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Current collectors and electrolyte pairs are frequently overlooked in the development of supercapacitors. In electrode design and sealed packaging, the mechanical and chemical properties of the electrolyte must be retained while maintaining the integrity of microelectrodes and current collectors of the microsupercapacitors. In this research, the physical and electrochemical response of copper (Cu) and 316 stainless steel current collector (SS) for lignin-derived laser scribed graphene (L-LSG) microsupercapacitor with K 2 SO 4 (K+) and H 2 SO 4 (H+) as an electrolyte medium was studied. XPS results confirmed a passivation layer on a copper electrode before and after the electrochemical reaction involving H 2 SO 4 as the electrolyte medium of the highly porous L-LSG structure with six pairs of microelectrodes and graphene current collectors. Analysis of the CV and GCD curves shows that the SS/K+ pair is the most suited for an L-LSG microsupercapacitor, with an areal capacitance and energy density of 22.22 mFcm−2 and 0.00153 mWhcm−2, respectively at 0.08 mAcm−2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging contaminants (ECs) contamination is a pressing issue because of the extensive utilization of personal care products and antibiotics and the discharging of their effluent to water bodies. Consumption of ECs conditioning water has disturbed the biological activities of living beings, resulting in the bursting of several disorders. Several water treatment technologies, including advanced oxidation, biodegradation, precipitation, ultrafiltration, coagulation, and adsorption, have been applied to detect and remove environmental contaminants. Adsorption is found to be a prospective treatment approach due to its reduced energy usage, easier operation conditions, and economic viability. Commercially activated carbon is studied extensively as a pharmaceutical adsorbent; however, it is limited for large-scale application owing to powder form and high cost. As a result, several investigations for EC absorption have focused on using non-traditional, low-cost adsorbent clays and clay polymer-based composites. The present review discusses the fabrication of clay-based nanocomposite adsorbent using different chemical routes. The application of Clay/polymer-based nanocomposite adsorbent is also highlighted for removing ECs from industrial water. Additionally, the mechanical interaction of these adsorbents toward targeted ECs and the regeneration studies are explained accordingly. The review results suggest that the fabricated clay-based nanocomposite adsorbents exhibit notable adsorption capacities for the targeted ECs. Integrating these materials into water treatment processes demonstrates their potential for mitigating EC contamination, providing a cost-effective and operationally feasible solution. [Display omitted] • Significant application of Clay-polymer-based nanocomposite for Emerging Contaminants treatment. • The mechanisms of interaction of Clay-polymer-based nanocomposite towards ECs. • Removal and recovery of ECs using Clay-polymer adsorbent is considered innovative way. • Low-cost adsorbent materials can be effectively used to create pollution free environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy and water storage are a global challenge due to various factors such as ecological changes, increasing population, increasing demand for energy at both commercial/domestic level, and high material cost. To overcome these problems, microbial fuel cells (MFCs) is considered as an emerging novel technology where one side it can generate electricity and on the other hand it also exhibits better removal efficiency of different pollutants from wastewater. In this technology, MFCs can use natural waste materials to produce energy and is also efficient in wastewater treatment. This review covers the basics of the technology around MFCs, focusing on the mechanism of energy production along with wastewater treatment. Some current challenges regarding the MFCs approach (especially electrode play a vital role in the field of MFCs) and some future perspectives are also addressed in this article. Moreover, electrodes constitute a significant component of this technique in deciding the working efficiency of MFCs during wastewater treatment. Hence, the selection of the electrode is a great challenge to make MFCs more prolific and commercial. Therefore, this review addressed these issues along with the concept of electro microbiology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various concentrations of dopants such as Mn, La, and Mo (0.25%-0.1%) were doped into TiO2 particles. An improved sol-gel method was used to prepare these particles using titanium isopropoxide as a precursor and their photocatalytic activity was tested by studying the degradation of three different types of organic pollutants (acid blue 129, tinidazole, and metalaxyl). The prepared samples were characterized with standard analytical techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and UV-Vis spectroscopy. The XRD analysis suggests the anatase phase with a crystalline nature. The SEM image of undoped TiO2 exhibits high roughness and irregular shaped particles. The doped TiO2 particles showed smaller size than undoped TiO2 with regular shaped and high surface area. The doped TiO2 particles also show lower band gap energy than undoped. The photocatalytic results indicate that TiO2 with a dopant concentration of 0.75% for all metal ions shows the highest photocatalytic activity. Moreover, the Mn-doped TiO2 (0.75%) degraded metalaxyl more efficiently as compared with other studied pollutants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Naphthalene is a very common and hazardous environmental pollutant, and its biodegradation has received serious attention. As demonstrated in this study, naphthalene-contaminated wastewater can be biodegraded using a microbial fuel cell (MFC). Furthermore, the potential of MFC for electricity generation appears to be a promising technology to meet energy demands other than those produced from fossil fuels. Nowadays, efforts are being made to improve the overall performance of MFC by integrating biowaste materials for anode fabrication. In this study, palm kernel shell waste was used to produce palm kernel shell-derived graphene oxide (PKS-GO) and palm kernel shell-derived reduced graphene oxide (PKS-rGO), which were then fabricated into anode electrodes to improve the system's electron mobilization and transport. The MFC configuration with the PKS-rGO anode demonstrated greater energy production potential, with a maximum power density of 35.11 mW/m2 and a current density of 101.76 mA/m2, compared to the PKS-GO anode, which achieved a maximum power density of 17.85 mW/m2 and a current density of 72.56 mA/m2. Furthermore, there is simultaneous naphthalene biodegradation with energy production, where the biodegradation efficiency of naphthalene with PKS-rGO and PKS-GO is 85.5%, and 79.7%, respectively. In addition, the specific capacitance determined from the cyclic voltammetry curve revealed a value for PKS-rGO of 2.23 × 10−4 F/g, which is also higher than the value for PKS-GO (1.57 × 10−4 F/g) on the last day of operation. Anodic microbial analysis shows that electrogens thrive in the MFC process. Finally, a comparison with previous literature and the future prospects of the study are also presented. [Display omitted] • Oil Palm Biomass waste was used to synthesize GO (PKS-GO) and rGO (PKS-rGO). • Synthesized PKS-GO and PKS-rGO were successfully fabricated into anode electrodes. • PKS-rGO anode demonstrated higher performance with power density of 35.11 mW/m2 than PKS-GO. • Naphthalene biodegradation efficiency was higher with PKS-rGO at 85.5% than PKS-GO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lignin is a renewable natural resource that could be derived from oil palm empty fruit bunches. It has generated significant interest as a precursor in synthesizing graphene as anode and cathode material for supercapacitors. In this paper, we report the synthesis of 3D hierarchical Laser Scribed Graphene (LSG) on a flexible polyimide substrate from lignin extracted from empty fruit bunches (EFB) of oil palm for microsupercapacitor applications. The intensity and speed of the laser have been tuned to yield densely compacted oil palm lignin LSG at a laser power of 70% and a speed of 30% (OPL-LSG 7030). OPL-LSG 7030 possessed lower equivalent series resistance of 60.1 Ω and a larger crystalline size of ∼31 nm than the rest of the tested samples. It exhibited exceptional areal capacitance of 30.77 mFcm−2 at a current density of 0.08 mAcm−2, an energy density of 0.00176 mWhcm−2 and a power density of 0.25 mWcm−2 when using a unique neutral PAAS/K 2 SO 4 gel electrolyte. It achieved excellent capacitance retention of 88.4% after 5000 charge/discharge cycles and remarkable mechanical stability of 95% after 400 bending cycles. Furthermore, electrochemical studies revealed the redox properties of readily available quinone/ hydroquinone in the oil palm lignin, which could be inherited in graphene electrodes through a feasible and affordable approach for flexible green energy storage applications. [Display omitted] • A new EFB lignin derived 3D LSG was developed via one-step laser scribing method. • A unique PAAS/K 2 SO 4 electrolyte was used to assemble flexible microsupercapacitor. • LSG produced at higher laser power and lower speed has highly porous structure. • OPL-LSG 7030 exhibits excellent electrochemical and bending performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is one of the popular approaches to degrading pollutants while generating energy. This study highlights a new idea for the scientific community by treating organic and inorganic pollutants simultaneously in addition to energy generation. To date, no attempt at the treatment of a dual-pollutant system (organic and inorganic) via MFC has been reported. Similarly, the use of palm sugar as an organic substrate is also reported for the first time in this work. Palm sugar is found to be a promising solution to address the challenges in the selection of organic substrates for MFC. The achieved power density was 130.26 mW/m2 within 44 days of operation. The removal efficiency of Pb2+ was 88% while the biodegradation efficiency of resorcinol was 93.50%. Electrochemical studies revealed a specific capacitance of 1.7 × 10−4 F/g and a total internal resistance of 717.17 Ω (Rs = 685.97 Ω and Rct = 31.20 Ω) on the 80th day. As a result of 16 S rRNA sequencing and primary isolation, it was found that Bacillus and Pseudomonas are species that dominate the anode surface and are involved in pollution remediation. The present study also investigates the fundamental biodegradation and oxidation mechanisms of pollutants as well as the organic substrate. In addition, the most concerning challenges to this technique's commercialization are also briefly discussed. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tannin-glyoxalated Kraft lignin (TGKL) resin is a successful substitution for phenol formaldehyde resin in the production of wood adhesives, however it has a poor water resistance. To overcome this obstacle, this research was focused on scalable adhesive through the modified tannin adhesive and oligomeric precursors of a hyperbranched poly (amine-ester) (HBPAE). The prepared glyoxalated Kraft lignin resin (MTGKL), TGKL, HBPAE and commercial phenol formaldehyde (CPF) resin were evaluated by FTIR, 1 H and 13 C NMR spectroscopy. The tensile strengths and thermal stability were determined. The results indicated that the addition of HBPAE to tannin adhesive could improve the water resistance of MTGKL. This was evident when soaking plywood bonded with TGKL in cool water, where delamination occurred, but it was not evident with MTGKL. The tensile results indicated that the adhesive strengths of MTGKL, 39.72 MPa (dry) and 27.62 MPa (wet), were higher compared to TGKL and CPF resins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Endometrial cancer (EC) is the most common gynaecological cancer amongst women in the UK. Although previous studies have found that women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) have at least a three-fold increase in endometrial cancer (EC) risk compared to women without PCOS, the precise molecular mechanisms which link between PCOS and EC remain unclear. It has been suggested that insulin resistance may contribute to the increased risk of EC in PCOS. The specific expression of genes related to the insulin-signalling pathway including the IGF system in the endometrium of women with PCOS has however never been measured and compared to that in women with EC without PCOS and control women without EC or PCOS. . Objectives To test the hypothesis that insulin signalling plays a key role in the development of EC in women with PCOS by measuring and comparing the expression of three key genes involved in the insulin signalling pathway ( IGF1 , PTEN and IGFBP1 ) in endometrial tissue obtained from three groups of women; PCOS without EC, women with EC without PCOS and non-PCOS women without EC (controls). We also aimed to determine the correlation between the gene expressions to various clinical variables among participants. Methods This was a cross-sectional study of 102 women in 3 groups (PCOS, EC and controls) at a University teaching hospital in the United Kingdom. Clinical assessment (blood pressure, body mass index (BMI) and waist-hip-circumference ratio), venepuntures (fasting blood sugar, insulin, lipid profile, hormones) and endometrial tissue biopsies were taken in all participants. Endometrial tissue RNA extraction was performed before real time polymerase-chain-reaction for the genes of interest ( IGF1 , IGFBP1 and PTEN ) was carried out. To compare the baseline characteristics of the study population, One-Way-ANOVA test or the Independent t-test was used. For variables that were not normally distributed, the Spearman correlation test was used to calculate the r value. A “p” value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results IGF1 , IGFBP1 and PTEN gene expression were significantly up-regulated in the endometrium of PCOS and EC women compared to controls. However there was no significant difference in the expression of these genes in PCOS compared to EC endometrium. The BMI of women with PCOS and controls, were not significantly different (29.28 (±2.91) vs 28.58 (±2.62) kg/m 2 ) respectively, women with EC however had a higher mean BMI (32.22 (±5.70) kg/m 2 ). PCOS women were younger (31.8 (±5.97) years) than women with EC (63.44 (±10.07) years) and controls (43.68 (±13.12) years). The changes in gene expression were independent of BMI, waist hip ratio, estradiol and androgen levels. Protein validation test in the serum samples in the three groups were consistent with the gene findings. Conclusion Women with PCOS and EC have an increased endometrial expression of genes ( IGF1 , IGFBP1 and PTEN ) involved in the insulin signalling pathway compared with control women. This may explain the increased risk of EC in PCOS women. This study provides a strong basis for clinical trials aiming to prevent EC in women with PCOS by investigating drugs targeting the insulin signalling pathway. This panel of genes may also serve as clinically useful early biomarkers which predict which women with PCOS will go on to develop EC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]