This review explores biochar's potential for removing microplastics and nanoplastics from water, discussing various mechanisms and the benefits of combining biochar with other water treatment technologies.

The presence of emerging contaminants in water can harm both the environment and human health. Traditional water and wastewater treatment cannot eliminate them, so different alternatives for their removal are being studied. The use of activated carbon as an adsorbent is emphasized due to its high adsorption capacity and lower cost, and to the possibility of obtaining it from biomass wastes. Thus, this study evaluated the use of Syagrus coronata waste to produce activated biochars and their adsorption capacity of isoniazid from an aqueous medium. For this, the biochar obtained through slow pyrolysis was chemically activated using two different agents, H₂SO₄ or KOH. The adsorbent’s acidic and textural properties were studied and correlated with adsorption behavior tested in batch and fixed-bed column systems, using commercial activated carbon as a comparison. The KOH activation process produced a predominantly microporous material (BAC), with a high surface area (1006 m²·g⁻¹) and a high content of oxygenated functional groups (1.98 mmol·g⁻¹). BAC outperformed all other materials tested and ones found in other works using isoniazid as a contaminant model, having a high adsorption capacity (712.42 mg·g⁻¹). Thus, this work successfully obtained an efficient adsorbent produced from an agro-industrial waste, with superior performance.

Affinity selection mass spectrometry (AS-MS) has emerged as a powerful label-free technique for identifying and characterizing ligand-target interactions. This review explores the diverse applications of AS-MS in drug discovery, including its role in selective screening, binding site characterization, and quantitative affinity determination. We discuss the use of AS-MS for determining equilibrium dissociation constants (K_D) and competitive binding parameters (affinity competition experiment 50% (ACE₅₀)), highlighting its ability to rank ligand affinities efficiently. The review also examines AS-MS applications in fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD), screening for molecular glues, and investigating interactions with membrane proteins. Moreover, we address key technical challenges, including competitive binding effects, protein stability, and ligand dissociation kinetics, along with recent advancements in automation and artificial intelligence (AI) integration. Rather than providing a comprehensive literature review, this work aims to broaden the applicability of AS-MS assays and encourage researchers to explore its use in underutilized contexts. By providing rapid and high-sensitivity affinity measurements, AS-MS continues to expand its role in drug discovery and structural biology, complementing conventional biophysical techniques.

The Terminalia catappa L. tree is an ornamental and shade tree producter of a large amount of biological waste sent to landfills. Therefore, this plant constitutes so-called municipal solid wood waste (MSWW), which causes undesirable impacts on the environment, such as the generation of methane through the action of microorganisms. Sustainable solutions for the proper use and disposal of MSWW are a topic that has assumed great relevance at present due to the high quantities of MSWW generated worldwide. Pyrolysis constitutes an attractive alternative for the sustainable use of MSWW to produce higher value-added products. This study investigated the slow pyrolysis of Terminalia catappa L. fruit and the use of the aqueous fraction produced for bovine mastitis control. We obtained four fractions from the pyrolysis process, with average yields of the aqueous phase (36.22 ± 2.0 %), bio-oil (5.52 ± 0.4 %), biochar (37.55 ± 2.8 %) and gas (20.71 ± 2.0 %). The aqueous fraction was extracted with organic solvents and analyzed by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC‒MS). The extracts were composed mainly of phenols (50 %), furan derivatives, cyclic ketones, and others with lower contents, such as alcohols and esters. The aqueous fraction had bactericidal activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli, which are responsible for bovine mastitis. In addition, the fraction showed low cytotoxicity against a murine melanoma cell line from a C57BL/6J mouse, B16F10 cells and mouse peritoneal cells.