Today, water pollution is a serious global environmental issue, largely driven by rapid population growth, expanding industries, and unplanned urban development. Day by day, the deposition of hazardous contaminants in the environment is increasing due to ongoing discharge of household sewage, agricultural surplus, pharmaceutical residues, and unprocessed seepages. All these activities lead to the accumulation of dangerous substances in the environment. Predominantly, organic contaminants such as dyes, pesticides, antibiotics, and pharmaceuticals are primarily responsible for bioaccumulation, antimicrobial resistance, and long-term ecological disturbance. Among the most prevalent, hazardous, and persistent pollutants are heavy metals like arsenic, lead, cadmium, and chromium. To address these issues, new materials and methods are being developed for improve water purification efficiency. Layered Double Hydroxides (LDH), sometimes referred to as "hydrotalcite- like nanocomposites," have gained considerable interest as potential catalysts and adsorbents for contaminant removal. Carefully regulating the material’s composition, surface area, and layer structure can enhance its ability to eliminate a broad spectrum of water contaminants. Thus, this approach provides a sustainable and environmentally friendly method to minimize water pollution. In addition, many LDH systems exhibit high selectivity and maintain satisfactory regeneration performance over multiple adsorption-desorption cycles, demonstrating their potential for practical water treatment applications. To ensure global water security, LDH-based nanocomposite materials offer opportunities for environmentally benign approaches, safe water reuse, and the development of much cleaner technology. This review provides a comprehensive overview of LDH synthesis strategies, adsorption mechanisms, pollutant removal performance, regeneration characteristics, and recent advances in LDH-based nanocomposites for water purification.
Conjugated polymer/graphene oxide/antimony trisulfide (CP/GO/Sb2S3) nanocomposites are gaining attention as high-potential materials for photonic and optoelectronic devices. Direct evidence for fully integrated CP/GO/Sb2S3 ternary systems is still fairly limited in the literature, but the well-established binary architectures that underpin them—polymer/GO and GO/rGO-Sb2S3—give the field a solid scientific footing to build from. This review draws together recent progress on the synthesis, structural characterisation, and optical behaviour of these constituent systems, with an emphasis on where their properties might synergise. This study examines how conjugated polymers, graphene oxide, and Sb2S3 each contribute to charge transport, interfacial interactions, and broadband optical absorption. This study also examine several fabrication strategies—in situ polymerisation, solution-based techniques, and pulsed laser ablation (PLA)—and how each shapes material morphology and carrier dynamics. PLA in particular stands out as a clean, promising route to high-purity nanocomposites with tightly controlled structure. Finally, the autjors discuss the technical hurdles still standing in the way of scalable ternary architectures: dispersion uniformity, interfacial compatibility, and long-term stability chief among them. Since direct experimental reports on fully integrated CP/GO/Sb2S3 ternary systems remain scarce, this review is best understood as an emerging perspective— one that bridges the established binary literature with the field's next steps in photonics.
Introduction: This work is centered on the formulation of a magnetic, targeted drug delivery system using cyclodextrin–polyethylene glycol–folate (CD-PEG-fol) polymer-coated hydroxyapatite (HAp) nanoparticles with incorporated ytterbium ferrite/ytterbium iron nanoparticles for targeted camptothecin delivery. Methods: Yb-Fer-HAp nanoparticles synthesized via a hydrothermal method were then surfacecoated with CD-PEG-fol polymer. The nanocomposites were characterized in terms of their physicochemical properties through X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and magnetic measurements. This study systematically studied the camptothecin loading, pH-responsive drug release, and in vitro anticancer activity against MCF-7 breast cancer cells. results: The drug adsorption percentage of 92.5 ± 4.5 and the drug loading content of 3.2 ± 0.6 percent. The in vitro drug release from the nanoparticles extends over several hours, indicating the requisite for acting as a sustained releasing agent. The in vitro cytotoxicity of the camptothecin-loaded nanoparticles was investigated. T Results: Synthesized nanoparticles had 8-10 nm size with superparamagnetic properties. The nanocarrier had a high camptothecin adsorption efficiency (92.5 ± 4.5%) and drug loading content (3.2 ± 0.6%). pH-sensitive release behavior was exhibited, with 48 h cumulative drug release reaching a total of 73% (pH 6.8) vs. 65% (pH 7.4). The camptothecin-loaded nanocarrier demonstrated high dose-dependent cytotoxicity against MCF-7 cells, with an effective IC50 value of 17.50 μg/mL compared to the free drug. Discussion: The Yb content in the Fer-HAp core also contributes greatly to its improved anticancer performance, with a synergistic cooperation including magnetic Yb–Fer-HAp core, β-cyclodextrinassisted drug encapsulation, PEG-mediated colloidal stability, and folate-assisted cellular targeting. Conclusion: This study presented the design and development of a biocompatible multifunctional nanoplatform for targeted on-demand anticancer drug delivery. The excellent magnetic properties, high drug-loading efficiency, pH-responsiveness release profile, and improved cytotoxic activity indicates their prospective application in cancer nanotherapeutics..
Abstract: Casein, a common milk phosphoprotein, has been increasingly investigated as a potential biopolymer for drug delivery due to its amphiphilicity, biocompatibility, and capacity to selfassemble into micellar nanostructures. These features enable the encapsulation of both hydrophilic and hydrophobic drugs and have prompted increasing research interest in their application as a nanocarrier system. This review critically assesses the current state of research on casein-based nanomaterials, focusing on physicochemical features, formulation techniques, and application across oral, Ocular and parenteral drug delivery systems. Available studies suggest that casein-based nanoparticles may improve drug solubility, encapsulation efficiency, and controlled release. However, the majority of the evidence is derived from in vitro experiments and limited in vivo models, with relatively few studies addressing pharmacokinetic behaviour or clinical relevance. In addition, substantial variability in formulation methods, including differences in preparation techniques and particle characteristics, complicates reproducibility and cross-study comparison. Key challenges such as long-term stability, scalability, and potential immunogenicity remain insufficiently addressed. Furthermore, claims of enhanced targeting or therapeutic efficacy are often based on indirect or preliminary data rather than validated in vivo outcomes. Overall, while casein-based nanomaterials represent a promising platform for drug delivery, the current evidence remains fragmented and further standardised in vivo and clinically oriented investigations are required to establish their translational potential.
Introduction: Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are the primary contaminants in ethanol fermentation, which can lead to reduced fermentation efficiencies. This work aimed to develop a faster and more sensitive protocol for detecting LAB, using Limosilactobacillus fermentum as a model organism, using a functionalized magnetic nanoparticle (MNP-F1) in tandem with Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). Methods: Firstly, the percent cell capture efficiency (%CCE) by various concentrations of MNP-F1 of L. fermentum FM7 (108 CFU/mL), grown in MRS broth, was evaluated. Then, Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) was used to visualize the capture. Finally, thermal cycling of the MNP-F1 detection protocol was used to detect L. fermentum FM7 in MRS broth and when spiked in fermenting molasses without enrichment. Results: The %CCE obtained was 99.70 ± 0.3 using 0.0125 mg/ml of MNP-F1. TEM validated the MNP-F1-L. fermentum FM7 conjugation. Successful detection of L. fermentum in MRS broth and fermenting molasses matrices with Saccharomyces cerevisiae BIOTECH 2030 was confirmed through PCR. Interestingly, detection was successful even at a cell concentration of 10 CFU/mL using the lowest MNP-F1 concentration of 0.0125 mg/mL. Discussion: MNP-F1 facilitated the simple and rapid preparation of genomic DNA templates from captured cells, without the need for a lengthy enrichment step. The results demonstrated the applicability of MNP-F1 in tandem with PCR detection, although concentrations much lower were not further tested. Conclusion: This study showed the potential use of biocompatible functionalized MNPs or MNP-F1 to capture and extract bacterial contaminants in the ethanol fermentation process and rapidly detect using PCR with high sensitivity.
