# Special Issue on \"New Materials and Techniques for Environmental Science\"
###### Abstract  
We present a novel and efficient and efficient and efficient and efficient and  
silico-aluminate material (perlite) was used as an alternative and cheap sorbent for removing Pb\({}^{2+}\) ions from the industrial wastewater. It was found that the increasing of the amount of perlite improved the metal removal efficiency obviously, and the best Pb\({}^{2+}\) ions retention of 0.3 L/h with 4 g of perlite and 10 mg/L metal solution. In addition, this study indicated that the perlite material can be further used for constructing environmentally friendliness industrial materials like plaster or panels.  
TiO\({}_{2}\)-based nanomaterials exhibited great potentials for the photocatalytic degradation and adsorption of organic pollutants from wastewater systems. Two papers in this issue are related to the design and synthesis of new TiO\({}_{2}\)-based nanomaterials for oil-water separation [7] and photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue [8]. The first paper by [PERSON] et al. reported the design and synthesis of silane-modified TiO\({}_{2}\) pillared montmorillonite (Ti-Mt-APTES) for the demulsification of acidic oil-in-water emulsion [7]. They found that the fabricated Ti-Mt-APTES materials showed improved demulsification efficiency (94.8%) when 2.5 g/L of sorbent was added into the acidic oil-in-water emulsion after 5 h. In addition, the materials characterizations and control tests proved that the electrostatic interaction between materials and oil droplets as well as the intercalation of titanium hydrate play main roles in the oil adsorption and demulsification. In the other paper, [PERSON] et al. reported the synthesis of graphene oxide (GO)/TiO\({}_{2}\) composites for photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue [8]. It is clear that the 2D GO enhanced the photocatalytic activity of TiO\({}_{2}\) towards methylene blue, and the addition of 15 wt% GO caused highest photocatalytic efficiency. It was found that the degradation rate towards methylene blue reached 95.8% after 2.5 h by using 200 mg composites and 200 mL methylene blue (10 mg/mL). The reported GO/TiO\({}_{2}\) hybrid materials show promising application for the facial removal of organic dyes from wastewater.  
Besides photodegradation, TiO\({}_{2}\) materials can also be used for other environmental applications. [PERSON] and co-workers [9] introduced novel waterproof aerated bricks based on the hydrophobic surface modification of stone powder waste with TiO\({}_{2}\) nanoparticles, which created a super-hydrophobic surface on the aerated bricks. It is clear that using of super-hydrophobic TiO\({}_{2}\) nanoparticles inhibited the absorption of rainwater and dust, promoting the reusing of wassters and holding high potential for large-scale construction and buildings.  
The construction of environmentally friendliness materials with reinforced properties is also very important for environmental science. [PERSON] et al. [10] reported in this issue the industrial synthesis of self-sensing, self-monitoring intelligent carbon nanofibers (CNFs)-reinforced polyurethane cement (CNFPUC) materials. The using of CNFs for the fabrication of CNFPUC materials improved the varistor characteristics of materials, making CNFPUC as smart materials. In addition, the addition of silica fume to CNFPUC improved the sensitivity coefficient and piezoresistive effect of materials by reducing the variation coefficient of hexahedron CNFPUC.