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The contamination of aqueous environment by phenol poses a major threat due to its hyper toxic effects and removal of phenol is challenging due to its hydrophilic properties. This research study examines the surface encapsulation of iron oxide (IO) with bio-derived carbon-based date palm (DP) to make date palm-iron oxide (DP-IO) nanocomposite to potentially remediate phenol in aqueous environment. Phenol removal percentage is predominantly influenced by environmental factors, namely pH, nano sorbent loading, temperature, agitation speed, and initial phenol concentration. Under optimum conditions of 30 °C and pH 7.8, 80.30% of phenol was removed using a 0.75 g/L sorbent load with 100 mg/L initial phenol concentration. Langmuir isotherm fitted well (R2 > 0.997), supporting single-layer phenol attachment with maximum bio-sorption capacity of 72.46 mg/g. A pseudo-2nd-order (PSO) kinetic model is identified to be the most appropriate for the DP-IO sorption experiment (R2 >0.999). Scanning electron microscopic images, X-ray diffraction observations, FT-IR plots, and thermogravimetric analysis have been used to characterize. The removal mechanism involves unimolecular layer and chemisorption is identified as a rate determining step. The reuse potential proved that the synthesized nanocomposite as a sustainable solution for phenolic wastewater treatment. • Novel iron-oxide based nanocomposite was synthesized. • Optimal conditions for maximum phenol removal are identified. • Isotherm modeling was carried out. • Kinetic mechanism was studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pharmaceutical waste generation in domestic and industrial discharges is a major challenge requiring adapted treatment solutions. Antibiotics, pain killers, lifesaving drugs, birth control pills, and tetracycline are released by human activities. Biochar has recently drawn attention as an adsorbents to remove pharmaceutical pollutants. Here we review biochar applications for the treatment of tetracycline, sulfonamides, quinolones and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. We discuss production methods, biochar properties, post-treatment methods and agents for biochar activation, adsorption mechanisms involved, performance of the biochar with respect to the sorbate, and operating conditions. Biochars from renewable materials show 100% recovery of pharmaceutical pollutants. Unlike other adsorbents, biochar can be recycled up to 8 times with a very low decline of efficiency. The highest recoveries of pharmaceutical pollutants using biochars is 1163 mg/g for tetracycline by biochar from Eucommia ulmoides; 400 mg/g for sulfamethoxazole with sugarcane bagasse biochar; 596 mg/g for naproxen by peanut shell biochar, and 698.6 mg/g for norfloxacin by corncob-derived biochar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MXene, identified as a high performance material with superior properties, has gained significant importance in the field of applications including energy storage, photo catalysis, sensing of components and environmental pollution control. This review article is a comprehensive study on scientometric review on the research studies involving MXene and its derivatives for various applications. The aim of this study is to identify the areas of priority focused during the study period (2012–2020) and evaluate the impact of the studies in terms of different parameters. Using the suitable key words, a total of 3332 documents are identified and screened with respect to yearly count of literature, type of literature, language of publication, authors, Web of science (WoS) categories, most cited literature, author contribution, name of the affiliated institution, country of author affiliation, journals and key words. In addition, collaboration behavior and citation network are reviewed using the mapping tool. The total local citation score (TLCS) and total global citation score (TGCS) are evaluated. Based on the review data, the developments in the field of MXene applications are presented with more focus on sensing applications and photocatalysis. The top two contributing countries in the chosen field of MXene research are China and USA. Based on the number of documents published, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces and Journal of Materials Chemistry "A" are identified as the best two journals. [Display omitted] • Scientific analysis of MXene and its derivatives are performed for the period 2012–2020. • 3332 bibliographic records from the Web of Science are critically analyzed. • Most cited literature, authors, countries are identified. • Clustering of collaborating authors and institutions is explained. • Recent applications of MXene and future scope were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]