Environmental Analysis, Remediation and Resource Recovery
Functional materials for adsorption, reaction and mass transfer in heavy-metal remediation, trace contaminant analysis and resource recovery from water.
The research question
Environmental work requires both sensitive identification of target substances and treatment approaches suited to the surrounding medium. The selected studies include metal-ion immobilization in water and soil, Cr(VI) remediation across pH conditions, trace chloramphenicol analysis and uranium extraction from seawater. They investigate active sites, interfacial reactions, electron transfer and mass-transfer channels.
Research approach
Build materials from minerals, carbon and iron-containing components.
Study adsorption, immobilization or reduction processes.
Distinguish evidence from water, soil and plant experiments.
Materials and methods
Waste-derived materials: environmental materials prepared from tobacco waste liquid and iron-containing residues.
Coupled reactions: iron–copper galvanic systems, nanoconfinement and photoresponsive structures for removal or immobilization.
Analytical sensing: MOF/MXene electrodes, catalytic DNA assembly and gold nanoprobes for signal generation and amplification.
Transport design: lamellar aerogels and aligned channels, supported by simulation and adsorption experiments.
Photo-induced protonation assisted nano primary battery for highly efficient immobilization of diverse heavy metal ions
Hongjian Ge, et al.
Journal of Hazardous Materials, 2024, 476, 135066
An iron–copper primary battery and photo-responsive functionalized graphene oxide work together to immobilize nine oppositely charged heavy-metal species. The study also evaluates remediation in contaminated soil.
Question: How can ions of different metals and charge characteristics be immobilized together?
Design and findings: An iron–copper primary battery and photo-responsive functionalized graphene oxide work together to immobilize nine oppositely charged heavy-metal species. The study also evaluates remediation in contaminated soil.
Scope: Results are limited to the tested materials and water/soil conditions; they do not establish universal field removal or absence of secondary pollution.
Integration of galvanic reactions and engineered nanoconfinement in iron-copper nanocomposites for highly-efficient remediation of Cr(VI)-contaminated acidic/alkaline water
Sijia Li, et al.
Chemical Engineering Journal, 2024, 484, 149533
Iron–copper nanocomposites combine galvanic reactions with engineered nanoconfinement for Cr(VI) remediation in acidic and alkaline water.
Question: How can iron–copper galvanic reactions and nanoconfinement address Cr(VI) across water pH conditions?
Design and findings: Iron–copper nanocomposites combine galvanic reactions with engineered nanoconfinement for Cr(VI) remediation in acidic and alkaline water.
Scope: The study concerns Cr(VI)-contaminated water; no field throughput or universal water-quality performance is inferred.
Facile fabrication of sensing electrode based on CoFe-MOFs/MXene for ultrasensitive detection of picomolar chloramphenicol
Bowen Shen, et al.
Talanta, 2025, 286, 127552
CoFe metal–organic frameworks grown on MXene-loaded carbon paper combine adsorption sites with conductivity. The sensor reports a 33 pM detection limit for chloramphenicol and is tested in bottled water, milk and urine matrices.
Question: How can electrode adsorption and conductivity be combined for trace chloramphenicol analysis?
Design and findings: CoFe metal–organic frameworks grown on MXene-loaded carbon paper combine adsorption sites with conductivity. The sensor reports a 33 pM detection limit for chloramphenicol and is tested in bottled water, milk and urine matrices.
Scope: The reported detection limit applies to the study protocol; this is a research sensor rather than an approved clinical or regulatory assay.
Picomolar chloramphenicol detection by orchestrating multi-level signal systems of metal-organic frameworks-catalytic hairpin assembly-gold nanoprobes
Bowen Shen, et al.
Talanta, 2026, 302, 129463
Amino-functionalized cobalt MOF nanosheets, DNA catalytic hairpin assembly and thionine-labeled gold nanoprobes provide multilevel signal amplification. Under optimized conditions, chloramphenicol detection reaches 3.33 pM across a 10 pM–50 nM linear range.
Question: How can materials, DNA assembly and nanoprobes amplify analytical signals?
Design and findings: Amino-functionalized cobalt MOF nanosheets, DNA catalytic hairpin assembly and thionine-labeled gold nanoprobes provide multilevel signal amplification. Under optimized conditions, chloramphenicol detection reaches 3.33 pM across a 10 pM–50 nM linear range.
Scope: The detection limit applies to optimized experimental conditions and does not establish performance in every real-world sample.
Engineering Mass‐Transfer‐Optimized Lamellar Structures for Enhanced Uranium Extraction From Seawater
Yuexiang Wang, et al.
Small, 2026, e74982
Directional freeze casting assembles polyamidoxime and hydroxyapatite nanowires into lamellar monolithic aerogels, guided by mass-transfer simulations. PAOHNs-3 reaches 12.5 mg/g uranium extraction after 20 days of cyclic filtration in 100 L of natural seawater.
Question: How can transport channels in lamellar aerogels improve uranium extraction from seawater?
Design and findings: Directional freeze casting assembles polyamidoxime and hydroxyapatite nanowires into lamellar monolithic aerogels, guided by mass-transfer simulations. PAOHNs-3 reaches 12.5 mg/g uranium extraction after 20 days of cyclic filtration in 100 L of natural seawater.
Scope: A collaborative study in which Zhengyan Wu is a coauthor; the 100 L, 20-day experiment does not demonstrate industrial deployment.
