The huge development of industrial production and human activities throughout the world has resulted in serious water pollution. Pesticides, dyes, phenol, and phenolic compounds may be life-threatening to humans and marine aquatic animals, even at low concentrations. These pollutants must be removed by using different techniques to provide high-quality water. So far, the adsorption process has been considered an effective method to remove pollutants from an aqueous solution. The adsorption method has several advantages, such as low cost, easy operation, and high performance. This article reviewed the removal of dye, pesticides, phenol, and phenolic compounds through zeolite, activated carbon, clay, ash fly, and carbon nanotubes by reviewing the existing literature from 2000 to 2022. The properties of the adsorbent, adsorption studies, the method of design, and optimization conditions were reported. The thermodynamic studies were conducted to determine Gibbs free energy change, standard entropy change, and standard enthalpy change. Adsorption isotherms (Langmuir, Freundlich, and Temkim models) revealed the relationship between the amount of adsorbates per unit adsorbent in the equilibrium process. The adsorption kinetic investigations (pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order kinetic model) were carried out to determine the rate of adsorption and correlate the experimental data. Experimental results indicated that a higher adsorption capacity can be observed when the adsorbents have a high surface area and high-porosity structure. The removal percentage of pollutants increased when the adsorbent dosage was increased due to the availability of a larger number of adsorption sites. In conclusion, cheaper adsorbents can be used in wastewater treatment to improve water quality and protect the environment.

Solar energy is free from noise and environmental pollution. It could be used to replace non-renewable sources such as fossil fuels, which are in limited supply and have negative environmental impacts. The first generation of solar cells was made from crystalline silicon. They were relatively efficient, however very expensive because they require a lot of energy to purify the silicon. Nowadays, the production of solar cells has been improved since the first generation (thin-film solar cells, dye-sensitized solar cells, perovskite solar cells, and organic solar cells). In this work, the development of solar cells was discussed. The advantages, limitations, challenges, and future trends of these solar cells were also reported. Lastly, this article emphasized the various practices to promote solar energy and highlighted the power conversion efficiency of the fabricated devices.

Many researchers have reported on the preparation and characterization of thin films. The prepared thin films could be used in lasers, cathodic ray tubes, solar cells, infrared windows, ultraviolet light emitting diodes, sensors, supercapacitors, biologic applications, and optoelectronic applications. The properties of these thin films strongly depend on the deposition techniques. Throughout the years, many investigations into the production of various types of thin films (by using the successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method) were conducted. This method attracts interest as it possesses many advantages when compared to other deposition methods. For example, large area depositions could be carried out in any substrates at lower temperatures via inexpensive instruments; moreover, a vacuum chamber is not required, it has an excellent growth rate, and the unique film properties could be controlled. In this work, metal sulfide, metal selenide, metal oxide, and metal telluride were deposited on substrates by using the SILAR method. According to the findings, both thick and thin films could be synthesized under specific conditions during the experiment. Additionally, the results showed that the number of deposition cycles, rinsing times, immersion times, and concentrations of the precursors affected the crystallinities, grain sizes, film thicknesses, surface roughness, and shapes of the obtained films. These films could be used in solar cell applications with high power conversion efficiency due to the appropriate band gap value and high absorption coefficient value.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) poses significant challenges due to its aggressiveness and resistance to standard therapies, necessitating novel treatments. This study evaluates the anticancer potential of flavonoids isolated from Pistacia chinensis against the glioblastoma U87 cell line. Two flavonoids, 2-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-5,7-dihydroxy-4H-chromen-4-one (Compound 1) and 2-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-7,8-dihydroxy-3-methoxy-4H-chromen-4-one (Compound 2), were isolated using column chromatography and analyzed through in silico techniques, including molecular docking, density functional theory (DFT), and pharmacokinetic profiling. In vitro studies revealed dose- and time-dependent cytotoxicity, with Compound 1 demonstrating higher activity, reducing U87 cell viability by up to 70.11% after 48 h at 75 μg/mL. Molecular docking demonstrated its strong binding affinity to mTOR (−10.391 kcal/mol), while DFT confirmed its structural stability. Both compounds displayed favorable absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity (ADMET) profiles, supporting their potential as therapeutic candidates. These findings underscore the significant anti-GBM activity of flavonoids, particularly Compound 1, warranting further in vivo studies to explore their clinical potential as effective GBM treatments.

Cu In Se2 thin films are very important semiconductor material for solar cell applications because of chemical stability, direct band gap and high optical absorption coefficient. In this work, these films have been prepared by using different deposition techniques such as electrodeposition, solvothermal, vacuum evaporation, hydrothermal and pulsed electrode position technique. Cu In Se2 thin films were fully characterized by using field emission scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Energy dispersive X-ray analysis, atomic force microscopy, UV-Visible spectrophotometer and Raman spectroscopy in order to study physical properties.

The CO₂ hydrogenation process is thought to be one of the feasible methods for producing methanol fuel, which might be used to fulfill future energy demands. Improving the catalytic efficiency and understanding of the process are essential elements for the viability of CO₂ conversion routes. Here, a co-precipitation method was used to synthesize Ni-Cu bimetallic catalysts supported by chromium oxide (Cr₂O₃). To examine nickel (Ni)’s promoting role, the synthesized catalysts were incorporated with different concentrations of Ni. The N₂ adsorption–desorption isotherm exposed the mesoporous nature of Cr₂O₃-based Ni-Cu catalysts. A Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy investigation revealed the effective doping of Ni-Cu metal oxides on the surface of Cr₂O₃ by instigating an FTIR absorption band in the region associated with the FTIR absorption of metal oxides. The uniform morphology and homogenous, as well as highly dispersed, form of both Ni and Cu metal were recorded using a Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) techniques. The surface chemistry, metal–metal, and metal–support interactions of the Ni-Cu/Cr₂O₃ catalysts were disclosed via temperature program reduction (TPR) as well as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The synergism between the Ni and Cu metals was revealed using both XPS and TPR techniques, which resulted in improving the catalytic profile of Ni-Cu/Cr₂O₃ catalysts. The activity data obtained by applying a slurry reactor demonstrated the active profile of Ni for CO₂ reduction to methanol in terms of the methanol synthesis rate. The promoting role of Ni was established by observing the progressing and linear increase in methanol selectivity by Ni enrichment to the Ni-Cu/Cr₂O₃ catalysts. Structure and activity studies recognized the promoting role of Ni by experiencing metal–metal and metal–support interactions with highly dispersed metal oxides over the Cr₂O₃ support in the current case.