MATEC Web of Conferences, open access proceedings in Materials science, Engineering and Chemistry

Urban stormwater management is a critical challenge facing cities globally, with natural-based solutions (NBS) emerging as a promising approach for mitigating the impacts of urban stormwater runoff. This bibliometric review examined the research trends and hot topics related to NBS for urban stormwater management. The study utilized a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods to analyze 176 articles from the Web of Science database, covering the period from 2016 to 2022. Results showed that NBS is a widely researched topic with a growing trend in publications in recent years, led by the United States, China, and several European countries. The majority of NBS articles were research papers (82%) with a focus on environmental performance rather than social and economic dimensions. Quantitative methods were more frequently used in research articles, particularly statistical analysis/modeling. Interviews and discussions were the most common qualitative method used. The review identified the most relevant countries, affiliations, authors, and journals in the field. Furthermore, hot topics in NBS research were highlighted, including ecosystem services, climate change, and sustainability. The study also emphasized that future research perspective should focus on interdisciplinary and collaborative research, scaling up and mainstreaming NBS, and exploring new ways of integrating different disciplines and stakeholders in the research process. The findings of this review provided insights into the current state of NBS research and offer valuable information for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners in the field of urban stormwater management.

MATEC Web of Conferences, open access proceedings in Materials science, Engineering and Chemistry

The potential of activated carbon from palm kernel shell (PKS-AC) to improve the quality of surface water and greywater based on the measurements of the parameters pH, turbidity, chemical oxygen demand (COD), total dissolved oxygen (TDS) and total suspended solids (TSS) was investigated in the present study. The PKS was acid treated with aqueous H₃PO₄ (1 N) for overnight at room temperature and then subjected to heat treatment at 550 °C for 2 h. The efficiency of the PSK-AC samples of 30 and 40 mm thicknesses was examined for reduction of the above parameters in surface water and greywater samples for 5, 15, 30 and 60 min of the filtration process. The efficiency of COD reduction by 50 and 56.44%, that of TDS by 57.81% and 22%, and that of TSS by 83.11 and 42.11% were detected using the PSK-AC samples above, respectively. The OH group contributed most to the removal of pollutants among the OH, N–H, C=O, C=C, C–O–C, C–O–H main functional groups pointed out via Fourier Transform Infra-red (FTIR) analysis on the surface. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images revealed that the surface of the raw PSK-AC appeared smooth with holes on the external surface, while the grains were filled in the PSK-AC after the adsorption process.