This study introduces a gamma pretreatment of water hyacinth powder for activated carbon (AC) production with improved electrochemical properties for supercapacitor applications. The structural and morphological changes of post-irradiation were meticulously analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The pretreatment significantly modifies the pore structure and reduces the particle size of the resulting activated carbon (WHAC). Nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms indicated a substantial increase in micropore volume with escalating doses of gamma irradiation. Electrochemically, the activated carbon produced from pretreated WH at 100 kGy exhibited a marked increase in specific capacitance, reaching 257.82 F g⁻¹, a notable improvement over the 95.35 F g⁻¹ of its untreated counterpart, while maintaining 99.40% capacitance after 7000 cycles. These findings suggest that gamma-pretreated biomasses are promising precursors for fabricating high-performance supercapacitor electrodes, offering a viable and environmentally friendly alternative for energy storage technology development.

The synthesis and post-synthetic modification of a novel tosylate-functionalized hyper-crosslinked polymer (HCP) for the purpose of water remediation are reported. An FeCl₃-catalyzed cross-linking reaction of a bis-tosylated arene monomer (M-OTs) gave a tosylate-substituted HCP precursor (P-OTs) in high yield. In contrast to halogenated monomers, the tosylate functional groups in M-OTs are inert under such polymerization conditions, allowing for facile chemical modification of P-OTsvia S_N2, reduction, and oxidation reactions to afford a series of HCPs containing thioacetate (P-SAc), thiol (P-SH), and sulfonic acid (P-SO₃H) functional groups. Characterized using a suite of techniques including FT-IR, elemental analysis, TGA, SEM, and BET, the sulfur-containing HCP series were investigated as organic pollutant extractant materials for contaminated water streams. Wherein it was demonstrated that the HCP series exhibited highly selective adsorption towards cationic species in aqueous solution operating in a considerable pH window and artificial sea and fresh water. Importantly, by virtue of strong electrostatic interactions, P-SO₃H outperformed other HCPs in rapid and efficient methylene blue (MB) and paraquat (PQ) adsorption with impressive adsorption capacities (q_max) of 582.60 mg g⁻¹ and 568.13 mg g⁻¹, respectively.

A simple flow system employing a reversible-flow syringe pump was employed to synthesize uniform micron-size particles of chitosan-Cu(II) (CS-Cu(II)) catalyst. A solution of chitosan and Cu(II) salt was drawn into a holding coil via a 3-way switching valve and then slowly pumped to drip into an alkaline solution to form of hydrogel droplets. The droplets were washed and dried to obtain the catalyst particles. Manual addition into the alkaline solution or employment of flow system with a vibrating rod, through which the end of the flow line is inserted, was investigated for comparison. A sampling method was selected to obtain representative samples of the population of the synthesized particles for size measurement using optical microscopy. The mean sizes of the particles were 880 ± 70 µm, 780 ± 20 µm, and 180 ± 30 µm for the manual and flow methods, without and with the vibrating rod, respectively. Performance of the flow methods, in terms of rate of droplet production and particle size distribution, are discussed. Samples of 180 µm size CS-Cu(II) particles were tested for catalytic reduction of 0.5 mM p-nitrophenol to p-aminophenol by 100-fold excess borohydride. The conversion was 98% after 20 min, whereas without the catalyst there was only 14% conversion.

Activated carbons (ACs) are a versatile group of adsorbents for water pollution control, especially organic dyes. Harsh chemicals and high temperatures are required for the activation process of ACs, which becomes a significant concern due to their toxicity and harmful effects on human health and the environment. Gamma irradiation, an alternative green technique, is a promising strategy for pretreatment and escalates the nitrogen or oxygen functional group of ACs. The current study provides the modification of ACs by the gamma irradiation in the various pH (5-11) of urea solution. The modified ACs were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), nitrogen gas adsorption-desorption analysts (BET), temperature program desorption (TPD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD). The point of zero charges and dye adsorption capacities were determined. This finding demonstrates that the ACs can be modified by gamma irradiation at 25 kGy in the urea solution media. The degree of graphitization enhanced significantly at pH 11(AC-pH11). The oxygen-rich functional groups created by radiation assists could enhance the electrostatic attraction between acid gases or cationic dyes. AC-pH11 also was able to adsorb methylene blue (160.73 ± 1.70 mg/g) greater than methyl orange (127.57 ± 2.22 mg/g).