Sam Bessai(Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Engineering Sciences)’s paper has been accepted for Journal of Environmental Management.
Congratulations!
Authors
Sam Bessai, Omar Falyouna, Toshihiko Mandai, Feng Xuening, Upm Ashik, Mika Sillanpää, Osama Eljamal
Affiliation
Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Engineering Sciences, Department of Earth System Science and Technology
Manuscript Title
Efficient progesterone removal from water using molybdenum disulfide nanoparticles
Abstract
Water contamination by hormone-disrupting chemicals like progesterone (PGS) poses significant risks to environmental and human health. To our knowledge, this is the first systematic study of PGS removal by pure MoS2 nanoparticles, extending previous work on MoS2 for structurally related estrogen, 17β-estradiol [1]. Owing to their two-dimensional structure, high surface area, and good stability in water, MoS2 nanoparticles can achieve higher affinity toward organic molecules like PGS compared to conventional adsorbents such as activated carbon or metal oxides. Under optimized conditions ([MoS2] = 20 mg L−1, temperature = 25 °C, pH = 7, initial PGS concentration = 20 mg L−1), a maximum removal efficiency of 98% was achieved within 1 h. Variations in environmental factors, including temperature, pH, dosage, and initial PGS concentration, influenced the removal efficiency; however, MoS2 maintained high performance across a broad range of conditions. Mechanistic analysis revealed that van der Waals forces, hydrogen bonding, and electrostatic interactions were the dominant adsorption mechanisms, as confirmed by adsorption modeling. MoS2 also demonstrated excellent reusability, with minimal performance loss after multiple cycles. A preliminary cost analysis based on raw material prices suggest that MoS2 is economically competitive with conventional adsorbents under the tested conditions. These results indicate that MoS2 is a promising candidate for the treatment of hormone-contaminated water, although further techno-economic evaluation (TEA) at larger scales is required.
Journal name
Journal of Environmental Management
Relevant SDGs
SDGs3 (Good Health and Well-Being); SDGs6 (Affordable and Clean Energy);
SDGs9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure); SDGs11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities);SDGs12 (Responsible Consumption and Production);
SDGs14 (Life Below Water);SDGs17 (Partnerships for the Goals)
Comments
Happy to share that our work on removing Progesterone from water using MoS₂ nanoparticles is now published in the Journal of Environmental Management. Always glad to chat about it (or about emerging contaminants in general) if anyone’s interested.
