A two-stage treatment system that included vertical flow (VF) and free-water surface (FWS) constructed wetlands was investigated for the dual purposes of sewage treatment and reuse. The VF included four layers (biochar, sand, gravel, and sandy soil), and the FWS was installed after the VF and used as a polishing tank. Two types of local plants, namely Colocasia esculenta and Canna indica, were planted in the VF and FWS, respectively. The system operated for approximately six months, and the experimental period was categorized into four stages that corresponded to changes in the hydraulic loading rate (HLR) (0.02–0.12 m/d). The removal efficiencies for total suspended solids (TSS), chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological oxygen demand (BOD5), ammonia (NH4-N), and total coliform (Tcol) were 71 ± 11%, 73 ± 13%, 79 ± 11%, 91 ± 3%, and 70 ± 20%, respectively. At HLRs of 0.04–0.06 m/d, the COD and BOD5 levels satisfied Vietnam's irrigation standards, with removable rates of 64% and 88%, respectively, and the TSS and Tcol levels satisfied Vietnam's standards for potable water. Furthermore, the NO3-N levels satisfied the reuse limits, whereas the NH4-N levels exceeded the reuse standards. At high HLRs (e.g., 0.12 m/d), all the effluent parameters, except Tcol and NO3-N, exceeded the standards.
With the large near-infrared (NIR) absorption and the high NIR photothermal effect, gold nanostar (AuNS) has potential application in the biomedical field. However, the complicated synthesis process with toxic precursors is a serious issue for its practice. Herein, we reported a novel green synthesis procedure using chitosan polymer from marine and vitamin C for the preparation of AuNS. For the first time, chitosan was used as a stabilizer, shape-directing, and size-controllable agents for the preparation of AuNS. The size of the obtained AuNS ranged from 111 to 225 nm with different λmax. The AuNS exhibited near-infrared absorption with the excellent biocompatibility toward non-cancerous cell line (MG63) and cancerous cell line (MDA-MB-231). The in vitro photothermal therapy and photoacoustic imaging with assisting of obtained AuNS were also proved the high efficiency of these nanoparticles.
Wound infection is a big issue of modern medicine because of multi-drug resistance bacteria; thus, developing an advanced therapy is curial. Photothermal therapy (PTT) is a newly noninvasive strategy that employs PTT agents to transfer near-infrared (NIR) light energy into heat to kill bacterial pathogens. In this work, the PTT agent-containing dressing was developed for the first time to treat the wound infection. Palladium nanoparticles (PdNPs) were chosen as PTT agents because of their high stability, good biocompatibility, excellent photothermal property, and simple-green preparation. With the flexibility and wettability, highly porous membrane chitosan/polyvinyl alcohol (CS/PVA) membrane was chosen as the dressing. The prepared wound dressings exhibited excellent biocompatibility, high porosity, a high degree of swelling, high moisture retention, and high photothermal performance. The treatment of PdNPs loading CS/PVA dressing (CS/PVA/Pd) and laser irradiation killed most of the bacteria in vitro. The proposed PTT agent containing wound dressing introduces a novel strategy for the treatment of wound infection.
Since it was first discovered, thousands of years ago, silkworm silk has been known to be an abundant biopolymer with a vast range of attractive properties. The utilization of silk fibroin (SF), the main protein of silkworm silk, has not been limited to the textile industry but has been further extended to various high-tech application areas, including biomaterials for drug delivery systems and tissue engineering. The outstanding mechanical properties of SF, including its facile processability, superior biocompatibility, controllable biodegradation, and versatile functionalization have allowed its use for innovative applications. In this review, we describe the structure, composition, general properties, and structure-properties relationship of SF. In addition, the methods used for the fabrication and modification of various materials are briefly addressed. Lastly, recent applications of SF-based materials for small molecule drug delivery, biological drug delivery, gene therapy, wound healing, and bone regeneration are reviewed and our perspectives on future development of these favorable materials are also shared. View Full-Text
This study reports an effective method to enhance the performance of photoelectrochemical (PEC) solar water reduction. We design and prepare SnO2@WS2 NF heterostructure on p-Si, that has better visible light-absorption, as well as low recombination of electron–hole pairs. Consequently, a -3.5mA cm−2 photocurrent density at 0 V vs. a reversible hydrogen electrode is obtained using SnO2@WS2, and bare SnO2 and WS2 photocathodes exhibit values of -0.6 and -0.36 mA cm−2, respectively, showing the combined effects of these two materials for excellent hydrogen evolution reaction performance. Additionally, the photocurrent stability of the sample reveals the improved efficiency for the separation of generated charge carriers. Our study provides experimental and theoretical evidence that SnO2 doping improves the properties of WS2 for efficient PEC solar water reduction.
Two–dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides such as MoS2 and WS2 nanosheets, nanoflowers, and nanoparticles have been investigated as potential materials for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Besides 2D–TMDs, MXene materials, which are transition metal carbides/nitrides, are promising candidates for energy storage and conversion applications. In this work, alloys of tungsten carbides and tungsten disulfides have been fabricated through a facile hydrothermal method without using any complex structure of carbon or polymer source for carbonization. The fabricated alloys were characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis, field emission scanning microscopy, atomic force microscopy, Raman spectra, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results indicated both W2C and WS2 have hexagonal structure in the alloy compound. W2C@WS2 nanomaterials exhibit abundant flower-shaped active …
MoS2 nanosheets obtained through a simple sonication exfoliation method are employed as a hole-extraction layer (HEL) to improve the efficiency and air stability of organic photovoltaic cells (OPVs). The reduction in the wavenumber difference, appearance of a UV-vis peak, and atomic force microscopy images indicate that MoS2 nanosheets are formed through the sonication method. The OPVs with MoS2 layers show a degraded performance with a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 1.08%, which is lower than that of OPVs without HEL (1.84%). After performing the UV/ozone (UVO) treatment of the MoS2 surface for 15 min, the PCE value increases to 2.44%. Synchrotron radiation photoelectron spectroscopy data show that the work function of MoS2 increases from 4.6 to 4.9 eV upon UVO treatment, suggesting that the increase in the PCE value is caused by the bandgap alignment. Upon inserting poly(3,4 …
