Removal of arsenic from aqueous solution by two types of nano TiO2 crystals

Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) is a promising sorbent for As removal. There are two main and physico-chemically distinct polymorphs of TiO₂ in nature, namely anatase and rutile. Since the difference of arsenic removal by the two polymorphs of TiO₂ is now well known, study on the arsenic removal efficiency and the underlying mechanism is of great significance in developing new remediation strategies for As-polluted waters. Here batch experiments were carried out in combination with instrumental analysis of X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to investigate the effects, influential factors and mechanisms of As removal from aqueous solution by two types of nano TiO₂ crystals. The adsorption behavior of anatase and rutile for As(V) and As(III) are well described by Freundlich equations. Anatase had higher As removal efficiency and adsorption capacity than rutile. Solution pH had no influence on the As adsorption of anatase TiO₂, whereas the As removal by rutile TiO₂ was increased by 7?C18% with pH from 4 to 10. Presence of accompanying anions such as phosphate, silicate, nitrate and sulfate, decreased the As(V) and As(III) removal by both crystals, with phosphate being the most effective. However, removal of As by rutile TiO₂ was greatly enhanced in the presence of divalent cations i.e. Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺. Shading of light decreased the removal of As(V) and As(III) of anatase by 15.5% and 17.5%, respectively, while a slight increase of As removal was observed in the case of Rutile TiO₂. FT-IR characterization of As(V) or As(III)-treated nano TiO₂ crystals indicated that both Ti-O and As-O groups participated in As adsorption. Both FT-IR and XPS analysis demonstrated that As(III) was photooxidated into As(V) when adsorbed by anatase under the light condition. Thus, the effect of crystal types and light condition on As removal should be taken into consideration when nano TiO₂ is applied for As removal from water.     

Morphological characteristics of waste polyethylene/polypropylene plastics during pyrolysis and representative morphological signal characterizing pyrolysis stages

In this work, the morphological characteristics of waste polyethylene (PE)/polypropylene (PP) plastics during their pyrolysis process were investigated, and based on their basic image changing patterns representative morphological signals describing the pyrolysis stages were obtained. PE and PP granules and films were used as typical plastics for testing, and influence of impurities was also investigated. During pyrolysis experiments, photographs of the testing samples were taken sequentially with a high-speed infrared camera, and the quantitative parameters that describe the morphological characteristics of these photographs were explored using the “Image Pro Plus (v6.3)” digital image processing software. The experimental results showed that plastics pyrolysis involved four stages: melting, two stages of decomposition which are characterized with bubble formation caused by volatile evaporating, and ash deposition; and each stage was characterized with its own phase changing behaviors and morphological features. Two stages of decomposition are the key step of pyrolysis since they took up half or more of the reaction time; melting step consumed another half of reaction time in experiments when raw materials were heated up from ambient temperatures; and coke-like deposition appeared as a result of decomposition completion. Two morphological signals defined from digital image processing, namely, pixel area of the interested reaction region and bubble ratio (BR) caused by volatile evaporating were found to change regularly with pyrolysis stages. In particular, for all experimental scenarios with plastics films and granules, the BR curves always exhibited a slowly drop as melting started and then a sharp increase followed by a deep decrease corresponding to the first stage of intense decomposition, afterwards a second increase – drop section corresponding to the second stage of decomposition appeared. As ash deposition happened, the BR dropped to zero or very low values. When impurities were involved, the shape of BR curves showed that intense decomposition started earlier but morphological characteristics remained the same. In addition, compared to parameters such as pressure, the BR reflects reaction stages better and its change with pyrolysis process of PE/PP plastics with or without impurities was more intrinsically process correlated; therefore it can be adopted as a signal for pyrolysis process characterization, as well as offering guide to process improvement and reactor design.     

Conjugation of Soybean Oil and It’s Free-Radical Copolymerization with Acrylonitrile

The conjugated soybean oil was synthesized through the isomerization reaction of soybean oil to transformed the structure of linoleic acid into conjugated linoleic acid structure, and Rhodium complexes (RhCl(Pph₃)₃) was used as catalyst. The efficiency on the conjugation of catalyst RhCl (Pph₃)₃, tin dichloride dehydrate (SnCl₂·2H₂O) and triphenylphosphine (Pph₃) were evaluated. The results showed when RhCl(Pph₃)₃, SnCl₂·2H₂O and Pph₃ are 9.25, 9.0 and 13.1 mg in 100 g soybean oil respectively, the highest conversion of conjugation achieved 96%. The free radical copolymerization of conjugated soybean oil with acrylonitrile (AN) and dicyclopentadiene (DCP) was studied. AIBN was used as the initiator. FT-IR and ¹H-NMR results indicates that the conjugated soybean oil with AN and DCP did occur free radical copolymerization with the initiator AIBN. The product is light yellow powder. The thermal properties of the soy-based copolymer were investigated by TG and DSC. The initial degradation temperature of polymers is higher then 250 °C.     

用于磷吸附的载铁（β-FeOOH）沸石制备及特性

以天然沸石为载体，采用FeCl3水解法制备用于磷吸附的载铁沸石（β-FeOOH-Z），优化β-FeOOH-Z的制备条件，包括FeCl，溶液浓度、负载pH值、负载时间、负载温度和烘干温度，并利用x射线衍射（XRD）和傅里叶变换红外光谱（FTIR）对β-FeOOH-Z及其磷吸附特性进行分析。结果表明，β-FeOOH-Z的优化制备条件为：FeCl3溶液浓度1mol／L、负载pH值6、负载时间24h、负载温度25℃和烘干温度60℃。优化制备条件下，100-120目沸石的载铁量为100．2mg／g，铁的负载率为18％，其磷吸附量为7．68mg／g，比天然沸石提高79．6％。XRD分析结果表明，β-FeOOH-Z中的杂质元素较天然沸石减少，并有效负载β-FeOOH；制备条件对β-FeOOH-Z的成分有较大影响，FeCl，溶液浓度较低、负载温度和烘干温度过高均使β-FeOOH-Z中含有α-Fe2O3，并导致其磷吸附效率降低。FTIR分析结果表明，β-FeOOH-Z的表面羟基在其吸附磷过程中起重要作用，羟基与磷酸根离子的配位交换是β-FeOOH-Z吸附磷的主要作用机制。     

Heterogeneous Fenton degradation of bisphenol A catalyzed by efficient adsorptive Fe3O4/GO nanocomposites

A new method for the degradation of bisphenol A (BPA) in aqueous solution was developed. The oxidative degradation characteristics of BPA in a heterogeneous Fenton reaction catalyzed by Fe₃O₄/graphite oxide (GO) were studied. Transmission electron microscopic images showed that the Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles were evenly distributed and were ～6 nm in diameter. Experimental results suggested that BPA conversion was affected by several factors, such as the loading amount of Fe₃O₄/GO, pH, and initial H₂O₂ concentration. In the system with 1.0 g L^?1 of Fe₃O₄/GO and 20 mmol L^?1 of H₂O₂, almost 90 % of BPA (20 mg L^?1) was degraded within 6 h at pH 6.0. Based on the degradation products identified by GC–MS, the degradation pathways of BPA were proposed. In addition, the reused catalyst Fe₃O₄/GO still retained its catalytic activity after three cycles, indicating that Fe₃O₄/GO had good stability and reusability. These results demonstrated that the heterogeneous Fenton reaction catalyzed by Fe₃O₄/GO is a promising advanced oxidation technology for the treatment of wastewater containing BPA.     

Edible Protein Energy Return on Investment Ratio (ep-EROI) for Spanish Seafood Products

Life cycle assessment (LCA) has developed into a useful methodology to assess energy consumption of fishing fleets and their derived seafood products, as well as the associated environmental burdens. In this study, however, the life cycle inventory data is used to provide a dimensionless ratio between energy inputs and the energy provided by the fish: the edible protein energy return on investment (ep-EROI). The main objective was to perform a critical comparison of seafood products landed in Galicia (NW Spain) in terms of ep-EROI. The combination of energy return on investment (EROI) with LCA, the latter having standardized mechanisms regarding data acquisition and system boundary delimitation, allowed a reduction of uncertainties in EROI estimations. Results allow a deeper understanding of the energy efficiency in the Galician fishing sector, showing that small pelagic species present the highest ep-EROI values if captured using specific fishing techniques. Finally, results are expected to provide useful guidelines for policy support in the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13280-013-0426-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Enhanced removal of arsenic from a highly laden industrial effluent using a combined coprecipitation/nano-adsorption process

Effective arsenic removal from highly laden industrial wastewater is an important but challenging task. Here, a combined coprecipitation/nano-adsorption process, with ferric chloride and calcium chloride as coprecipitation agents and polymer-based nanocomposite as selective adsorbent, has been validated for arsenic removal from tungsten-smelting wastewater. On the basis of operating optimization, a binary FeCl₃ (520 mg/L)–CaCl₂ (300 mg/L) coprecipitation agent could remove more than 93 % arsenic from the wastewater. The resulting precipitate has proved environmental safety based on leaching toxicity test. Fixed-bed column packed with zirconium or ferric-oxide-loaded nanocomposite was employed for further elimination of arsenic in coprecipitated effluent, resulting in a significant decrease of arsenic (from 0.96 to less than 0.5 mg/L). The working capacity of zirconium-loaded nanocomposite was 220 bed volumes per run, much higher than that of ferric-loaded nanocomposite (40 bed volumes per run). The exhausted zirconium-loaded nanocomposite could be efficiently in situ regenerated with a binary NaOH–NaCl solution for reuse without any significant capacity loss. The results validated the combinational coprecipitation/nano-adsorption process to be a potential alternative for effective arsenic removal from highly laden industrial effluent.     

水污染第三方治理机制中第三方的刑事责任

"环境污染第三方治理"是党和政府顺应时代发展提出的治污新模式,这为我国水污染的治理指明了新方向。水污染第三方治理机制不仅在制度上是个创新,在法律层面也提出了新的要求,特别是在规制第三方的刑事责任方面。要明确第三方成为新的责任主体,在认定责任的归责原则上适用相对严格责任原则,在责任承担的具体方式上适用"双罚制"和罚金刑,为水污染第三方治理机制的引入奠定良好的法律基础。     

A double‐edged sword: The moderating role of conscientiousness in the relationships between work stressors,psychological strain,and job performance

Although conscientiousness was commonly viewed as a type of personal resource to help individuals reduce strain or mitigate the impacts of stressors, empirical research demonstrated mixed results. Based on the personal resource allocation perspective, we posited that rather than functioning as personal resource per se, conscientiousness may act as a key factor influencing how individuals allocate their personal resources. The current study examined the moderating roles of conscientiousness in the relationships that work stressors (i.e., challenge stressors and hindrance stressors) have with employee psychological strain and job performance by using multi‐source, time‐lagged data collected from 250 employees working at two companies. The results showed that both challenge stressors and hindrance stressors were positively related to psychological strain. Conscientiousness moderated the relationships between both stressors and psychological strain, such that the positive relationships were stronger for individuals with high conscientiousness. Conscientiousness also moderated the relationship between challenge stressors and performance, such that the relationship was positive for individuals with high conscientiousness but negative for those with low conscientiousness. Altogether, the findings suggest that conscientiousness acts as a double‐edged sword that both promotes performance and exacerbates the stress reaction of employees when they are confronted with stressful situations. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

基于ICA/MNF变换的高分影像滑坡灾害检测方法研究

快速准确地从灾后影像中提取出受灾区域对于灾后救援具有重要意义。鉴于现有提取方法过度依赖滑坡在影像中的光学、纹理等特征的问题,研究了一种结合独立成分分析(ICA)与最小噪声比率变换(MNF)的变化检测方法,以单一时相的影像为基础,运用基于负熵最大化的Fast-ICA算法分离出两个时相影像相互正交的独立成分,并构建对应独立成分的差异影像,最后用最小噪声比率变换实现分布于各个差异影像上变化信息的集中,应用直方图阈值法得到了最终的滑坡灾害信息。选取了滑坡灾害前后两时相的高分辨率遥感影像数据进行实验,结果证实了方法的可行性。