Aziz-Ur-Rahim Bacha

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Fudan University · Department of Environmental Science and Engineering

Visible-light-driven photoelectrochemical (PEC) catalysis has been widely studied as a promising technique for the degradation of organic pollutants in wastewater. Herein, we report a sulfite-enhanced PEC degradation process for the degradation of organic pollutant. The degradation rate was significantly enhanced by ～30 times with the addition of 1...

Bismuth-based material has been broadly studied due to their potential applications in various areas, especially used as promising photocatalysts for the removal of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and several approaches have been adopted to tailor their features. Herein, the bismuth-based photocatalysts (BiOCl, BiPO4, BiOPO4/BiOCl) were synthe...

Bisphenol A (BPA) is known as an endocrine-disrupting chemical, generally present in the environment. It has a harmful effect on aquatic lives and human health, therefore it is needful to exploit highly efficient innovative treatment methods for its removal. Herein, we report a Co-BiVO4 photoanode to activate peroxymonosulfate (PMS) for the complet...

Recently, the environmental impacts of microplastics have received extensive attention due to their accumulation in the environment. However, developing efficient technology for the control and purification of microplastics is still a big challenge. Herein, we investigated the photocatalytic degradation of typical microplastics such as polystyrene...

Pakistan, like many other regions around the world, is experiencing the impacts of climate change, particularly in its northern region. These changes have adverse impacts on ecosystems and biodiversity. Herein, we have investigated future projections of temperature and precipitation trends for three periods historical (HT = 1975–2005), near-term (N...

In this paper, we use density functional theory (DFT) using full-potential linearized augmented plan wave plus local orbital method (FP-LAPW + lo). The structural, electronic, optical, photocatalytic, mechanical, vibrational, and thermodynamical behaviors of new double antiperovskite (DAP) Cs6AgBiX2 (X = Cl, Br, I) were studied. The band structure...

We performed first-principles calculations to investigate the structural, electronic, magnetic, optical, and thermoelectric properties of Mn3Si2Te6 (MST) at various temperatures using the BoltzTraP package. From the experimental analysis, the material exhibited a metallic nature due to zero bandgap. After performing density functional theory calcul...

In frst-principles study of new double perovskite materials, Cs2Tl+1B+3X6 (where B+3 = P, As, Sb, Bi and X = Cl, Br), we determined their electronic band structures and optical characteristics, followed by an analysis of their photocatalytic and mechanical properties to assess their stability. Using mBJ+SOC correction over the GGA approximation, we...

This Special Collection on "Advancements in Photocatalysis: Innovations for Water Treatment and Microplastic Degradation" aims to gather cutting-edge research focusing on the application of photocatalytic processes in the fields of water treatment and microplastic degradation. This collection will cover both theoretical advancements and practical a...

Composting is a common method for managing organic waste and creating nutrient-rich soil amendments. Recently, biochar, a carbon-rich material from biomass pyrolysis, has been noted for potentially improving composting. This study examines the impact of adding biochar to compost made from cow manure and kitchen waste through a controlled lab experi...

Phosphorous (P) is an indispensable nutrient popularly employed to fertilize agricultural farms. However, its overuse in farming leads to excessive discharge in agricultural runoff, causing eutrophication. To prevent harm to the environment, it is necessary to remove P from wastewater. Adsorption is one of the ways to achieve this goal. In this stu...

The structural, electrical, optical, mechanical, chemical, phononic, and photocatalytic properties of AScS2 (A = K, Rb) compounds were examined in this work using first-principles computations. Both compounds have a bandgap value of approximately 1.8 eV, indicating that they are semiconductors based on calculations of electronic band structure and...

The pressing global issue of organic pollutants, particularly phenolic compounds derived primarily from industrial wastes, poses a significant threat to the environment. Although progress has been made in the development of low-cost materials for phenolic compound removal, their effectiveness remains limited. Thus, there is an urgent need for novel...

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of RSC Advances' reviewers for helping to preserve quality and integrity in chemical science literature. We would also like to highlight the Outstanding Reviewers for RSC Advances in 2023

Phosphate is a vital component for the proper functioning of organisms. However, when excessive amounts of phosphate are introduced into aquatic environments, it can lead to eutrophication, which contributes to the formation of detrimental algal blooms. These blooms present significant threats to ecological balance, water quality, and human health....

Structural, electronic, optical, thermoelectric ,and elastic properties of Mo- and W-based group-V compounds, TMX (TM = Mo and W; X = N, P, and As) have been studied by using the full-potential linear augmented plane wave method. Local spin density approximation (LSDA) has been used for exchange–correlation potentials. Pressure-dependent lattice co...

Using a first-principles approach, the adsorption characteristics of CO and HF on a CuCl monolayer (ML) are studied with Grimme-scheme DFT-D2 for accurate description of the long-range (van der Waals) interactions. According to our study, CO gas molecules undergo chemisorption and HF gas molecules show a physisorption phenomenon on the CuCl monolay...

Metal pollution in water, soil, and vegetation is an emerging environmental issue. Therefore, this study investigated the abundance of heavy metals (HMs) within roots and shoots of native plant species i.e., Bromus pectinatus, Cynodon dactylon, Poa annua, Euphorbia heliscopa, Anagallis arvensis, and Stellaria media grown in the adjoining area of mu...

Plastics and plastic-based materials are a cause of concern due to their huge production, usage, and disposal in the environment. The discharged plastics disintegrated into small fragments through the action of biotic and abiotic factors. Plastics can be characterized into different groups based on their size such as mega plastics (size > 1 m), mac...

The investigation of the structural, electronic, optical and thermoelectric properties of Ag3XY2 (X = Cu, Cd, Zn; Y = Se, Te) with full potential linearized augmented plane wave (FP-LAPW) method has been carried. To get accurate bandgap values the modified Becke-Johnson (mBJ) exchange potential was applied. Two materials Ag3CuSe2 and Ag3CuTe2 have...

The objective of the current research was to examine the water quality of the River Ravi and the River Sutlej, with a specific focus on potentially toxic elements (PTEs). Additionally, we sought to monitor the sources of pollution in these rivers by gathering samples from the primary drains that carry industrial and municipal waste into these water...

Dear colleagues, The prevalence of organic pollutants in aquatic environments poses a pressing environmental threat, demanding innovative remediation strategies to safeguard both ecosystems and human health. This Special Issue on "Removal Strategies for Organic Pollutants in Aquatic Environments" is dedicated to advancing understanding and explori...

In recent years, the growing concern over the presence of toxic aquatic pollutants has prompted intensive research into effective and environmentally friendly remediation methods. Photocatalysis using semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) has developed as a promising technology for pollutant degradation. Among various QD materials, indium phosphide (InP...

The structural, electronic and optical properties of silicene and its derivatives are investigated in the present work by employing density functional theory (DFT). The Perdew–Burke–Ernzerhof generalized gradient approximation (PBE-GGA) is used as the exchange–correlation potential. Our results provide helpful insight for tailoring the band gap of...

Land use has a great impact on soil dynamics. The soils of various land use systems in Central Karakoram have been under immense pressure in the recent past due to certain anthropogenic activities such as land use practices and land use cover changes. These influences have an impact on the spatial distribution of metallic elements (MEs) in the soil...

In the context of growing arsenic (As) contamination in the world, there is an urgent need for an effective treat- ment approach to remove As from the environment. Industrial wastewater is one of the primary sources of As contamination, which poses significant risks to both microorganisms and human health, as the presence of As can disrupt the vita...

In recent decades, heavy metals (HMs) have emerged as a global health concern. Unfortunately, in Pakistan, there is a general lack of awareness regarding the potential health risks associated with HMs pollution among automobile workers. Herein, we investigated the concentration of heavy metals such as lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and chromium (Cr) amon...

Fluoride (F−) pollution in potable groundwater (GW) is a serious environmental concern in Pakistan with substantial human health hazard reports. The research on F− pollution in GW resources in Sindh Province is still incomplete. To explore the realistic conditions, the present research aimed to investigate the GW quality of community tube wells con...

Land use has a greater impact on trace element (TE) concentration present in soils. In mountainous regions of the western Himalayas, some dominating geogenic and human-dependent anthropogenic factors are involved in the spatial distribution of TEs in various land uses. Soil samples were collected from permafrost, pasture, forest, and agricultural l...

Photocatalysis is considered a most promising method for the exploitation of solar energy and it has been examined broadly owing to its unique characteristics such as low cost, cleanliness, high performance, and inexhaustibility. Perovskite-based materials are highly potent for the photocatalytic degradation of pollutants, especially in aquatic med...

Groundwater is the primary source of water that occurs below the earth's surface. However, the advancement in technology and the increasing population, which lead to the discharge of contaminants such as microplastics (MPs), have an adverse impact on the quality of groundwater. MPs are ubiquitous pollutants that are widely found throughout the worl...

Heavy metals (HMs) are extensively found in occupationally exposed miners and industrial workers, which may cause serious health-related problems to the large workforce. In order to evaluate the impact of these toxic pollutants, we have investigated the effect of cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), and lead (Pb) concentration on exposed worke...

High-quality academic publishing is built on rigorous peer review. Sustainability was able to uphold its high standards for published papers due to the outstanding efforts of our reviewers. Thanks to the efforts of our reviewers in 2022, the median time to first decision was 17 days and the median time to publication was 43 days. Regardless of whet...

The occurrence of micropollutants in aquatic media raises great concern because of their biological toxicity and persistence. Herein, visible-light-driven photocatalyst titanium dioxide/graphitic carbon nitride/triiron tetraoxide (TiO2-x/g-C3N4/Fe3O4, TCNF) with oxygen vacancies (Ov) was prepared via a facile hydrothermal-calcination method. The co...

High-quality academic publishing is built on rigorous peer review. Agronomy was able to uphold its high standards for published papers due to the outstanding efforts of our reviewers. Thanks to the efforts of our reviewers in 2022, the median time to first decision was 18 days and the median time to publication was 37 days. Regardless of whether th...

High-quality academic publishing is built on rigorous peer review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health was able to uphold its high standards for published papers due to the outstanding efforts of our reviewers. Thanks to the efforts of our reviewers in 2022, the median time to first decision was 21 days and the median...

High-quality academic publishing is built on rigorous peer review. Agriculture was able to uphold its high standards for published papers due to the outstanding efforts of our reviewers. Thanks to the efforts of our reviewers in 2022, the median time to first decision was 19 days and the median time to publication was 39 days. Regardless of whether...

High-quality academic publishing is built on rigorous peer review. Micromachines was able to uphold its high standards for published papers due to the outstanding efforts of our reviewers. Thanks to the efforts of our reviewers in 2022, the median time to first decision was 14 days and the median time to publication was 31 days. Regardless of wheth...

High-quality academic publishing is built on rigorous peer review. Water was able to uphold its high standards for published papers due to the outstanding efforts of our reviewers. Thanks to the efforts of our reviewers in 2022, the median time to first decision was 18 days and the median time to publication was 41 days. Regardless of whether the a...

High-quality academic publishing is built on rigorous peer review. Crops was able to uphold its high standards for published papers due to the outstanding efforts of our reviewers. Thanks to the efforts of our reviewers in 2022, the median time to first decision was 15 days and the median time to publication was 48 days. Regardless of whether the a...

High-quality academic publishing is built on rigorous peer review. Life was able to uphold its high standards for published papers due to the outstanding efforts of our re-viewers. Thanks to the efforts of our reviewers in 2022, the median time to first decision was 13.4 days and the median time to publication was 34 days. Regardless of whether the...

High-quality academic publishing is built on rigorous peer review. Toxics was able to uphold its high standards for published papers due to the outstanding efforts of our reviewers. Thanks to the efforts of our reviewers in 2022, the median time to first decision was 15 days and the median time to publication was 35 days. Regardless of whether the...

Iodine is an essential microelement for humans and its deficiency leads to iodine deficiency disorder (IDD) which is a common problem faced by people in hilly areas. Biofortification of iodine is an option to overcome the IDD problem. Herein, we investigated the iodine uptake and accumulation in the edible portion of vegetables such as Brassica nap...

Memristor holds the key to efficient analog computing. The cover art shows the use of liquid metal as an electrode on solution-processed oxide to form a memristor. The memristor exhibits synaptic behavior, with potential to be implemented in various computing applications.

Plastic waste has gained remarkable research attention due to its accumulation, associated environmental issues, and impact on living organisms. In order to overcome this challenge, there is an urgent need for its removal from the environment. Under this menace, finding appropriate treatment methods like biodegradation instead of typical treatment...

Herein, we report a solution-processable memristive device based on bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) and titanium dioxide (TiO2) with gallium-based eutectic gallium–indium (EGaIn) and gallium–indium-tin alloy (GaInSn) liquid metal as the top electrode. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) shows the formation of a nonporous structure of BiVO4 and TiO2 for eff...

Carbon dioxide is considered an inert gas that rarely participates in atmospheric chemical reactions. Nonetheless, we show here that CO2 is involved in some important photo-oxidation reactions in the atmosphere through the formation of carbonate radicals (CO3⚫-). This potentially active intermediate CO3⚫- is routinely overlooked in atmospheric chem...

Rigorous peer-reviews are the basis of high-quality academic publishing. Thanks to the great efforts of our reviewers, Applied Sciences was able to maintain its standards for the high quality of its published papers. Thanks to the contribution of our reviewers, in 2021, the median time to first decision was 16 days and the median time to publicatio...

Rigorous peer-reviews are the basis of high-quality academic publishing. Thanks to the great efforts of our reviewers, Agronomy was able to maintain its standards for the high quality of its published papers. Thanks to the contribution of our reviewers, in 2021, the median time to first decision was 19 days and the median time to publication was 38...

Rigorous peer-reviews are the basis of high-quality academic publishing. Thanks to the great efforts of our reviewers, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health was able to maintain its standards for the high quality of its published papers. Thanks to the contribution of our reviewers, in 2021, the median time to first decis...

Rigorous peer-reviews are the basis of high-quality academic publishing. Thanks to the great efforts of our reviewers, Agriculture was able to maintain its standards for the high quality of its published papers. Thanks to the contribution of our reviewers, in 2021, the median time to first decision was 19 days and the median time to publication was...

The world is facing a severe issue regarding microplastics (MPs) pollution, which is ascribed to its small micron size, low capture, and difficulties in removing it from the environment. The MPs' pollution control and removal policies throughout the world were a pioneering subject of plastics waste, but also a crucial problem that needs to be addre...

An efficient degradation method for microplastics treatment is urgently needed. In this review, a comprehensive overview of current methods of microplastics degradation, including biological, photo, chemical, and mechanical degradation, are summarized and discussed.

Lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) are considered as a typical heavy metals in aqueous solution, which may pose adverse health effects on human beings. For the removal of these two pollutants, magnesium oxide (MgO) was successfully immobilized onto eucalyptus biochar (BC) matrix via simple and cost-effective pyrolysis process of MgCl 2-pretreated eucalyptu...

Carbon dioxide is considered an inert gas that rarely participates in atmospheric chemical reactions. However, we show here that CO2 is involved in some important photo-oxidation reactions in the atmosphere through the formation of carbonate radicals (CO3∙-). This potentially active intermediate CO3∙- is routinely overlooked in atmospheric chemistr...

The advancement in industries and modern technology has been escorted by an expansion in the utilization of chemicals to obtain plastic-based products. Increased plastic production and disposal have greatly affected the environment and living organisms globally. Macro and micro-plastics have a persistent nature, and their natural degradation takes...

Photocatalysis has been regarded as a sustainable strategy for wastewaters remediation, and sulfite addition could significantly accelerate the photocatalytic performances. However, the related mechanisms are still not well understood. Here, we for the first time found that plasmonic Bi and oxygen vacancies were in-operando generated on BiOX (X = C...

As a green adsorbent, biochar has attained progressive attention due to its advantages such as high carbon content, high surface area, stable structure, and heavy metals removal through cation exchange capacity. Biochar can be synthesized from the feedstock, agricultural, and organic waste. In this study, the activated biochar (AC) and ammonia modi...

The electrocatalytic transformation of carbon dioxide to higher value hydrocarbons offers opportunities for large scale, long term renewable energy storage and lessen carbon emissions. The fabrication of an efficient electrocatalyst with high selectivity for multicarbon (C2) products remains a topic of continuous interest. Here we report, highly de...

The rapid sulfate formation is a crucial factor determining the explosive growth of fine particles and the frequent occurrence of severe haze events in China. Recent field observations also show that brown carbon is one of the most critical components in aerosol particles sampled during haze episodes. To this day, there is limited knowledge that ac...

Sulfite is recently found to be promising in enhancing photocatalytic pollutants degradation, and it is a byproduct from flue gas desulfuration process. Herein, 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) photodegradation was systematically investigated in a sulfite mediated system with g-C3N4 as photocatalyst. The degradation efficacy was improved by about 3 times with...

Electrolyte can play a key role in obtaining desired product in CO2 electrochemical reduction, while still poorly understood. To address this issue, it is of great significance to find out the interaction between selectivity/activity and structure/electrolyte. Herein, the influence of electrolytes especially halide ions on CO2 reduction performance...

Halogenated organic compounds (HOCs) like chlorophenols (CPs) are one of persistent organic pollutants in environment, and it is an urgent issue to remove HOCs efficiently because they are detrimental to aquatic organisms and human beings. Electrocatalytic hydrodechlorination (ECH) technique has been widely studied to deal with chlorophenols. Howev...

Despite the increased awareness of heterogeneous reaction on mineral dust, the knowledge of how the intensity of solar irradiation influences the photochemistry activity remains a crucially important part in atmospheric research. Relevant studies have not seriously discussed the photochemistry under weak sunlight during haze, and thus ignored some...