Comparative phototoxicity of nanoparticulate and bulk ZnO to a free-living nematode Caenorhabditis elegans: the importance of illumination mode and primary particle size

The present study evaluated phototoxicity of nanoparticulate ZnO and bulk-ZnO under natural sunlight (NSL) versus ambient artificial laboratory light (AALL) illumination to a free-living nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Phototoxicity of nano-ZnO and bulk-ZnO was largely dependent on illumination method as 2-h exposure under NSL caused significantly greater mortality in C. elegans than under AALL. This phototoxicity was closely related to photocatalytic reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation by the ZnO particles as indicated by concomitant methylene blue photodegradation. Both materials caused mortality in C. elegans under AALL during 24-h exposure although neither degraded methylene blue, suggesting mechanisms of toxicity other than photocatalytic ROS generation were involved. Particle dissolution of ZnO did not appear to play an important role in the toxicity observed in this study. Nano-ZnO showed greater phototoxicity than bulk-ZnO despite their similar size of aggregates, suggesting primary particle size is more important than aggregate size in determining phototoxicity.     

Direct and indirect photolysis of cyhalofop in aqueous systems

The photodegradation of the aryloxyphenoxy propionic herbicide cyhalofop-butyl (2R)-2-[4-(4-cyano-2-fluorophenoxy)phenoxy]butylpropanoate (CyB), and of its primary metabolite (2R)-2-[4-(4-cyano-2-fluorophenoxy)phenoxy]propanoic acid (CyA) was studied in water at different irradiation wavelengths. The sunlight irradiation was investigated also in the presence of humic acid (HA), Fe oxide, titanium dioxide (TiO₂) and zinc oxide (ZnO) as photocatalysts.CyB and CyA were rapidly degraded by UV irradiation. CyB afforded the butyl ester of 2-[3-(4-cyano-2-fluorophenyl)-4-hydroxy-phenoxy]propanoic acid (CyI), a metabolite arising from a photo-Fries rearrangement. Instead, CyA yielded (R)-2-4-(4-carboxyl-2-fluorophenoxy)phenoxypropanoic acid (CyD), a dicarboxylic acid arising from the photo-hydrolysis of cyano group via amide. CyB was stable in simulated sunlight also in the presence of the catalysts tested.The irradiation of a CyA solution, in the presence of HA or Fe oxide, with simulated sunlight did not produce any significant degradation. In the same experimental conditions, CyA was totally mineralized in the presence of TiO₂ and ZnO.     

Impact of biosolids, ZnO, ZnO/biosolids on bacterial community and enantioselective transformation of racemic–quizalofop–ethyl in agricultural soil

The effects of biosolids,ZnO,and ZnO/biosolids on soil microorganism and the environmental fate of coexisting racemic–quizalofop–ethyl(rac-QE) were investigated.Microbial biomass carbon in native soil,soil/biosolids decreased by 62% and 52% in the presence of ZnO(2‰,weight ratio).The soil bacterial community structure differed significantly among native soil,soil/biosolids,soil/ZnO,and soil/biosolids/ZnO based on a principal co-ordinate analysis(PCo A) of OTUs and one-way ANOVA test of bacterial genera.Chemical transformation caused by ZnO only contributed 4% and 3% of the overall transformation of R-quizalofop-ethyl(R-QE) and S-quizalofop-ethyl(S-QE) in soil/ZnO.The inhibition effect of ZnO on the initial transformation rate of R-QE(rR-QE) and S-QE(rR-QE) in soil only observed when enantiomer concentration was larger than 10 mg/kg.Biosolids embedded with ZnO(biosolids/ZnO) caused a 17%–42% and 22%–38% decrease of rR-QEand rS-QE,although rR-QEand rS-QEincreased by 0%–17% and 22%–58% by the addition of biosolids.The results also demonstrated that the effects of biosolids on agricultural soil microorganism and enantioselective transformation of chiral pesticide was altered by the embedded nanoparticles.     

恶臭假单胞菌原位还原Pd(0) NPs对微生物电子传递性能及活性的影响

微生物原位合成零价金属纳米颗粒在材料合成和环境应用领域引起了广泛关注和研究.本研究利用Pseudomonas putida(P.putida)合成Pd(0)纳米颗粒(NPs),通过FESEM、TEM、XPS等对合成的纳米颗粒进行形貌、价态表征,并对其电化学性能及微生物抑制作用进行分析.结果表明,在厌氧条件下,P.putida在胞外及细胞周质空间可原位合成粒径约10 nm的Pd(0)NPs.CV实验表明,相比P.putida,含Pd(0)NPs的P.putida有更高的氧化还原电流;随着初始反应Pd(Ⅱ)浓度增加至0.07和0.1 mmol·L~(-1),恒电位实验中的乳酸氧化电流分别升至(10.6±5.2)和(22.5±9.7)nA,分别为P.putida((5.7±2.8)nA)的1.85和3.95倍;TTC-ETS和INT-ETS分别提升至89.02和209.09μg·mg~(-1)·h~(-1),分别是P.putida的1.64和1.34倍.以上结果证明了Pd(0)NPs对微生物胞外电子传递(Extracellular Electron Transfer,EET)的正面影响.抑菌圈实验和激光共聚焦图像表明,低量Pd(0)NPs具有较好的生物相容性,过多Pd(Ⅱ)和Pd(0)NPs对微生物有一定的毒性.     

TiO2/ZnO光催化降解四环素的研究

以太阳光、汞灯为光源，TiO2/ZnO复合半导体为催化剂处理四环素溶液，探讨了催化剂的配比、溶液体积、光照时间、pH、初始浓度、光强等6种因素对光催化活性的影响，比较了汞灯和太阳光作光源时的光催化效果，结果表明，用太阳光作光源时光催化效果也较好。     

Synergistic effects of structural, crystalline, and chemical defects on the photocatalytic performance of Y-doped ZnO for carbaryl degradation

In this study, a photocatalytic material consisting of ZnO and yttrium-doped ZnO (YZO) nanoparticles was obtained via a facile precipitation conducted under ambient pressure whereby crystalline ZnO was successfully doped with yttrium. YZO had a hexagonal wurtzite polycrystalline structure with smaller crystal and grain sizes than ZnO, which in turn meant larger specific surface area and pore volume. Chemical defects were also produced, which facilitated photocatalytic activity, because such defects can act as reaction centers. The optical band gap magnitude and the diamagnetic nature of YZO were also determined. The structural, crystalline, and chemical defects of YZO synergistically enhanced the photocatalytic degradation of carbaryl; indeed, the kinetic rate constant of this reaction catalyzed by YZO was 11.17 × 10⁻² min⁻¹ under natural sunlight irradiation, higher than the value measured for ZnO (8.68 × 10⁻² min⁻¹). Evidence thus indicates that yttrium-doping effectively modified some properties of ZnO nanoparticles so that YZO nanoparticles proved a suitable photocatalytic material for carbaryl degradation.     

A simple and cheap method for preparation of coupled ZrO2/ZnO with high photocatalytic activities

The objective of this study was to prepare a new photocatalyst with high activities for degradation of organic pollutants. Coupled ZrO₂/ZnO photocatalyst was prepared with a simple precipitation method with cheap raw materials zinc acetate and zirconium oxychloride, and was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Reactive brilliant red X-3B was used as a model compound to investigate the photocatalytic activity of synthesized catalysts in water under 254 nm UV irradiation. Results show that the optimal calcination temperature and coupling molar ratio of Zr were 350°C And 2.5%, respectively. At the calcination temperature of 350°C, ZrO₂ was dispersed on the surface of hexagonal ZnO in the form of amorphous clusters. The particle size of ZrO₂/ZnO decreased with the decrease of calcination temperature and the increase of Zr coupling amount. ZrO₂/ZnO has better photocatalytic activity for degradation of reactive brilliant red (RBR) X-3B than pure ZnO and P25-TiO₂.     

ZnO催化剂对苯胺光降解的研究

以太阳光，氙灯为光源，ＺｎＯ为光催化剂，对苯胺光降解行为进行研究，考察了溶液的初始浓度催化剂量，溶液ｐＨ值对苯胺光降解速率的影响。实验结果证实苯胺光降解符合准 级动力学规律，氧不足的条件下苯胺降妥的速率减慢。     

纳米ZnO光催化降解溴化乙锭(EB)的初步研究

对ZnO光催化降解溴化乙锭(EB)中的光源、反应介质、pH值、光催化剂用量、光照时间及氧化剂的加入等因素进行了考察.结果表明,在日光和紫外光照射下,EB都能得到较好的降解.在EB初始浓度50mg·l-1,pH 9的水溶液中,紫外光照射240min,ZnO(80mg)光催化降解EB的降解率可达到92.9%.