Oil spill clean-up is a long-standing challenge for researchers to prevent serious environmental pollution. A new kind of oil-absorbent based on silicon-containing polymers (e.g., poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS)) with high absorption capacity and excellent reusability was prepared and used for oil-water separation. The PDMS-based oil absorbents have highly interconnected pores with swellable skeletons, combining the advantages of porous materials and gels. On the other hand, polymer/silica composites have been extensively studied as high-performance functional coatings since, as an organic/inorganic composite material, they are expected to combine polymer flexibility and ease of processing with mechanical properties. Polymer composites with increased impact resistance and tensile strength without decreasing the flexibility of the polymer matrix can be achieved by incorporating silica nanoparticles, nanosand, or sand particles into the polymeric matrices. Therefore, polymer/silica composites have attracted great interest in many industries. Some potential applications, including high-performance coatings, electronics and optical applications, membranes, sensors, materials for metal uptake, etc., were comprehensively reviewed. In the first part of the review, we will cover the recent progress of oil absorbents based on silicon-containing polymers (PDMS). In the later details of the review, we will discuss the recent developments of functional materials based on polymer/silica composites, sand, and nanosand systems.

Nigeria plays important roles in the overall socio-economic development of the entire African continent, including entrepreneurial activities. There is a less focus on the immersion of women and youths in playing participatory roles in digital entrepreneurship and digital technology innovation in order to boost the economic growth of the country. The primary objective of this study is to explore women and youths’ immersion, specifically in connection with digital entrepreneurship and digital technology innovation, for the purpose of fostering the growth of the economy. The methodology employed in this study is Critical Content Analysis (CCA) of cursory literature as an integral part of the qualitative method. The literature was sourced through different databases, such as library sources, journals, and the core collection of Web of Science (WOS), and the collections of studies used for analysis were between 2018 and 2023. The results demonstrated that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) play significant roles in digital entrepreneurship activities in the country. In addition, there are various entrepreneurship programmes in the country, such as the Youth Entrepreneurship Development Programme (YEDP), and there is awareness of the effectiveness and efficiency of digital entrepreneurship. In addition, the result further established that the use of digital technology is an important innovation for the success of digital entrepreneurship in the country. The study further indicated that five factors of women and youths’ immersion in entrepreneurship (perception and opportunities, business performance, digital adoption, skill acquisition, and enabling environment) can boost the growth of the economy in the country. In conclusion, the knowledge and skills of entrepreneurs are major drivers of wealth and job creations, with women and youths playing an active role in the overall entrepreneurship programmes. It is suggested that the stakeholders and actors in entrepreneurship should collaborate to foster the participation of women and youths in entrepreneurship programmes in the country.

The porous carbon/Ni nanoparticle composite was prepared by a freeze-drying method using NaCl as the template. It was applied in the effect of the concentration, adsorption time, and temperature of adsorption on the adsorption behavior. The kinetic model and the adsorption isothermic fitting results show that the adsorption behavior fits with the pseudo-secondary dynamics and the Langmuir isothermal model, indicating that the adsorption process is monolayer adsorption. Thermodynamic results indicate that the adsorption process is spontaneous physicochemical adsorption. The fitting showed that the porous carbon/Ni nanoparticle composites reach 217.17 mg·g^-1, at 313 K indicates good adsorption for Congo red.

Fe3+-doped nano-TiO2 powders were prepared by sol-gel method. The photocatalytic activity of Fe3+-doped TiO2 nanoparticles was studied by using UV lamp as light source and methylene blue as degradation target. The photocatalytic activity of Fe3+-doped TiO2 was studied by degradation of 4L methylene blue solution with initial concentration of 10mg · L - 1. The results show that the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 can be improved by the addition of Fe3+. When the molar ratio of Fe3+ is 0.5-1%, the calcination temperature is 500 ℃. The photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue is the best.