研究背景
新污染物和重金属在水环境中广泛检出已成为全球性环境挑战，传统处理技术虽有效，但常伴随高能耗、高成本及二次污染等瓶颈，难以可持续地解决这一问题。其中，抗生素类化合物因其高毒性及结构稳定性，已成为全球关注的高风险新污染物。同时，高价值重金属银（Ag）因其抗菌特性广泛应用于各行业，但其伴生的生态毒性在与抗生素共存时，会进一步放大环境风险。因此，开发低能耗、多功能的水处理技术，已成为同时应对水污染净化和资源回收双重挑战的核心需求。
研究内容
针对上述挑战，吕来教授课题组在全球率先提出了一种低能耗、低成本且操作简单的双功能策略将污染物电子通过量子点作用转移给银离子，实现“点”污成银。该策略基于课题组开发的双反应中心（DRC）水处理技术，通过引入掺杂Mo物种增强SnS2 量子点表面的电子极化分布，从而增强惰性污染物与DO/Ag+之间的电子传递过程。在构建的MSS QDs自净化体系中，同步实现了水体污染物高效去除与银回收。实验结果表明，在无需额外牺牲剂或能量输入的条件下，该体系在15 min内高效（k = 0.259 min-1）去除抗生素污染物，相较于同类报道体系展现出更优异的性能和最低的能耗。机理研究表明，污染物电子可通过构建的量子点DRC界面过程被Ag+定向利用，使银回收率高达94%，实现同步有效去除污染物的“点”污成银过程。初步的经济分析评估显示，该技术的处理成本仅约$0.01每立方，辅以银回收带来的高值化收益。这项工作为未来水环境修复和资源回收技术提供了创新性见解，有望迎来一个多功能、低消耗的净水时代，以响应联合国可持续发展目标。
该工作发表在环境领域顶刊Environmental Science & Technology上，通讯作者为吕来教授，第一作者为广州大学与武汉大学联合培养博士研究生杨东旋。该工作得到了国家自然科学基金、广东省重点领域研发计划和武汉大学科研启动基金的资助。
论文信息
Dongxuan Yang, Yingtao Sun, Baofu Ding, Qiuyu Luo, Muen Han, Chun Hu, and Lai Lyu*. Simultaneous Pollutant Removal and Ag Recovery in an Expanded Water Self-Purification System by Mo−Sn Quantum Dots. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2025, 59, 27, 14116-14128.
全文链接：https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.5c01344.
ES&T：Touching pollutants turns Ag over quantum dots in wastewater
Research Background
Emerging contaminants and heavy metals are widely detected in aquatic environments, posing global environmental challenges. Although traditional treatment technologies are effective, they often come with bottlenecks such as high energy consumption, high costs, and secondary pollution, making it difficult to sustainably address this issue. Antibiotic compounds, due to their high toxicity and structural stability, have become high-risk pollutants of global concern. Meanwhile, silver (Ag), a high-value heavy metal, is widely used across industries due to its antibacterial properties. However, its inherent ecological toxicity can exacerbate environmental risks when coexisting with antibiotics. Therefore, developing low-energy, multifunctional water treatment technologies has become a core requirement for addressing both water pollution purification and resource recovery challenges simultaneously.
Research Content
To address the above challenges, our research team has successfully proposed a low-consumption, low-expense, and operationally simple bifunctional strategy. This strategy is based on the previously developed dual reaction center (DRC) water treatment technology, which enhances the electronic polarization distribution on the SnS2 QDs surface by introducing Mo-doped species, thereby could enhance mass transfer between inert contaminants and DO/Ag+. In the constructed MSS QDs self-purification system, efficient removal of water pollutants and simultaneous silver recovery were achieved. As a result, the system could remove CIP completely in 15 min with ultrafast rate (k = 0.259 min−1) without any additional sacrificial agent or energy input, exhibiting the most excellent performance and the lowest energy consumption among similar systems reported. The electrons of contaminants could be directionally utilized by Ag+ through the constructed DRC interfacial process, realizing touching contaminants turns to Ag by quantum dots. It exhibited up to ∼94% Ag recovery accompanied by efficient contaminant removal. The estimated cost of wastewater treatment was only $0.01/m3 with high-value gains from Ag recovery. This study provides innovative insights for future water environmental remediation and resource utilization technologies, and is expected to usher in a multifunctional and low-consumption water purification era in response to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Research Related
The corresponding author of this article is Prof. Lai Lyu. The first author is Dongxuan Yang, a joint PhD student of Guangzhou University and Wuhan University. This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Key-Area Research and Development Program of Guangdong Province, the Scientific Research Startup Fund of Wuhan University, the Introduced Innovative R&D Team Project under the “Pearl River Talent Recruitment Program” of Guangdong Province, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and the Basic and Applied Basic Research Project of Guangzhou.
Article Information
Dongxuan Yang, Yingtao Sun, Baofu Ding, Qiuyu Luo, Muen Han, Chun Hu, and Lai Lyu*. Simultaneous Pollutant Removal and Ag Recovery in an Expanded Water Self-Purification System by Mo−Sn Quantum Dots. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2025, 59, 27, 14116-14128.
Link to full article：https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.5c01344.
