The present disclosure relates to methods and systems for converting biomass comprising lignocellulosic material into biofuels and biochemicals that contribute to reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. In particular, the present disclosure relates to methods and systems for the removal or reduction of impurities during lignocellulosic biomass processing to enhance biorefinery production of biofuels and biochemicals.

A composite nanomaterial of ZnO impregnated by, e.g., a green copper phthalocyanine compound (CuPc) can be an efficient solar light photocatalyst for water remediation. The composite may include hollow shell microspheres and hollow nanospheres of CuPc-ZnO. CuPc may function as a templating and/or structure modifying agent, e.g., for forming hollow microspheres and/or nanospheres of ZnO particles. The composite can photocatalyze the degradation of organic pollutants such as crystal violet (CV) and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid as well as microbes in water under solar light irradiation. The ZnOCuPc composite can be stable and recyclable under solar irradiation.

An exemplary embodiment of the present invention provides a system for disinfecting a fluid, the system comprising: an outer electrode defining an internal cavity; a center electrode comprising a plurality of surface area members, the center electrode positioned within the internal cavity and extending along at least a portion of a longitudinal axis of the outer electrode; an inlet positioned proximate a first end of the outer electrode and configured to allow a fluid to pass from an area external to the cavity into the cavity; and an outlet positioned proximate a second end of the outer electrode and configured to allow the fluid to pass from the cavity into an area external to the cavity. A voltage supply can be configured to supply a voltage across the outer electrode and center electrode, the voltage generating a non-uniform electric field distribution on a cross-sectional plane of the system.

Hydrogel nanobeads include an ionically crosslinked sulfated polysaccharide biopolymer such as a carrageenan. In an embodiment, the hydrogel nanobeads comprise kappa carrageenan (Cg) and a metal ion crosslinking agent. In an embodiment, the metal ion crosslinking agent includes a metal ion selected from the group consisting of Zn.sup.2+, Fe.sup.2+, Fe.sup.3+, and Ti.sup.3+. The hydrogel nanobeads can be used for removal of pollutants in wastewater.

A dehydration method is a dehydration method for selectively separating water from a mixture that contains water, and the method includes a step of supplying the mixture to a supply side space of a separation membrane, and a step of making a pressure difference between the supply side space and a permeation side space of the separation membrane. The separation membrane includes a first zeolite membrane that faces the permeation side space and is constituted by a first zeolite and a second zeolite membrane that faces the supply side space and is adjacent to the first zeolite membrane. The second zeolite membrane is constituted by a second zeolite that has the same framework structure as framework of the first zeolite and has a lower Si/Al atom ratio than a Si/Al atom ratio of the first zeolite.

A method for removing biologically recalcitrant soluble organic compounds from wastewater simultaneously in an activated sludge process comprising an aeration tank and a solid-liquid separation unit, in which method at least one Al and/or Fe based inorganic metal coagulant is added to the wastewater in the activated sludge process and/or prior to conveying wastewater to an activated sludge process.

A method for preparing a porous-polymer-modified metal carbon nanotube membrane includes: preparing an acidified carbon nanotube membrane; preparing a modification solution; heating the acidified carbon nanotube membrane in the modification solution and reacting to obtain a metal carbon nanotube membrane; conducting a polymerization reaction to obtain a crude polymer product; coating the metal carbon nanotube membrane with a polyethylene glycol diglycidyl ether (PEGDEG) solution; coating the metal carbon nanotube membrane with a porous polymer solution; and heating the metal carbon nanotube membrane to obtain the porous-polymer-modified metal carbon nanotube membrane. A porous-polymer-modified metal carbon nanotube membrane is prepared according to this method.

A system and method for creating and collecting magnetic microplastics effectively combines magnetic material with plastics during their manufacture, thereby producing microplastics that can be easily collected via removal devices equipped with magnetic components. Magnetic particles are mixed with plastic/rubber resins during manufacturing of tires, roofing materials, and other plastic items. The magnetic particles can be made from natural or artificial magnets. After mixing, the partially-magnetic rubber/plastic result can be applied to areas of the manufactured plastic item that have the highest propensity to degrade into microplastic pollutants. For example, the thread of a tire, where friction with the road causes most of the wear, is an optimal location for integration of magnetic particles. When the plastics break down into microplastics, the microplastics can then be collected with magnets. The collected microplastics can then be removed from the magnetic collectors during routine maintenance and subsequently recycled safely.

The invention relates to new compositions of polyorganic functional groups modified silica. The compositions contain a wide range of different functional groups such as mercapto, sulfide, thiourea, amines and amides in the same composition and each of these functional groups are present in an array of numerous different oligomers, configurations and stereochemistry. These functional groups have a strong affinity for metals and particular targets. Combining a high number of these functional groups together in the same composition enhances the overall binding affinity of the functionalised material. Combination with different structural configurations further enhances the capacity to bind to diverse structural variations in the targets found in actual process, product and waste streams. This multitude of binding mechanisms enables very high levels of purification and target removal as well as selectivity to be achieved in product, process and waste streams. The compounds are useful for the purification of products and for the removal of unwanted organic and inorganic compounds from product, process and waste streams, as chromatography medium for the purification and separation of metals, metal complexes and organic and biological compounds, for solid phase extraction, for solid phase synthesis, for metal mediated heterogeneous catalysis, for metal ion abstraction and for the immobilisation of bio-molecules.

A method for treating wastewater comprising subjecting a sulfate containing wastewater to Fe(III) iron dosing in an anaerobic bioreactor containing one or more of an iron reducing bacteria and one or more of a sulfate reducing bacteria, and one or more of a fermentative bacteria, and adjusting a dosage of the Fe(III) iron in the anaerobic bioreactor to achieve a Fe/Sulfate molar ratio that is equal to or greater than 0.50, and removing an effluent from the anaerobic bioreactor that is a treated wastewater. A wastewater treatment system is provided having a wastewater reservoir, a ferric iron solution reservoir, an anaerobic bioreactor, and an effluent reservoir.