Green synthesis of a magnetite 2D nanocomposite for efficient Hg2+ remediation / 16.10.2023

Researchers from the Department for Environmental Sciences in collaboration with other colleagues, published an article featured on the cover of Environmental Science Nano.

In this article, the authors describe the thermal-sonication technique for producing unique de novo tris-s-triazine carbon nitride nanosheets decorated with magnetite nanoparticles (M-g-CN). The novel synthesis method yields a high percentage of stable, highly selective, and reusable M-g-CN. The resulting M-g-CN effectively binds Hg²⁺ in marine, stream, precipitation, and ultra-pure matrices, respectively. The developed greener and scalable synthesis method does not require harsh chemicals, making it cost-effective, eco-friendly, and non-toxic compared to other technologies such as carbon filters, ion exchange resins, chemical precipitation, membrane filtration, electrochemical methods, and biological remediation. M-g-CN exhibits wide-ranging potential applications, particularly as a green adsorbent in passive samplers or materials for remediation purposes.

Congratulations to Dr. Raghuraj Singh Chouhan, Dr. Jan Gačnik, Dr. Igor Živković, Sreekanth Vijayakumaran Nair, Prof. Dr. Milena Horvat (Department for Environmental Sciences, JSI), Prof. Dr. Alenka Vesel (Department of Surface Engineering, JSI), Dr. Primož Šket (Slovenian NMR Center, National Institute of Chemistry), Nigel Van de Velde and Dr. Ivan Jerman (Department of Material Chemistry, Coating Development Laboratory, National Institute of Chemistry) and colleagues from abroad.