In this study a Box-Behnken (BBD) design was applied to optimize biosorption of copper, cadmium, and lead using cabbage waste. The effects of operating parameters including initial pH, biosorbent dosage, contact time, and heavy metal concentration were determined by BBD. The maximum biosorption removal efficiency was achieved at pH 4, 300 min operation time, 1.5 g/250 mL biosorbent dosage, and an initial heavy metal concentration of 25 mg/L. The maximum removal efficiencies were 77.23% for Cu, 93.10% for Pb, and 67.19% for Cd at optimal conditions. The cabbage waste was found to be an effective, sustainable, locally available, and environmentally friendly biosorbent for removing heavy metals from aqueous solution.

The choice of plant species is crucial, as different plants provide unique biomolecules that influence nanoparticle characteristics. Biomolecules in plant extracts, such as proteins, amino acids, enzymes, polysaccharides, alkaloids, tannins, phenolics, saponins, terpenoids, and vitamins, act as stabilizing and reducing agents. This study explores the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using leaf extracts from collard greens (Brassica oleracea var. acephala), hazelnut (Corylus avellana var. avellana), and green tea (Camellia sinensis). NPs were synthesized using silver nitrate (AgNO₃) solution at two different molarities (1 mM and 5 mM) and characterized by UV–Vis spectroscopy, XRD, TEM, and FTIR. The Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) peaks appeared rapidly for hazelnut and green tea extracts, within 30 and 15 min, respectively, while collard greens extract failed to produce a distinct SPR peak. X-Ray Diffraction confirmed the formation of face-centered cubic silver. TEM analysis revealed high polydispersity and agglomeration in all samples, with particle size generally decreasing at higher AgNO₃ concentrations. However, hazelnut extract showed a slight increase in size at higher molarity. Among all samples, green tea-derived AgNPs synthesized with 5 mM AgNO₃ were the smallest and least polydisperse, highlighting the significant role of plant type in optimizing nanoparticle synthesis.

In this study, the occurrence and morphology of microplastics in a small fishing port in the Black Sea were determined by bulk sampling and visually analyzed by a stereo microscope. Three sampling campaigns were carried out, two of which were after the opening of the legal fishing season. The average abundance of the microplastics was found to be 3417+1401 items/m3. The determined microplastic concentration was 1.43 times higher on the day of the most intense fishing activities. No statistically significant differences were observed for the different sampling locations (coast, middle, and seaside). The most frequent microplastic colors observed were blue, followed by black, green, red, white and grey, while fibers represented the dominant shape. The prevalent size of microplastics was

In this study production of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) from collard greens were optimized by the design of experiments (DOE). A 24 full factorial design was employed to evaluate the effects on two responses. The optimized values for AgNP production were 1:7 leaf to water, 1:4 extract to AgNO3, 5 molar AgNO3, and a leaf size of <1 mm. For dye removal efficiency, the optimized values were changed to 1:15 of leaf to water and 1:10 of extract to AgNO3, while the other two parameters remained the same. SEM (scanning electron microscopy) showed that optimizing the process for dye removal led to smaller AgNP production with increased surface area, resulting in higher absorbency. ANOVA (analysis of variance) tables were used to interpret each parameter's main and effects on interaction. Additionally, reaction rate kinetics were estimated, and dye removal showed a slightly higher R-square of pseudo second-order than NP production, which fits the pseudo first-order reaction model.