On November 2, 2023, Professor Huayue Zhu and Associate Professor Ru Jiang''s research group collaborated with Professor Wang Qi from Zhejiang Gongshang University and Professor Jian Bing Li from the University of Northern British Columbia in Canada accepted a review paper titled " A review on chitosan/metal oxide nanocomposites for applications in environmental remediations" by the internationally renowned TOP journal " Int. J. Biol. Macromol.". The paper was first completed by Taizhou University, with Ru Jiang as the first author and Professor Huayue Zhu as the first corresponding author.

International Journal of Biological Macromolecules is an established international journal of research into chemical and biological aspects of all natural macromolecules.It presents the latest findings of studies on the molecular structure and properties of proteins, macromolecular carbohydrates, glycoproteins, proteoglycans, lignins, biological poly-acids, and nucleic acids.  It belongs to the top journal in Zone 1 of the Chemistry category of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

This review paper consists of a total of 14000 words, 176 references, 14 figures, and 5 tables. The time from submission to the first review feedback of the review paper is 11 days. The editor and reviewers  praised highly this review paper. 

Reviewer11’s comment: Overall, the review covers a relevant and significant research area in an organized manner. The cited studies seem technically sound. The analysis and discussion of results adds scientific value.

Reviewer 2’s comment: This review described that chitosan/metal oxide nanomaterials (CS/MONM) have been useful as adsorbents, photocatalysts, heterogeneous Fenton-like agents, and sensors for environmental remediation and monitoring. In addition, the authors concluded recent advances in preparation and application, and challenges of CS/MONMs composites. Overall, this review is well-planned and logically structured. This review article has guidance for the application of natural polymer chitosan in the environmental field.

Abstract: A cleaner and safer environment is one of the most important requirements in the future. It has become increasingly urgent and important to fabricate novel environmentally–friendly materials to remove various hazardous pollutants. Compared with traditional materials, chitosan is a more environmentally friendly material due to its abundance, biocompatibility, biodegradability, film–forming ability and hydrophilicity. As an abundant of –NH2 and –OH groups on chitosan molecular chain could chelate with all kinds of metal ions efficiently, chitosan–based materials hold great potential as a versatile supporting matrix for metal oxide nanomaterials (MONMs) (TiO2,ZnO, SnO2, Fe3O4, etc.). Recently, many chitosan/metal oxide nanomaterials (CS/MONMs) have been reported as adsorbents, photocatalysts, heterogeneous Fenton–like agents, and sensors for potential and practical applications in environmental remediation and monitoring. This review analyzed and summarized the recent advances in CS/MONMs composites, which will provide plentiful and meaningful information on the preparation and application of CS/MONMs composites for wastewater treatment and help researchers to better understand the potential of CS/MONMs composites for environmental remediation and monitoring. In addition, the challenges of CS/MONM have been proposed.

Zhu Huayue's research group is mainly engaged in the study of biomass environmentally friendly materials, pollutant interface adsorption, and photochemical reaction mechanisms. It is the first to carry out research on  catalysts by biomineralization internationally by Zhu Huayue's research group, and has also conducted research. 63 papers have been published in intrenational famours journals such as Chem Eng J, J Hazard Mater, Bioresour Technol, Carbohyd Polym, Desalination, Int. J. Biol. Macromol., Appl Surf Sci, Chemosphere, Sep Purif Technol, Appl Clay Sci, Ceram Int , Ind Eng Chem Res, Microchim Acta, Environ Sci Pollut Res,  Ecotox Environ Safe, J Nanopart Res, Chem Eng Technol, Chem Phys Lett, etc. Among those papers, there are 3 papers are listed at Highly Cited Papers (TOP 1% Papers ). The published papers have been cited by over 10000 scholars worldwide, with an average of 78 citations. The total number of citations for papers ranks among the top 1% globally, while papers in fields such as environmental science. material, chemistry, and chemical engineering rank among the top 1% nationwide.