Arsenic is a toxic metalloid of global concern. It usually originates geogenically but can be intensified by human activities such as applications of pesticides and wood preservatives, mining and smelting operations, and coal combustion. Arsenic-contaminated food is a widespread problem worldwide. Data derived from population-based studies, clinical case series, and case reports relating to ingestion of inorganic arsenic in drinking water, medications, or contaminated food or beverages show the capacity of arsenate and arsenite to adversely affect multiple organ systems. Chronic arsenic poisoning can cause serious health effects including cancers, melanosis (hyperpigmentation or dark spots, and hypopigmentation or white spots), hyperkeratosis (hardened skin), restrictive lung disease, peripheral vascular disease (blackfoot disease), gangrene, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and ischemic heart disease.

Continued rise in global human population, per capita consumption, urbanization and migration towards coastal cities present challenges in fulfilling the energy, water and food demands of coastal communities in sustainable manner. In this regard, as a solution to the problem, a new multigeneration system is proposed to address some of the most common and vital needs of such communities. The system developed is based on principles of sustainability and decentralisation and is driven by renewable energy sources including sun and biomass. It provides electricity, fresh water, hot water for domestic use, HVAC for space air-conditioning and food storage, in addition to hot air for food drying. In the proposed hybrid system, biomass energy is integrated with solar energy in a complimentary manner as a means to maximise outputs and enhance system resilience against weather conditions and day/night cycles. Designing for resilience enables a type of operation that fulfils parallel demands in a continuous stable and flexible operation which can be optimised depending on the requirements. The main sub-systems used in the proposed multigeneration system consist of a Biomass combustor, Concentrated Solar Power (CSP), a Rankine Cycle, a desalination unit and an Absorption Cooling System (ACS). A comprehensive integrated thermodynamic model of the entire system is developed by application of energy, mass, entropy and exergy balance equations. Moreover, effects of various inputs and environmental variables on the outputs and performance has also been studied. Results reveal that the proposed system is capable of fulfilling some of the coastal community’s essential requirements in an efficient and ecologically benign manner. The energy and exergy efficiencies of the proposed system are 55% and 18%, respectively. The outputs of the system include 1687 m³/day of produced fresh water, ~4 MW of cooling, ~13 MW of electricity, ~73 kg/s of hot air for food drying, and ~41 kg/s of hot water for domestic use. Furthermore, the highest amount of exergy destruction is observed in biomass combustion unit and the solar PTCs.

In the present work, titanium dioxide nanowires (TNWs) were synthesised via hydrothermal method. Insertion of ZnFe ₂O ₄ nanoparticles to the surface of TNWs was done by sol gel combustion synthesis of the nanoparticles in the presence of the nanowires. The surface of prepared magnetic TNWs was modified by p -phenylendiamine and then it was used in preconcentration of Cu ²⁺ ion prior to their determination by flame atomic absorption spectroscopy. The sorbent was characterised by Fourier transform infrared spectra, EDX, FE-SEM and VSM techniques. We investigated and optimised various parameters influencing the preconcentration efficiency, such as the media pH, adsorbent quantity, contact time, sample volume and elution conditions. Under optimum conditions, the analytical performance of the method was evaluated. The calibration curve was found to be linear from 10.0 to 150 μg L ⁻¹ (R ² = 0.996). Calculated limit of detection was 0.43 μg L ⁻¹ (n = 5). The estimated relative standard deviation was 2.50% (n = 5). Moreover, the maximum adsorption capacity of the sorbent was 51.5 mg g ⁻¹ and preconcentration factor was 125. Capability of developed method was proved by applying it for preconcentration of Cu ²⁺ ion from food and water samples.