Waste from crustaceans has adverse effects on the environment. In this respect, shrimp waste was valorized for producing chitosan nanoparticles as a source for eco-friendly nano-nitrogen fertilizer. The application of nano-nitrogen fertilizers is a valuable alternative approach in agriculture due to its potential for reducing the application of mineral nitrogen fertilizers and increasing yield quality and quantity, thereby helping to reduce the worldwide food shortage. Chitosan nanoparticles were foliar sprayed at three volumes (0, 7, and 14 L/ha) and compared with mineral nitrogen fertilizer (M-N) sprayed at three volumes (0, 120, and 240 kg N/ha) and their combination on two wheat cultivars (Misr-1 and Gemaiza-11) during two consecutive seasons (2019/2020 and 2020/2021) in order to evaluate the agronomic response. The synthesized chitosan nanoparticles displayed characteristic bands of both Nan-N and urea/chitosan from 500–4000 cm⁻¹. They are stable and have a huge surface area of 73.21 m² g⁻¹. The results revealed significant differences among wheat cultivars, fertilization applications, individual or combined, and their interactions for yield-contributing traits. Foliar application of nano-nitrogen fertilizer at 14 L/ha combined with mineral fertilizer at 240 kg/ha significantly increased total chlorophyll content by 41 and 31% compared to control; concerning plant height, the two cultivars recorded the tallest plants (86.2 and 86.5 cm) compared to control. On the other hand, the heaviest 1000-grain weight (55.8 and 57.4 g) was recorded with treatment of 120 kg Mn-N and 14 L Nan-N/ha compared to the control (47.6 and 45.5 g). The Misr-1 cultivar achieved the highest values for grain yield and nitrogen (1.30 and 1.91 mg/L) and potassium (9.87 and 9.81 mg/L) in the two studied seasons when foliarly sprayed with the combination of 120 kg Mn-N/ha + 14 L Nan-N/ha compared to the Gemaiza-11 cultivar. It can be concluded that Misr-1 exhibited higher levels of total chlorophyll content, spike length, 100-grain weight, grain yield in kg/ha, and nitrogen and potassium. However, Gemaiza-11 displayed higher biomass and straw yield values, plant height, and sodium concentration values. It could be economically recommended to use the application of 120 kg Mn-N/ha + 14 L Nan-N/ha on the Misr-1 cultivar to achieve the highest crop yield.

Organophosphate-based pesticides, such as diazinon, are among the most toxic organic contaminants to human and environment. Effective removal of diazinon from contaminated water sources is critical. Zirconium Metal−organic frameworks (Zr-MOFs) are promising candidates for the removal of organic contaminants from wastewater. Herein, we report the adequacy of a bio based Zr-MOF named MIP-202 for the removal of diazinon from water. On the other hand, the use of these materials in powder form is not workable, the development of scalable and economical processes and integrative of these materials onto beads is paramount for industrial processes. Hence, it was reported a scalable, bio aqueous solution-based preparation strategy for Bio Zr-MOF beads production. The composite material exposed identical reactivity under the same ambient parameters compared to powdered material in an aqueous solution. These results signify a critical procedure to an integrated strategy for organophosphates removal using bio-based MOFs, which demonstrates high potential for manufacturing applications such as continued removal of organophosphates from wastewater supplies.

Considering the great impact of a material’s surface area on adsorption processes, hollow nanotube magnetic zinc oxide with a favorable surface area of 78.39 m²/g was fabricated with the assistance of microwave technology in the presence of poly vinyl alcohol (PVA) as a stabilizing agent followed by sonic precipitation of magnetite nano-particles. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) micrographs identified the nanotubes’ morphology in the synthesized material with an average aspect ratio of 3. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis verified the combination of magnetite material with the hexagonal wurtzite structure of ZnO in the prepared material. The immobilization of magnetite nanoparticles on to ZnO was confirmed using vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM). The sorption affinity of the synthesized magnetic ZnO nanotube for phenolic compounds from aqueous solutions was examined as a function of various processing factors. The degree of acidity of the phenolic solution has great influence on the phenol sorption process on to magnetic ZnO. The calculated value of ΔH⁰ designated the endothermic nature of the phenol uptake process on to the magnetic ZnO nanotubes. Mathematical modeling indicated a combination of physical and chemical adsorption mechanisms of phenolic compounds on to the fabricated magnetic ZnO nanotubes. The kinetic process correlated better with the second-order rate model compared to the first-order rate model. This result indicates the predominance of the chemical adsorption process of phenol on to magnetic ZnO nanotubes.

In this study, a cost-effective powdered Zn L-aspartic acid bio-metal organic framework (Zn L-Asp bio-MOF) was reported as an efficient adsorbent for Direct Red 81 (DR-81) as an anionic organic dye. The prepared bio-MOF was characterized using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), field emission transmission electron microscopy (FETEM), surface area analysis (BET), and thermal gravimetrical analysis (TGA). The resulting bio-MOF has a large surface area (180.43 m² g⁻¹) and large mesopore volume (0.144 cm³ g⁻¹), as well as good chemical inertness and mechanical stability. The optimum dosage from the Zn L-Asp bio-MOF was 1.0 g L⁻¹ at pH = 7 for 95.3% adsorption of 10 ppm DR-81 after 45 min. Thermodynamic analysis results demonstrated that the decontamination processes were done with spontaneous, thermodynamically, and exothermic nature onto the fabricated bio-MOF. Kinetic parameters were well-fitted with pseudo-second-order kinetics, and the adsorption process was described by the Freundlich isotherm. The adsorption data proved that Zn L-Asp bio-MOF is an effective adsorbent for DR-81 from aqueous solutions with high stability and recycling ability for eight cycles, as well as the easy regeneration of the sorbent.

In this study, we reported sustainable and economical upcycling methods for utilizing plastics such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polypropylene (PP) compiled from the garbage of a residential area as cheap precursors for the production of high-value carbon materials such as graphene (G), carbon spheres (CS), and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) using different thermal treatment techniques. Graphene, carbon spheres, and carbon nanotubes were successfully synthesized from PET, PP, and PET, respectively via catalytic pyrolysis. XRD and FTIR analyses were conducted on the three materials, confirming the formation of carbon and their graphitic structure. TEM images displayed uniform and consistent morphological structures of the fabricated materials. EDX data confirmed that the prepared carbon-based materials only contained carbon and oxygen without any significant contaminations. XPS results revealed significant peaks in the C 1s spectra associated with sp² and sp³ hybridized carbon for the three materials. BET spectra showed that the prepared CNTs (54.872 m² g⁻¹) have the highest surface area followed by carbon spheres (54.807 m² g⁻¹). The thermal stability of graphene surpassed both carbon spheres and carbon nanotubes which is mainly attributed to the stronger inter-molecular bonds of graphene. Based on the characterization of the prepared materials, these materials are promising to be utilized in environmental remediation applications due to their high carbon content, low cost, and high surface area.