Ensuring drinking water quality is a key factor for public health and it is especially important given the increase in industrialization. Its quality is ensured by a water treatment process that includes a disinfection stage, mainly involving chlorination. However, by applying this disinfection method, unwanted disinfection byproducts (DBPs) are formed. These compounds have, in general, a negative impact on human health. Following this, the development of stricter regulations for drinking water quality standards has been conducted worldwide. Several techniques for the removal of DBPs have already been developed to prevent DBP formation or to reduce DBPs formed during disinfection. Nevertheless, controlling the water distribution systems after drinking water treatment is still important, since DBPs can reoccur along the distribution network. To achieve this, further research should be developed to efficiently monitor and allow the performance of the necessary actions to detect and control these contaminants throughout the water distribution system. Additionally, the most suitable places for sensing along the distribution system must be further assessed.

Water pollution is becoming a great concern at the global level due to highly polluted effluents, which are charged year by year with increasing amounts of organic residues, dyes, pharmaceuticals and heavy metals. For some of these pollutants, the industrial treatment of wastewater is still relevant. Yet, in some cases, such as pharmaceuticals, specific treatment schemes are urgently required. Therefore, the present study describes the synthesis and evaluation of promising cryostructured composite adsorbents based on chitosan containing native minerals and two types of reinforcement materials (functionalized kaolin and synthetic silicate microparticles). The targeted pharmaceuticals refer to the ciprofloxacin (CIP) antibiotic and the carbamazepine (CBZ) drug, for which the current water treatment process seem to be less efficient, making them appear in exceedingly high concentrations, even in tap water. The study reveals first the progress made for improving the mechanical stability and resilience to water disintegration, as a function of pH, of chitosan-based cryostructures. Further on, a retention study shows that both pharmaceuticals are retained with high efficiency (up to 85.94% CIP and 86.38% CBZ) from diluted aqueous solutions.

In the synthesis of aerogels, the influence of the drying process on the nanostructure is an issue of utmost relevance for tailoring the final properties of these materials. Among the complex parameters affecting this process, the hydrophobicity of the aerogel structure plays a key role. Thus, herein, four different silica aerogel formulations based on tetraethyl orthosilicate and trimethoxymethylsilane were employed to produce aerogels with different wettability properties (from hydrophilic samples to highly hydrophobic). The synthesized gels were dried by three methods, namely freeze-drying, high-temperature supercritical drying with ethanol, and low-temperature supercritical drying with carbon dioxide, and the influence of each procedure on bulk density, porosity, pore size, and specific surface area of the resulting aerogels was analyzed in detail. The direct correlation between the surface hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity of the silica gels and the effects of each drying technique was analyzed, providing insights into a proper selection of the drying method depending on both the water affinity of the gel and the desired textural properties and structures.

In the synthesis of aerogels, the influence of the drying process on the nanostructure is an issue of utmost relevance for tailoring the final properties of these materials. Among the complex parameters affecting this process, hydrophobicity of the aerogel structure plays a key role. Thus, herein, four different silica aerogel formulations based on tetraethyl orthosilicate and trimethoxymethylsilane have been employed to produce aerogels with different wettability properties (from hydrophilic samples to highly hydrophobic). The synthesized gels were dried by three methods: freeze-drying, high-temperature supercritical drying with ethanol and low-temperature supercritical drying with carbon dioxide, and the influence of each procedure on bulk density, porosity, pore size, and specific surface area of the resulting aerogels was analyzed in detail. A clear correlation between the surface hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity of the silica gels and the effects of each drying technique was found, providing insights into a proper selection of the drying method depending on both, the water affinity of the gel, and the desired textural properties and structures. Thus, this work promotes a step forward in the search for the optimal aerogel features through the synthesis procedure with the aim of reaching on-demand applications.