Antonije Onjia

Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy, University of Belgrade · Department of Analytical Chemistry and Quality Control

A new magnetic amino-functionalized polymeric sorbent based on glycidyl methacrylate was synthesized and used in the separation of chromium Cr(VI) oxyanions sorption from aqueous solutions in a static batch system. The kinetic and isothermal parameters of the sorption process were determined. The experimental data were best fitted by a pseudo-secon...

Dear Colleagues, We are delighted to invite you to submit your high-quality manuscripts to our Special Issue (SI) in Sustainability. This SI targets to provide a collection of innovative original research papers, case studies, and review papers that addresses a wide-range of issues on the hydrology, contamination, and sustainable development of g...

A fast and straightforward reversed-phase dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction (RP-DLLME) using a deep eutectic solvent (DES) procedure to determine free tryptophan in vegetable oils was developed. The influence of eight variables affecting the RP-DLLME efficiency has been studied by a multivariate approach. A Plackett–Burman design for screeni...

The human health risks of cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), and nickel (Ni) in fifty regular and slim cigarette brands available in the Serbian market were evaluated. Distributions on per-cigarette basis concentrations of these metals, as determined by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry, were used as inputs in the probabilistic risk assessment....

Dispersive liquid‐liquid microextraction (DLLME) using floating organic drop has been optimized and used for the sample preparation of four commonly used ultraviolet filter (UVF) substances in sunscreens. Plackett‐Burman experimental design was used to screen ten variables in DLLME. The most significant variables were then optimized by using respon...

The current study investigated the concentrations, possible sources, toxicity, and ecological risk of eight heavy metal(loid)s (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, Zn) and sixteen priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in surface sediments in the port of Prahovo (Danube, Serbia). Among the examined HMs, the most abundant was Cu (38.3 mg/kg), foll...

In this research, the pectin monoliths were prepared via the sol-gel process through different routes of crosslinking and additional freeze-drying. The crosslinking reaction was induced by the use of calcium ions in aqueous solutions and in alcohol/water solutions. The resulting pectin monoliths obtained by freeze-drying were macroporous with open...

Acid mine drainage (AMD) is a waste from mining sites, usually acidic, with high concentrations of sulfates and heavy metal ions. This study investigates the AMD neutralization process using fly ash (FA) as an alternative material. Samples of FA from coal-fired power plants in Serbia (“Nikola Tesla” (EF) and “Kostolac” (KOST)) were analyzed and use...

This study collected agricultural surface soil samples from 200 sites in the district of Braničevo, located in the Carpathian Mountains-Pannonian Basin south of the Danube River (Serbia). The main objective was to determine the soil contamination by ten potentially toxic elements (As, B, Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Zn) and evaluate the associated e...

A core-shell amino-functionalized glycidyl methacrylate magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) was synthesized by the suspension polymerization/surface imprinting method and characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), mercury porosimetry, nitrogen gas adsorption–desorption, and elementa...

avobenzone (AVO), has been optimized using Plackett-Burman design, Box-Behnken design, and Derrindzer desirability function. Of the six SPE variables studied, the most influencing is the type of eluent followed by pH and the methanol content in the rinsing solvent. A method with good analytical performance was obtained by applying optimal SPE condi...

The industrialization and urbanization expansion have increased the demand for precious and rare earth elements (REEs). In addition, environmental concerns regarding the toxic effects of heavy metals on living organisms imposed an urgent need for efficient methods for their removal from wastewaters and aqueous solutions. The most efficient techniqu...

A dispersive solid-phase microextraction (DSPME) sorbent consisting of poly(1,6-hexanediol diacrylate)-based polymer microspheres, with embedded graphene microparticles (poly(HDDA)/graphene), was synthesized by microfluidic emulsification/photopolymerization and characterized by optical microscopy and X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. This sorbent w...

A calcium-pyro-hydrochar (Ca-PHC) can be distinguished as a novel sorbent of Pb ²⁺ and Cd ²⁺ from an aqueous solution. It was obtained using hydrothermal treatment of the spent mushroom substrate (SMS), followed by a CaCl 2 ·5H 2 O activation and pyrolysis. The characterisation of chars before and after modifications was done by scanning electron m...

We are pleased to be launching a new Research Topic: "Chemometric Approach to Distribution, Source Apportionment, Ecological and Health Risk of Trace Pollutants", hosted by Frontiers in Environmental Science (IF=4.581, ISSN 2296-665X). This Research Topic will cover the following areas: • Implementation of chemometric methods in case studies of the...

The content of twenty-one essential and toxic elements in fresh, dried, and processed peppers (Capsicum annuum) obtained from the Serbian market was analyzed. The concentration of the elements varied significantly between the analyzed samples. The most abundant essential element was K with an average concentration of 8.4 g/kg fresh weight. All proc...

The influence of extraction parameters on the ultrasonically assisted extraction (UAE) of K, Na, Ca, Mg, Zn, Cu, Fe, Mn, Cr, Se, Mo, Li, Al, B, Pb, Hg, Cd, As and Ni was studied to determine the conditions when a minimum of essential and maximum of toxic elements is leached from peppers, depending on its ripening stage. The effect of process variab...

This paper aims to reduce the gap between intensified innovative process designs and the application of enzyme technologies at an industrial scale that often take full advantage of microreactor systems. Soybean and potato processing waste was used as the source of peroxidase in both the free and immobilized form for the biodegradation of the Acid V...

The study aimed to investigate the physico-chemical properties as well as phytoplankton and bacterial community diversity of Bovan Lake reservoir in Serbia to gain insight into the seasonal dynamic of water quality. All analyses were performed at three localities and water depths in spring, summer, autumn, and winter 2019. Seven phytoplankton phyla...

Pectin is a natural biopolymer with broad applications in the food industry and it is suitable to prepare edible films to prolong food shelf-life. However, the main limitation of pectin-based films is their poor mechanical and barrier properties. Zeolite Y is a hydrophobic clay that can be used as film reinforcement material to improve its physicoc...

A novel magnetic polymer/bentonite composite was prepared by suspension copolymerization of glycidyl methacrylate and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate in the presence of magnetic bentonite (MB-PGME) and functionalized with ethylene diamine and hexamethylene diamine (MB-PGME-ED and MB-PGME-HD). The obtained samples were characterized in terms of struc...

Acid mine drainage (AMD) remediation by red mud (RM) can benefit process sustainability and waste valorization. Though the AMD properties upon using RM have been broadly investigated, the key features and the environmental stability of spent RM are poorly defined. The current study aimed to compare the AMD neutralization and metal removal potential...

The adsorption of Ni2+ ions from water solutions by using hydrogels based on 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate (HEA) and itaconic acid (IA) was studied. Hydrogel synthesis was optimized with response surface methodology (RSM). The hydrogel with the best adsorption capacity towards Ni2+ ions was chosen for further experiments. The hydrogel was characterized b...

An amino-functionalized magnetic macroporous copolymer of glycidyl methacrylate (GM) and ethylene glycol (E) dimethacrylate (m-poly(GME)-deta) was synthesized, fully characterized, and used to investigate the adsorption of vanadium (V) oxyanions from aqueous solutions (Ci = 0.5 mM) in a batch system at room temperature (298 K). Pseudo-first-order (...

Surface sediments collected from twelve stations in the Boka Kotorska Bay were analyzed for the level and distribution of twenty-six elements and ten oxides, grain sizes, organic matter, and carbonate content. Potentially toxic elements (Al, Fe, Mn, Cr, Zn, Ni, Cu, Pb, As, Co, U) were determined to assess the contamination status and potential envi...

Red pepper (Capsicum annum) fruits contain high amount of ascorbic acid (vitamin C), which is of great importance for human health. The aim of this study was to found how various pretreatments and drying methods influence on retention of ascorbic acid in dried pepper. The cultivar "Horgoška sweet 6", often used for the production of paprika, was se...

Soil samples collected from two districts of southern Serbia, Pčinja and Jablanica, were analyzed in order to determine the content of eleven heavy metals and metalloids (As, B, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Zn). The concentration of the elements was measured by atomic absorption spectrometry in 152 samples collected from agricultural land. Th...

The journal Metals (IF=2.351, ISSN 2075-4701) is currently running a Special Issue entitled "Advanced Sorbents for Separation of Metal Ions". The contribution can be an original research paper describing complete investigations or a review article highlighting new advancements relating to all aspects of separation of metal ions, including new and m...

Concentrations of As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn, and Fe measured at forty locations in the Boka Kotorska Bay were used to monitor the spatial and temporal quality of sediment and to assess surface sediment contamination over the last 15 years. This ecological geochemistry assessment was made using two classes of pollution indices: single indic...

Surface sediment from the Boka Kotorska Bay (Adriatic Sea) was analyzed for the content of technogenic cesium (¹³⁷Cs) and naturally occurring (⁴⁰K, ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th, ²³⁸U) radionuclides. The activity concentrations of the radionuclides have been correlated with the major elements (Si, Al, Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Ti, P, Mn) content of sediment samples. The spati...

Sunscreen products contain ultraviolet (UV) filters. The daily use of benzophenone-type UV filters has led to indirect inputs of benzophenone-4 (BP-4) into the environment. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) have proven ineffective in removing benzophenone derivatives, therefore WWTP are classified as major source of BP-4 in surface water. The leve...

In the last decades, human and industrial activities in the coastal areas have increased and that resulted in different types of contamination, including trace elements. Therefore, investigations of the southeastern Adriatic marine environment quality are intensified following seawater, biota, and sediment quality related to metals pollution. Since...

Abstract: Hybrid adsorbent, based on the cross-linked copolymer impregnated with hydrous iron oxide, was applied for the first time for Se(VI) adsorption from water. The influence of the initial solution pH, selenate concentration and contact time to adsorption capacity was investigated. Adsorbent regeneration was explored using a full factorial ex...

Arsenic is a metalloid, which occurs in nature in various forms, but in natural waters mainly in the form of pentavalent oxyanion of arsenate As(V) and trivalent arsenite As(III), which dominates under anaerobic conditions. Arsenic water pollution is a serious problem due to its pronounced negative impact on human health. This paper describes the k...

Two optimized methods, based on epoxy-amino reactivity of the Cellulose fibres (Cell) modified with diethylenetriamine (Cell‒DETA), (3-Glycidyloxypropyl)trimethoxysilane (Cell-Glymo), Lignin modified with epichlorohydrine (EL) and Tannic acid (TA), as an additional crosslinker, were developed for the production of the bio-renewable Cell-EL and Cell...

A particularly high pollution level of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) was observed in the soil at the railway junction in the city of Niš (Serbia). The TPH level in most of the studied soil samples exceeded the limit intervention value of 5000 mg/kg. The contamination level decreased alongside the train rail route, according to the distance fro...

Designated as the most harmful for health, PM2.5 aerosol fraction was a subject of our study. It was collected for all four seasons during 2014/15 in the suburban area of Belgrade (Serbia) and analysed for Al, Si, P, S, Cl, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Br, As, Ba and Pb elements and for NH4+, NO3− and SO42− ions by particle-induced X-ray e...

Soil samples from the site of the former largest paint and varnish factory in ex-Yugoslavia were analyzed for arsenic and eight heavy metals (Pb, Cd, Zn, Cr, Ni, Cu, Fe, and Hg). Several additional soil properties (pH, sulfur, nitrogen, phosphorus, and water content) were also measured. Multivariate analysis showed strong correlations between Pb an...

An optimized method is presented to make magnetite (MG) modified cellulose membrane (Cell-MG) from 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane and diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid dianhydride functionalized waste cell fibers; (Cell-NH2 and Cell-DTPA), and amino-modified diatomite. Functionalized Cell-NH2, Cell-DTPA fibers, and diatomite were structurally and mo...

The degradation of Acid Blue 111 anthraquinone dye has been studied by the simple electro-assisted Fenton process and the obtained results were compared to the Fenton process. Ferrous sulphate and hydrogen peroxide were used and in the electro-assisted Fenton process IrOx electrode was used as the anode. The influence of hydrogen peroxide and ferro...

This study is aimed to evaluate the possibility of lemon peel, as an agro-industrial waste, to remove Fe2+, Zn2+ and Mn2+ from single aqueous solutions and mining wastewater. For this purpose, the influence of various parameters: sorption time, initial pH solution, initial metal ion concentration and a dose of sorbent on the sorption process were s...

Seventeen water-soluble substances (sodium, ammonium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, formate, methanesulfonate, glyoxylate, chloride, nitrite, nitrate, glutarate, succinate, malate, malonate, sulfate, and oxalate) in 94 samples of particle matter in the ambient air, collected for ten months, in a suburb of Belgrade (Serbia), were determined by ion...

Rare earth metals are deemed to be the materials of future due to their numerous applications including medical diagnostics, nuclear facilities, petroleum industry, etc. In this paper, multi-walled carbon nanotubes, which possess unique physicochemical properties, were evaluated as sorbents for lanthanoid gadolinium from aqueous solutions. The pH-d...

Objectives:Tryptophan is an essential amino acid which plays important role in synthesis of proteins and as precursor of many biologically active substances and coenzymes. Its metabolites are involved in the pathogenesis of several neurologic disorders. The human body cannot synthesize tryptophan and its synthesis is dependent on dietary intake.Bec...

In this study, unmodified lemon peel, as agro-industrial waste, was used to investigate removal efficiency of copper ions from aqueous solutions and mining wastewater. The effects of solution pH, adsorption time, metal ion concentration and dose of adsorbent on sorption were studied in batch experiments. The maximum Langmuir adsorption capacity was...

With regard to the harmful effects of heavy metals on human health and the environment, the demand for synthesis and investigation of macromolecules with large capacity of harmful substances sorption is ever greater. Quantum-chemical methods may be applied in structural modeling, prediction, and characterization of such molecules and reactions. Sor...

As soil cadmium (Cd) contamination becomes a serious concern and one of the significant environmental pollution issues all over the world, knowledge of the basic chemistry, origin, inputs, sources, quantity, chemical forms, reactions, as well as the fate and transport of Cd in different types of soil is crucial for better understanding Cd bioavaila...

Polymer-based, highly porous nanocomposites with functionalized ligands attached to the core structure are extremely efficient in detection, removal and recovery of metals through the process of sorption. Quantum-chemical models can be helpful for sorption process analyses. The sorption of Cu (II) ion to amino-functionalized chelated macroporous co...

Environmental poisoning due to the emission of waste silver electrical and electronic industries, jewelry, photography and dentistry, in the last few decades has been of growing concern. The most effective methods for silver removal from aqueous media include electrolysis, precipitation, ion-exchange and adsorption. Highly crosslinked GMA-based pol...

The use of soil additives for toxic metals chemical stabilization aims to decrease in situ the pollutants’ mobility and availability. In this study, the effectiveness of rinsed red mud (RBRM) and annealed animal bones (B400) was compared in terms of Cu, Pb and Ni stabilization in two contaminated soils with contrasting properties Dystric Cambisol (...

The study was aimed at assessing the human health risk potentially induced by the presence of natural radionuclides and their decay chain daughters in the soil of the area impacted by coal combustion in the largest Serbian coal-based thermoelectric power plant “Nikola Tesla A”. The total intakes of 40K, 226Ra and 232Th for residents in the study ar...

The shell of Lagenaria vulgaris (LV) plant was used as biosorbent for strontium removal from aqueous solutions. Chemical structure of the biosorbent's surface was characterized by the means of FTIR and Boehm's titrations. SEM-EDX technique was used to study the morphology and elemental composition of the material. The analyses pointed out to abunda...

The objective of the present study was to determine the impact of cadmium (Cd) concentration in the soil on its uptake by tobacco plants, and to compare the ability of diverse extraction procedures for determining Cd bioavailability and predicting soil-to-plant transfer and Cd plant concentrations. The pseudo-total digestion procedure, modified Tes...

The anthraquinone dye, C.I. Acid Blue 111, was subjected to electrochemical oxidation using an IrOx electrode and sodium sulphate or sodium chloride as electrolytes. The effects of different operating parameters on the rate of dye decolorization, such as applied current, electrolyte concentration, and initial pH were studied. The dye concentration...

The objective of this study was to investigate the modification of materials used in wastewater treatment for possible antimicrobial application(s). Granulated activated carbon (GAC) and natural clinoptilolite (CLI) were activated using Cu²⁺- and Zn²⁺- ions and the disinfection ability of the resulting materials was tested. Studies of the sorption...