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This research explores the challenges and limitations faced at the basic level for the recycling of paper in an academic institute. It focuses on encouraging recycled paper use rather than bringing traditional virgin paper to prevent the rate of deforestation for reducing global warming. Data was collected from the academic institute via questionnaire and on-site observation and found that the institute was producing approximately 16 tons of wastepaper in a year. Besides that, another purpose of this research is to estimate the energy and assess the environmental effect by using the life cycle assessment as a tool. The results of this study revealed that traditional virgin paper derived from wood proves to be costly and less environmentally friendly than recycled paper. It also revealed that Traditional virgin paper has greater global warming, human toxicity, smog, acidification, and eutrophication potential than recycled paper. This study concludes that recycled paper does not only prove economically beneficent for any institution, but also beneficial for environment as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanomaterials have played a unique role for effective filtration. Due to the effectiveness of large surface area to volume ratio, nanofibers have ability to absorb contaminants from air easily. Due to the fabrication of cellulose acetate on face mask some harmful bacteria and air particulates are not able to enter nose and mouth. However, without fabrication of cellulose acetate nanofibers the bacteria and air particulates may easily pass through the face mask due to their larger pores diameter. The advantage of fabrication is that the pore size of middle layer of face mask which is used for filtration has been reduced that increases the filtration efficiency. In this article middle layer of commercial disposable face mask having larger pores diameter used for filtration purpose has been replaced by development of cellulose acetate nanofibers having thickness of 60 µm, 35µm and 15µm.Morphology of membrane was characterized by SEM, chemical structure through FTIR, mechanical strength through tensile tester, air permeability through air permeability tester M021Sand smoke test was performed through self-designed smoke tester. It was found that membrane with thickness of 60 µm have highest filtration efficiency but air permeability was compromised but nanofiber membrane with thickness between 15-35 µm have better air permeability and filtration resistance than commercial face mask. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) with their unique structural chemistry create opportunities to be modified with polymers, making different nanocomposites. In the current research, a novel PET-PAN embedded with Mg-AI-LDH-PVA nanocomposite membrane was fabricated through electrospinning. SEM, EDX, FTIR, XRD, and AFM were carried out to investigate the structure and morphology of the nanocomposite membrane. The characterization of the optimized nanocomposite membrane showed a beadless, smooth structure with a nanofiber diameter of 695 nm. The water contact angle and tensile strength were 16° and 1.4 Mpa, respectively, showing an increase in the hydrophilicity and stability of the nanocomposite membrane by the addition of Mg-Al-LDH-PVA. To evaluate the adsorption performance of the nanocomposite membrane, operating parameters were achieved for Cr(VI) and methyl orange at pH 2.0 and pH 4.0, respectively, including contact time, adsorbate dose, and pollutant concentration. The adsorption data of the nanocomposite membrane showed the removal of 68% and 80% for Cr(VI) and methyl orange, respectively. The process of adsorption followed a Langmuir isotherm model that fit well and pseudo-2nd order kinetics with R2 values of 0.97 and 0.99, respectively. The recycling results showed the membrane's stability for up to five cycles. The developed membrane can be used for efficient removal of pollutants from wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]