Effects of silica nanoparticles on growth and photosynthetic pigment contents of Scenedesmus obliquus

To assess the aquatic ecosystem safety for silica (SiO2) nanoparticles (NPs), the growth inhibition and photosynthetic pigment contents of Scenedesmus obliquus in logarithm growth phase exposed to SiO2 NPs and SiO2 bulk particles (BPs) suspensions were measured. SiO2 NPs with 10-20 nm diameters were found to be toxic. The 20% effective concentration (EC20) values for 72 and 96 hr were 388.1 and 216.5 mg/L, respectively. The contents of chlorophyll decreased significantly under moderate and high concentratio...     

有序介孔碳载金/L-赖氨酸/纳米金修饰电极的制备及其对邻苯二酚、对苯二酚的检测响应研究

通过化学还原的方法合成有序介孔碳负载纳米金粒子,并构筑有序介孔碳载金/L-赖氨酸/纳米金复合膜修饰玻碳电极;利用扫描电镜观察介孔碳和介孔碳复合膜的微观结构,并用循环伏安法、电化学阻抗谱表征自组装电极的过程.在此基础上用差分脉冲伏安法研究对苯二酚和邻苯二酚混合物在该电极上的电催化氧化,研制了一种基于有序介孔碳载金/L-赖氨酸/纳米金复合膜修饰电极分别检测对苯二酚和邻苯二酚的传感器.在最优的实验条件下,该传感器在对苯二酚和邻苯二酚浓度为1×10-6～8×10-4mol·L-1的范围内具有良好的线性关系,检出限分别为3×10-7mol·L-1、7×10-7mol·L-1.     

Shellac-coated iron oxide nanoparticles for removal of cadmium(II) ions from aqueous solution

This study describes a new effective adsorbent for cadmium removal from aqueous solution synthesized by coating a shellac layer, a natural biodegradable and renewable resin with abundant hydroxyl and carboxylic groups, on the surface of iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles. Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) imaging showed shellac-coated magnetic nanoparticle (SCMN) adsorbents had a core-shell structure with a core of 20 nm and shell of 5 nm. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopic analysis suggested the occurrence of reaction between carboxyl groups on the SCMN adsorbent surface and cadmium ions in aqueous solution. Kinetic data were well described by pseudo second-order model and adsorption isotherms were fitted with both Langmuir and Freundlich models with maximum adsorption capacity of 18.80 mg/g. SCMN adsorbents provided a favorable adsorption capacity under high salinity conditions, and cadmium could easily be desorbed using mild organic acid solutions at low concentration.     

Photocatalytic activity of TiO2 containing anatase nanoparticles and rutile nanoflower structure consisting of nanorods

A series of TiO2 with different crystal phases and morphologies was synthesized via a facile hydrothermal process using titanium nbutoxide and concentrated hydrochloric acid as raw materials. The photocatalytic activity of the samples was evaluated by degradation of Methyl Orange in aqueous solution under UV-Visible light irradiation. On the basis of detailed analysis of the characterizing results of high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction measurements, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller measurement, it was concluded that the photo-activity of the catalyst is related directly to the 3D morphology and the crystal phase composition. An excellent catalyst should have both a futile 3D flower-like structure and anatase granulous particles. The 3D flower-like structure could enhance light harvesting, as well as the transfer of reactant molecules from bulk solution to the reactive sites on TiO2. In addition, the optimum anatase/rutile phase ratio was found to be 80：20, which is beneficial to the effective separation of the photogenerated electron-hole pairs.     

Fe3O4活化过硫酸盐体系同步去除诺氟沙星和铅

采用Fe₃O₄活化过硫酸盐（PS）同步去除水中的NOR （诺氟沙星）和Pb （II）.探讨了Fe₃O₄投加量、PS浓度、初始pH值和Pb （II）浓度对NOR降解的影响.结果表明,NOR的降解符合伪一级反应动力学,在温度为30℃、NOR初始浓度为5.0mg/L、Pb （II）浓度为1.0mg/L、Fe₃O₄投加量为2.0g/L、PS浓度为1.5mmol/L、初始pH值为7.0的条件下,反应120min后,NOR降解率达90.2%,Pb （II）去除率为99.5%.自由基淬灭实验证实,硫酸根自由基（SO₄^-·）是NOR降解的主要自由基.通过LC-MS分析结果推测了NOR可能的降解路径和中间产物.Fe₃O₄活化PS高级氧化工艺可作为一种同步去除有机污染物和重金属的工艺.     

Influence of extracellular polymeric substances from activated sludge on the aggregation kinetics of silver and silver sulfide nanoparticles

• The NPs aggregation in the electrolyte solution is consistent with the DLVO theory. • In NaNO₃ and low Ca(NO₃)₂, EPS alleviates the NPs aggregation by steric repulsion. • In high Ca(NO₃)₂, EPS accelerates the NPs aggregation by exopolysaccharide bridging. • Ag₂S NPs have stronger stability compared with Cit-Ag NPs in aqueous systems. Extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) in activated sludge from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) could affect interactions between nanoparticles and alter their migration behavior. The influence mechanisms of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) and silver sulfide nanoparticles (Ag₂S NPs) aggregated by active EPS sludge were studied in monovalent or divalent cation solutions. The aggregation behaviors of the NPs without EPS followed the Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (DLVO) theory. The counterions aggravated the aggregation of both NPs, and the divalent cation had a strong neutralizing effect due to the decrease in electrostatic repulsive force. Through extended DLVO (EDLVO) model analysis, in NaNO₃ and low-concentration Ca(NO₃)₂ (<10 mmol/L) solutions, EPS could alleviate the aggregation behaviors of Cit-Ag NPs and Ag₂S NPs due to the enhancement of steric repulsive forces. At high concentrations of Ca(NO₃)₂ (10‒100 mmol/L), exopolysaccharide macromolecules could promote the aggregation of Cit-Ag NPs and Ag₂S NPs by interparticle bridging. As the final transformation form of Ag NPs in water environments, Ag₂S NPs had better stability, possibly due to their small van der Waals forces and their strong steric repulsive forces. It is essential to elucidate the surface mechanisms between EPS and NPs to understand the different fates of metal-based and metal-sulfide NPs in WWTP systems.     

Long-term effects of environmentally relevant concentrations of silver nanoparticles on microbial biomass, enzyme activity, and functional genes involved in the nitrogen cycle of loamy soil

The increasing production and use of engineered silver nanoparticles (AgNP) in industry and private households are leading to increased concentrations of AgNP in the environment. An ecological risk assessment of AgNP is needed, but it requires understanding the long term effects of environmentally relevant concentrations of AgNP on the soil microbiome. Hence, the aim of this study was to reveal the long-term effects of AgNP on soil microorganisms. The study was conducted as a laboratory incubation experiment over a period of one year using a loamy soil and AgNP concentrations ranging from 0.01 to 1?mg?AgNP/kg soil. The short term effects of AgNP were, in general, limited. However, after one year of exposure to 0.01?mg?AgNP/kg, there were significant negative effects on soil microbial biomass (quantified by extractable DNA; p?=?0.000) and bacterial ammonia oxidizers (quantified by amoA gene copy numbers; p?=?0.009). Furthermore, the tested AgNP concentrations significantly decreased the soil microbial biomass, the leucine aminopeptidase activity (quantified by substrate turnover; p?=?0.014), and the abundance of nitrogen fixing microorganisms (quantified by nifH gene copy numbers; p?=?0.001). The results of the positive control with AgNO3 revealed predominantly stronger effects due to Ag⁺ ion release. Thus, the increasing toxicity of AgNP during the test period may reflect the long-term release of Ag⁺ ions. Nevertheless, even very low concentrations of AgNP caused disadvantages for the microbial soil community, especially for nitrogen cycling, and our results confirmed the risks of releasing AgNP into the environment.     

纳米银对胶州湾西北部海区及河口区沉积物反硝化能力和功能基因丰度的影响

在胶州湾西北部海区和大沽河河口区选择S站和E站2个研究站位,现场采样带回实验室进行模拟培养,研究纳米银对沉积物反硝化能力、反硝化酶活性及功能基因丰度的影响.将不同剂量(0、135、1 350 mg·L~(-1))的纳米银添加至由表层沉积物和原位底层海水组成的培养体系中培养6 d,测定其在不同时间内NO_3~-和NO_2~-含量、NO_3~-还原酶和NO_2~-还原酶活性、反硝化功能基因narG和nirS相对丰度的变化,探讨纳米银对不同区域沉积物反硝化过程的影响和可能的作用途径.结果表明,纳米银胁迫对2个站位沉积物NO_3~-和NO_2~-的还原能力、NO_3~-和NO_2~-还原酶活性及narG和nirS的基因丰度均具有明显的抑制效应,纳米银浓度越高,抑制程度越强,并会导致NO_2~-累积量的增加;纳米银对NO_2~-还原酶的抑制程度明显大于NO_3~-还原酶,对功能基因nirS的抑制程度明显大于narG;纳米银胁迫对NO_3~-还原过程的影响主要通过对功能基因的抑制作用,而对NO_2~-还原过程的影响主要是通过对还原酶活性的抑制作用;纳米银对胶州湾西北部海域反硝化能力、NO_3~-还原酶和基因丰度的抑制程度大于大沽河河口区.     

Application of nanoparticle tracking analysis for characterising the fate of engineered nanoparticles in sediment-water systems

Novel applications of nanotechnology may lead to the release of engineered nanoparticles (ENPs), which result in concerns over their potential environmental hazardous impact. It is essential for the research workers to be able to quantitatively characterise ENPs in the environment and subsequently to assist the risk assessment of the ENPs. This study hence explored the application of nanoparticle tracking system (NTA) to quantitatively describe the behaviour of the ENPs in natural sediment-water systems. The NTA allows the measurement of both particle number concentration (PNC) and particle size distribution (PSD) of the ENPs. The developed NTA method was applied to a range of gold and magnetite ENPs with a selection of surface properties. The results showed that the positively-charged ENPs interacted more strongly with the sediment than neutral and negatively-charged ENPs. It was also found that the citrate coated Au ENPs had a higher distribution percentage (53%) than 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid coated Au ENPs (20%) and citrate coated magnetite ENPs (21%). The principles of the electrostatic interactions between hard (and soft) acids and bases (HSAB) are used to explain such behaviours; the hard base coating (i.e. citrate ions) will interact more strongly with hard acid (i.e. magnetite) than soft acid (i.e. gold). The results indicate that NTA is a complementary method to existing approaches to characterise the fate and behaviour of ENPs in natural sediment.