on knowledge gaps in the interaction of NPs with aquatic organisms, which can influence the fate, transport and toxicity of NPs in the aquatic environment. Aggregation transforms NPs into micrometer-sized clusters in the aqueous environment, whereas dissolution also alters the size distribution and surface reactivity of metal-based NPs. A unique toxicity mechanism of metal-based NPs is related to the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the subsequent ROS-induced oxidative stress. Furthermore, aggregation, dissolution and ROS generation could influence each other and also be influenced by many factors, including the sizes, shapes and surface charge of NPs, as well as the pH, ionic strength, natural organic matter and experimental conditions. Bioaccumulation of NPs in single organism species, such as aquatic plants, zooplankton, fish and benthos, is summarized and compared. Moreover, the trophic transfer and/or biomagnification of metal-based NPs in an aquatic ecosystem are discussed. In addition, genetic effects could result from direct or indirect interactions between DNA and NPs. Finally, several challenges facing us are put forward in the review. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Applications and Implications of Nanotechnology)
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Figure 1

Figure 1
<p>Potential physiochemical processes and biological impacts of metal-based NPs (e.g., Ag NPs) in natural waters (reprinted with major modification from [<a href="#B44-nanomaterials-07-00021" class="html-bibr">44</a>] with permission, Copyright Elsevier, 2011).</p> Full article ">Figure 2
<p>Mechanism of photogenerated ROS (<b>a</b>); and correlation with the antibacterial properties of metal-based NPs (<b>b</b>) (reproduced with permission from [<a href="#B29-nanomaterials-07-00021" class="html-bibr">29</a>], Copyright American Chemical Society, 2012).</p> Full article ">Figure 3
<p>Surface interactions affect the toxicity of metal oxide NPs toward <span class="html-italic">Paramecium</span>: (<b>a</b>) survival ratios of <span class="html-italic">P. multimicronucleatum</span> after 48 h of exposure to NPs; (<b>b</b>) net interaction energy profiles between NPs and <span class="html-italic">P. multimicronucleatum</span>; (<b>c</b>) relationship of the magnitude of energy barrier and the 48-h <span class="html-italic">LC</span><sub>50</sub> of metal oxide NPs to <span class="html-italic">P. multimicronucleatum</span> (reproduced with permission from [<a href="#B213-nanomaterials-07-00021" class="html-bibr">213</a>], Copyright American Chemical Society, 2012)</p> Full article ">Figure 4
<p>Relationship between the tested concentration of NPs significantly inhibiting DNA replication in vitro and the determined energy barrier between NPs and DNA (reprinted with permission from [<a href="#B258-nanomaterials-07-00021" class="html-bibr">258</a>], Copyright American Chemical Society, 2013).</p> Full article ">
1156 KiB  
Review
Green Synthesis of Iron Nanoparticles and Their Environmental Applications and Implications
by Sadia Saif, Arifa Tahir and Yongsheng Chen
Nanomaterials 2016, 6(11), 209; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano6110209 - 12 Nov 2016
Cited by 459 | Viewed by 41108
Abstract
Recent advances in nanoscience and nanotechnology have also led to the development of novel nanomaterials, which ultimately increase potential health and environmental hazards. Interest in developing environmentally benign procedures for the synthesis of metallic nanoparticles has been increased. The purpose is to minimize [...] Read more.
Recent advances in nanoscience and nanotechnology have also led to the development of novel nanomaterials, which ultimately increase potential health and environmental hazards. Interest in developing environmentally benign procedures for the synthesis of metallic nanoparticles has been increased. The purpose is to minimize the negative impacts of synthetic procedures, their accompanying chemicals and derivative compounds. The exploitation of different biomaterials for the synthesis of nanoparticles is considered a valuable approach in green nanotechnology. Biological resources such as bacteria, algae fungi and plants have been used for the production of low-cost, energy-efficient, and nontoxic environmental friendly metallic nanoparticles. This review provides an overview of various reports of green synthesised zero valent metallic iron (ZVMI) and iron oxide (Fe2O3/Fe3O4) nanoparticles (NPs) and highlights their substantial applications in environmental pollution control. This review also summarizes the ecotoxicological impacts of green synthesised iron nanoparticles opposed to non-green synthesised iron nanoparticles. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Applications and Implications of Nanotechnology)
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Graphical abstract

Graphical abstract
Full article ">Figure 1
<p>Sustainable green nanotechnology.</p> Full article ">Figure 2
<p>(<b>a</b>) Proposed chemical structure of Fe-P NPs [<a href="#B48-nanomaterials-06-00209" class="html-bibr">48</a>]; and (<b>b</b>) proposed condensation mechanism of Fe-polyphenol [<a href="#B63-nanomaterials-06-00209" class="html-bibr">63</a>].</p> Full article ">
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