Sandip Chakrabarti

The escalating global water crisis necessitates the development of sustainable and energy‐efficient freshwater generation technologies that reduce reliance on fossil fuels. The burgeoning field of photothermal desalination offers a promising paradigm shift within the water–energy nexus, utilizing solar energy for water purification. This review systematically examines the multifaceted advancements in photothermal desalination, emphasizing the pivotal role of interfacial heating over bulk heating in enhancing energy efficiency. We delineate the relevance of osmoregulatory strategies observed in mangrove ecosystems, presenting them as bio‐inspired paradigms for augmenting freshwater production under hypersaline conditions. Additionally, it offers a comprehensive overview of diverse photothermal materials and evaporator architectures that influence overall performance, including light absorption, heat localization, and water transport. Furthermore, we discussed the current strategies to mitigate salt blockage or fouling, a critical issue that can degrade system performance and longevity. Finally, the review connects photothermal desalination research to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and highlights current global efforts and governmental investments driving this technology forward. Herein, we aim to foster the future innovation and development efforts toward more robust, efficient, and scalable photothermal desalination solutions for sustainable freshwater production.

Recent advancements in nanotechnology have generated considerable interest in carbon-based nanomaterials (CNMs) owing to their adjustable structural, compositional, and surface characteristics. These characteristics allow the rational design of materials with tailored functionalities, enabling a broad spectrum of biomedical applications. This review explores two major categories of CNMs: heterogeneous structures and heterostructures, with an in-depth analysis of their unique architectures, synthesis strategies, and functional advantages. Heterogeneous carbon structures are typically formed by combining different carbon allotropes, whereas carbon-based heterostructures are developed by integrating carbon nanostructures with metal or metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs). Notably, van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures, formed via the vertical stacking of distinct carbon allotropes and functional nanomaterials, are highlighted due to their altered edge configurations, unique interlayer interactions, and synergistic physicochemical properties. Such precisely engineered systems have been successfully applied in antibacterial and anticancer therapies, targeted drug delivery, tissue engineering, bioimaging, biosensing, and the enhancement of secondary metabolite production (e.g., lutein). Collectively, this review underscores the critical role of materials design in harnessing the biomedical potential of CNMs, establishing them as key platforms for next-generation therapeutic and diagnostic technologies.

Bio-MOF releasing metal ions (M ^{n +} ), acting as molecular scissors in eradicating viral, bacterial and fungal infections.

An effective silver (Ag) -modified zeolitic imidazolate frameworks- ZIF-8 derived heterostructure (Ag/ZnO/C) was prepared using the facile room temperature wet chemical method for the reduction of Ciprofloxacin under visible light irradiation. The synthesized Ag/ZnO/C microstructure was characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis. X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and TEM morphological analysis confirmed the existence of metallic Ag in the resultant photocatalyst. The synergistic effect of the Metal–organic frameworks (MOF) - derived structure and metallic Ag nanoparticles depicts excellent degradation of Ciprofloxacin with high efficiency. Under optimum condition the efficiency was reached to 98% in 60 min under visible light irradiation. The apparent rate constant k is estimated as 58.04 × 10⁻³ min⁻¹ depicting high photocatalytic performance. The scavenger experiment revealed the dominance of generated h⁺ and ⋅O₂⁻ in the photocatalysis mechanism. The large surface area and successful silver nanoparticle encapsulation on the material surface facilitates to the excellent efficiency of the material. Our findings open new robust possibilities to design a ZIF-8 based efficient photocatalyst for effective application in the field of photo-degradation.

Antibiotic resistance presents an alarming threat to global health, with bacterial infections now ranking among the leading causes of mortality. To address this escalating challenge, strategies such as antibiotic stewardship, development of antimicrobial therapies, and exploration of alternative treatment modalities are imperative. Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), acclaimed for their outstanding biocompatibility and in vivo biodegradability, are promising avenues for the synthesis of novel antibiotic agents under mild conditions. Among these, zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs), a remarkable subclass of MOFs, have emerged as potent antibacterial materials; the efficacy of which stems from their porous structure, metal ion content, and tunable functionalized groups. This could be further enhanced by incorporating or encapsulating metal ions, such as Cu, Fe, Ti, Ag, and others. This perspective aims to underscore the potential of ZIFs as antibacterial agents and their underlying mechanisms including the release of metal ions, generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), disruption of bacterial cell walls, and synergistic interactions with other antibacterial agents. These attributes position ZIFs as promising candidates for advanced applications in combating bacterial infections. Furthermore, we propose a novel approach for synthesizing ZIFs and their derivatives, demonstrating exceptional antibacterial efficacy against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. By highlighting the benefits of ZIFs and their derivatives as antibacterial agents, this perspective emphasizes their potential to address the critical challenge of antibiotic resistance.

Environmental researchers are extremely concerned about addressing the declining availability of drinking water, which is a critical issue in many nations. Solar-driven desalination is an emerging and pioneering renewable approach to reduce potable water scarcity that is suitable for remote locations, developing countries, and disaster zones as it does not require additional energy supply. However, there are still issues with the scalable preparation of photothermal materials, such as achieving low cost and widening the assortment of useful applications. Conventional carbon- and metal-based absorbers are intricate and fragile, which make them difficult to install and transport in places with minimal infrastructure. Thus, a universal process for creating adaptable solar evaporators is sorely required. Herein, we have come up with a holistic approach using a solar absorber (GJ-01(Cal)) derived from a Cu-MOF (HKUST-1) and carbon nanosheets (CNSs) for generating potable water from saline water using solar radiation. The as-synthesized material provides high-performance photothermal water evaporation when illuminated under solar irradiation at the air–water interface. Moreover, its porous structure, high photothermal conversion efficiency, rapid water flow, and heat insulation make it appropriate for saline water desalination. CNS play a pivotal role in improving the photothermal features of the solar absorber (GJ-01(Cal)) in terms of conjugation to promote Cu(0) species and pyrrolic nitrogen (P-N) amplification and thereby enrich the p-type nature of the absorber's triphasic configuration. With these photothermal factors, the localised surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of electrons increases and achieves high solar spectrum absorption. The GJ-01(Cal) was further coated on porous cotton fibrils (CF) that regulate photothermal interfacial evaporation (PTIE) by allowing water transportation via capillary action. This assemblage of the nanocomposite on CF efficiently evaporates water at a higher surface temperature of ∼47 °C under one solar illumination, achieving 4.23 kg m⁻² h⁻¹ of evaporation flux and 96.5% light-to-heat conversion efficiency. Interestingly, the GJ-01(Cal) coated over CF can be recycled at least 10 times. Additionally, it offers scalable production for higher photothermal efficiency with a flexible substrate as a solar evaporator and is beneficial for society paving new horizons towards a sustainable environment.

Agrochemicals are substances used to promote plant growth and eradicate pests; and are essential to meeting the world food demand both qualitatively and quantitatively. Unfortunately, their extensive usage has resulted in certain significant problems, i.e., soil contamination, bioaccumulation, and the development of pest resistance. Consequently, there is a need for a reduced and more regulated usage of agrochemicals. The development of sustainable nanomaterials is encouraged in agricultural nanotechnology to minimize the usage of conventional fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides. Metal-organic Framework (MOF)s are porous materials made of functional organic ligands and metal nodes or clusters connected by covalent bonds. Researchers are becoming increasingly interested in using MOF in a variety of sectors. The features of engineered MOFs have the potential to be an optimal strategy for producing impressively unique results in agricultural research. They also have advantages in terms of biocompatibility and biodegradability, which can be leveraged to boost the efficiency of traditional agrochemicals administration. Controlled release of agrochemicals offers an innovative solution to decrease the nutrient uptake rates and contamination of the environment. The application of MOF nanoparticles as nanocarriers to modify the loading and release properties of agrochemicals is particularly highlighted in this review.

Sulfonamide antibiotics, such as sulfamethoxazole (SMX), are found to be pollutants mostly generated from pharmaceutical wastewater with very high detection levels.

Rapid industrialization in the developing countries has facilitated the unwanted mixing of wastes into the already depleting sources of potable, domestic and industrial water. In particular, the mixing of toxic heavy metal wastes into the aquatic resources have not only increased the scarcity of water at the different levels of usage but also hygiene of the ecosystem is further threatened by the presence of abysmal quality of aquatic environment around the living world. Thus, it has become quite imperative to mitigate such problems through the removal of such water contaminants at the sources before supplied for a specific purpose. In this direction, among the other available mass transfer techniques, specific and efficient adsorption of heavy metal species on the nanomaterials such as metal‐organic frameworks (MOFs) are found to be a promising method of heavy metal ions recovery. This reports targets to provide a new perspective into heavy metal ions removal from wastewater as a rationale for sustainable nanomaterial engineering through the recycling of toxic metal species as precious precursors in the synthesis of nanomaterials. Decades of exploring materials sciences led to the generation of groundbreaking materials of nanoscale regime, which has advanced myriad avenues of science and technology, viz. electronic, energy, biomedical, environmental, agriculture applications, and more. In this regard, nanotechnology has had a global impact by several folds, which can be observed in all day‐to‐day facilities. This perspective aims to conceptualize a strategy of wastewater decontamination through the adsorptive retrieval of heavy metal species to be subsequently recycled in the design of smart nanomaterials.