Nabi Bakhsh Mallah

The aqueous phase (AP) produced during hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) contains high organic loads and a chemically complex mixture of dissolved intermediates, posing significant environmental management challenges. Aqueous phase recycling (APR) has emerged as a strategy to enhance bio-crude yield, improve energy recovery, and reduce freshwater consumption by reintroducing reactive water-soluble species into subsequent cycles. However, repeated recycling can lead to the accumulation of N-containing compounds and phenolics, potentially diminishing bio-crude quality and heating value through secondary polymerization and condensation reactions. Simultaneously, the carbon and nutrient-rich character of AP presents opportunities for valorization via anaerobic digestion, microalgae cultivation, and supercritical water gasification. Despite growing interest, APR-HTL research remains feedstock-specific, and a systematic understanding of AP compositional evolution across multiple recycling cycles is limited. This review synthesizes recent progress, highlighting mechanistic linkages between AP composition, bio-crude performance, and integrated biorefinery strategies.

Membrane technology has received great attention in the desalination and water treatment sectors over the last few decades. However, membrane fouling remains a critical issue that affects membrane performance, a phenomenon common in membrane bioreactors (MBRs). This major drawback can be overcome by the preparation of antifouling membranes using an electrospinning technique that generates a hydrophilic modification of membranes. In this study, nanocomposite polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and cellulose acetate (CA) polymer was fabricated to mitigate membrane fouling. Surface and mechanical characterization of the electrospun membrane was performed to assess morphology, chemical composition, and hydrophilic/hydrophobic properties. Anti-fouling performance of the composite PVDF/CA membrane was evaluated versus a neat PVDF membrane through bench-scale experiments. The PVDF/CA nanofiber membrane displayed a more hydrophilic nature, demonstrated by a lower water contact angle (101° vs. 115°) and increased wastewater flux (190 L/m²·h. vs. 160 L/m²·h), although the composite membrane demonstrated lower tensile strength (2.0 ± 0.1 MPa vs. 1.7 ± 0.1 MPa). The new material demonstrated greater anti-fouling performance compared to the neat PVDF membrane. Results suggest that this nanofiber material shows promise as an enhanced antifouling membrane that can overcome membrane fouling limitations.

Reverse osmosis and microfiltration are two membrane-based separation techniques that have gained popularity over the past few decades. A fundamental barrier to improving the overall efficiency of membrane separation is membrane fouling. The accumulation of foulants causes a reduction in permeate flux, a loss of selectivity and permeability, and a reduction in the membrane’s lifespan. Numerous chemical and physical surface changes have been studied to enhance membrane antifouling properties. Additionally, research has concentrated on creating membranes that use cutting-edge materials to improve their antifouling capability. This paper focuses on a wide-ranging and thorough analyses of the different types of fouling during wastewater treatment based on current research results regarding fouling control strategy and the potential of new methods for wastewater treatment. It is a further step forward for the evaluation of mitigation measures for emerging membrane fouling problems.

Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) with their unique structural chemistry create opportunities to be modified with polymers, making different nanocomposites. In the current research, a novel PET-PAN embedded with Mg-AI-LDH-PVA nanocomposite membrane was fabricated through electrospinning. SEM, EDX, FTIR, XRD, and AFM were carried out to investigate the structure and morphology of the nanocomposite membrane. The characterization of the optimized nanocomposite membrane showed a beadless, smooth structure with a nanofiber diameter of 695 nm. The water contact angle and tensile strength were 16° and 1.4 Mpa, respectively, showing an increase in the hydrophilicity and stability of the nanocomposite membrane by the addition of Mg-Al-LDH-PVA. To evaluate the adsorption performance of the nanocomposite membrane, operating parameters were achieved for Cr(VI) and methyl orange at pH 2.0 and pH 4.0, respectively, including contact time, adsorbate dose, and pollutant concentration. The adsorption data of the nanocomposite membrane showed the removal of 68% and 80% for Cr(VI) and methyl orange, respectively. The process of adsorption followed a Langmuir isotherm model that fit well and pseudo-2nd order kinetics with R² values of 0.97 and 0.99, respectively. The recycling results showed the membrane’s stability for up to five cycles. The developed membrane can be used for efficient removal of pollutants from wastewater.

Finishes bring an alteration to the physical and comfort properties of the textiles. That’s why various finishes are used to impart various functionalities to the fabric surface. However, it may also affect some properties. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of various finishes on pilling, mass per unit area, bursting strength, and wicking behavior of the polyester weft-knitted jersey fabric. Herein, 100% spun polyester weft-knitted plain jersey fabric was exposed to different finish treatments to check their effect on the some physical and comfort properties of the fabric like mass per unit area, pilling behavior, bursting strength, and wicking properties of the weft-knitted jersey fabric. The fabric used was knit from 24/1, 100% spun polyester yarn on the single knit circular knitting machine. The developed fabric was washed on Fong machine. Finishes are applied on fabric by “Monofort Stanter” machine. The resultant fabric was characterized by random tumble pilling tester, bursting strength tester, and wicking tester to analyze their pilling grade, bursting strength, and wicking behavior respectively. A significant increase has been found in wicking behavior, mass per unit area, and bursting strength of the fabric after finishing treatments. Moreover, the wicking finish shows the highest reduction in pilling grade from 3.5 to 2.5. Significant improvement has been observed in bursting strength by all finish’s treatment. However, wicking finish treatment results in the highest increase in bursting strength of 4.2%. Significant improvement has been observed in the vertical wicking speed of all treatment except silicon finish which significantly reduces vertical wicking rate. However, the wicking finish (Recipe E) shows the highest increase in wicking rate by 13.75 times as compared to grey fabric.