Afzal Shah

The monitoring of metabolic biomarkers is currently undergoing a radical change from traditional centralized laboratory standards to decentralized point-of-care testing, particularly in the management of metabolic disorders.

Contamination of water with various hazardous chemicals is increasing due to the rapid growth of industries, which has devastating effects on all living organisms.

Sustainable hydrogen production requires low-cost, efficient electrocatalysts to replace precious-metal benchmarks.

The environmental persistence and toxicity of Eosin Yellow (EY) dye demand sensitive detection and effective remediation approaches. Herein, we report a new dual function approach for the ultra-trace detection and removal of EY using modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE) for detection and employing adsorption method for efficient removal. The electrochemical sensing platform was prepared by modifying GCE with carboxyl-functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (COOH-fMWCNTs) and Fe doped ZnO nanoparticles. The adsorptive removal of EY was carried out using NiCu-layered double hydroxide (NiCu-LDH). Both materials (the electrode modifier and the adsorbent) were successfully synthesized and characterized by XRD, XPS, FESEM, TEM, HR-TEM, EDS, FTIR and UV-Vis analyses, confirming the formation of hexagonal Fe-ZnO and rhombohedral NiCu-LDH exhibiting a nanosheet like morphology. The designed sensor exhibited excellent electrocatalytic activity for EY detection, enabling a wide linear detection range (0.01 µM to 30 µM) with a 0.314 nM limit of detection (LOD). For wastewater remediation from EY, NiCu-LDH was used as adsorbent. This adsorbent harnesses the high surface area and strong adsorption capacity, the porosity and the mechanical strength, resulting in improved dye adsorption and environmental sustainability. This adsorbent achieved rapid equilibrium with the adsorbate EY within 55–60 min and showed maximum adsorption capacity of 71.4 mg.g ^− 1 in accordance with the Langmuir isotherm model, suggesting monolayer adsorption. The adsorption adhered to pseudo-second order kinetics with optimal performance at pH 6. Collectively, this work presents a detection platform designated as COOH-fMWCNT/Fe-ZnO/GCE based sensor enabling trace-level EY monitoring, while NiCu-LDH as an adsorbent for bulk dye removal, offering a practical solution for water quality management.

The prevalent presence of dyes, mycotoxins, and marine toxins in aquatic environments and food products presents significant threats to environmental sustainability and public health.

The introduction of Indigo Carmine (IC) into aquatic environments poses considerable risks to both human health and marine ecosystems. This has sparked immediate concerns for creating efficient, affordable, and eco-friendly adsorbents designed to eliminate harmful dyes from textile wastewater. An innovative strategy for the elimination of IC dye was successfully executed in batch adsorption experiments utilizing a new composite of Cellulose/Polyvinyl alcohol/Attapulgite (CEL/PVA/ATP). Factorial design statistical approach was employed to evaluate the impacts of various experiment factors such as the initial concentration of IC dye solution, contact time, pH levels, and the adsorbent dosage. This methodology helped to develop a predictive mathematical model that establishes relationships among these factors. The ANOVA results highlighted the statistical significance of the developed response surface model with its individual terms in determining recovery efficiency. The process of adsorption was found to align well with the Langmuir and Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R) isotherm models. The maximum adsorption capacity of 143.9 mg g-1 makes the produced composite material a promising adsorbent for real-scale purification systems characterized by high adsorption efficiency. The kinetic data matched with the pseudo-second-order and intraparticle diffusion modeling results. The calculated thermodynamic parameters (ΔG in the range of -16.7 and 18.0 kJ/mol), Δ H = -21.2 kJ/mol and Δ S = -11.8 J/mol.K) indicated the spontaneous and exothermic nature of the adsorption process besides the decreased randomness at the interface solution-adsorbent. The spectral results and kinetic data suggested the adsorption process to occur mainly via hydrogen bonds, dipol-dipol and π − π interactions between the functional groups of the composite’s components and IC dye molecules. Repeated adsorption-desorption tests revealed that the composite mantained an adsorption efficiency of 65% even after five repeated cycles of use. Overall results suggest that the synthesized CEL/PVA/ATP composite presents a viable alternative for the treatment of textile industrial wastewater contaminated with dye pollutants.

More than 25% of the world's grain production is contaminated with mycotoxins. This review explores green technologies to manage mycotoxins for ensuring food safety.

The global shortage of clean water and rising demand for precious metals have intensified interest in alternative resource streams beyond conventional mining.