Sorption–desorption of imidacloprid onto a lacustrine Egyptian soil and its clay and humic acid fractions

Sorption–desorption of the insecticide imidacloprid 1-[(6-chloro-3-pyridinyl)-methyl]-N-nitro-2-imidazolidinimine onto a lacustrine sandy clay loam Egyptian soil and its clay and humic acid (HA) fractions was investigated in 24-h batch equilibrium experiments. Imidacloprid (IMDA) sorption–desorption isotherms onto the three sorbents were found to belong to a non-linear L-type and were best described by the Freundlich model. The value of the IMDA adsorption distribution coefficient, Kd_ads, varied according to its initial concentration and was ranged 40–84 for HA, 14–58 for clay and 1.85–4.15 for bulk soil. Freundlich sorption coefficient, Kf_ads, values were 63.0, 39.7 and 4.0 for HA, clay and bulk soil, respectively. The normalized soil Koc value for imidacloprid sorption was ～800 indicating its slight mobility in soils. Nonlinear sorption isotherms were indicated by 1/n_ads values <1 for all sorbents. Values of the hysteresis index (H) were <1, indicating the irreversibility of imidacloprid sorption process with all tested sorbents. Gibbs free energy (ΔG) values indicated a spontaneous and physicosorption process for IMDA and a more favorable sorption to HA than clay and soil. In conclusion, although the humic acid fraction showed the highest capacity and affinity for imidacloprid sorption, the clay fraction contributed to approximately 95% of soil-sorbed insecticide. Clay and humic acid fractions were found to be the major two factors controlling IMDA sorption in soils. The slight mobility of IMDA in soils and the hysteresis phenomenon associated with the irreversibility of its sorption onto, mainly, clay and organic matter of soils make its leachability unlikely to occur.     

Growth Inhibition by Nitrocompounds of Selected Uric Acid-Utilizing Microorganisms Isolated from Poultry Manure

The overall objective of this study was to evaluate the potential ability of nitrocompounds to reduce ammonia volatilization by inhibiting uric acid–utilizing microorganisms. Experiment I was conducted to evaluate the effects of nitrocompounds on the growth of uric acid–utilizing microorganisms isolated from poultry manure during six-hour incubation. There were five treatments: (1) control, (2) 50 mM nitroethane, (3) 50 mM nitroethanol, (4) 50 mM nitropropanol, and (5) 50 mM nitropropionic acid. Optical density values of nitrocompounds were significantly lower than that of control at two, four, and six hours. Plate counts of uric acid–utilizing microorganisms after six-hour incubation exhibited that nitrocompounds greatly reduced the growth of these microorganisms except for the nitroethane (P < 0.05). The nitropropanol and nitropropionic acid treatments showed significantly higher inhibitory effects compared to the nitroethanol. Experiments II and III were conducted to evaluate inhibitory effects of nitrocompounds on growth of uric acid–utilizing microorganisms compared to non-nitrocompounds such as ethanol, propanol, and propionic acid. Experiments II and III consisted of seven treatments: (1) control, (2) nitroethanol, (3) nitropropanol, (4) nitropropionic acid, (5) ethanol, (6) propanol, and (7) propionic acid. The incubation times of Experiments II and III were 6 and 24 h, respectively. The nitrocompounds were significantly more successful in inhibiting growth of uric acid–utilizing microorganisms compared to those non-nitrocompounds. These results suggest that nitrocompounds exhibit potential to reduce ammonia volatilization in poultry manure by inhibiting growth of uric acid–utilizing microorganisms.     

Adsorption of chlorpyrifos,penconazole and metalaxyl from aqueous solution by modified clays

Sorption of three pesticides (chlorpyrifos, metalaxyl and penconazole) has been measured on a commercial clay montmorillonite and on the same mineral modified with either of two cationic-surfactant micelles. Both micelle–clay complexes, commercial names Cloisite 20A and Cloisite 30B, showed a good capacity to sorb all three pesticides from water, whereas their sorption on the natural montmorillonite was not described by an isotherm. Modelling sorption on both micelle–clay complexes showed that the Freundlich sorption constant (K _F) was higher for chlorpyrifos on Cloisite 20A (K _F = 7.76) than on Cloisite 30B (K _F = 5.91), whereas the sorption of metalaxyl was stronger on Cloisite 30B (K _F = 1.07) than on Cloisite 20A (K _F = 0.57). Moreover the micelle–clay complex Cloisite 20A also showed a good affinity for penconazole, the maximum quantity adsorbed (q _m) of 6.33 mg g^?1 being 45% more than that on Cloisite 30B. Single-batch adsorption of each pesticide onto both micelle–clay complexes was studied using the Freundlich isotherm for chlorpyrifos and metalaxyl and the Langmuir isotherm for penconazole. The Cloisite 20A micelle–clay complex was predicted to require 23% less adsorbent to treat certain volumes of wastewater containing 30 mg L^?1 chlorpyrifos, 43% more to treat metalaxyl similarly and 57% less to treat penconazole compared with Cloisite 30B.     

氯消毒新工艺对大肠杆菌灭活作用的研究

研究了短时游离氯后转氯胺的联合消毒方法对大肠杆菌的灭活作用，并对其协同作用以及pH值和温度对协同作用的影响进行了探讨。结果表明：pH值在6．5～8范围内，温度不超过30℃时，短时游离氯后转氯胺的消毒方法对大肠杆菌的灭活具有协同作用，且随pH值的降低而加强，在低温下该方法的协同效果更加明显。     

不同改性多壁碳纳米管对Cr3+的吸附性能

通过催化裂解法制备多壁碳纳米管,利用不同化学试剂对多壁碳纳米管改性,研究了不同化学改性对多壁碳纳米管表面物理化学特性的影响和Cr3＋的吸附特性。结果表明,所制备的多壁碳纳米管孔隙均匀,外径为30～50 nm,长度为0.5～2μm,经过不同化学改性表面有效地引入了含氧基团。未改性、H2SO4、HNO3、H2SO4-HNO3改性碳纳米管对Cr3＋的吸附动力学均符合Langergren模型;吸附等温线均符合Freundlich模型。温度和pH升高均有利于改性多壁碳纳米管对Cr3＋的吸附。     

核桃壳粉对水溶液中Pb2＋的吸附

实验通过间歇吸附方式研究了核桃壳粉对水溶液中Pb^2＋的吸附特性，探讨了核桃壳粉粒径及用量、溶液pH、Pb^2＋初始浓度等参数对吸附的影响，并讨论了吸附过程的热力学和动力学特征。结果表明，核桃壳粉对Pb^2＋吸附的最佳pH为5．0，去除率随吸附剂粒径的减小、用量的增加、Pb^2＋初始浓度的减小而增加。优化实验条件下，0～0．3mm15g／L的吸附剂在298K时，对pH=5的50mL50mg／LPb^2＋溶液的去除率达96．98％。核桃壳粉对Pb^2＋的吸附等温线符合Sips模型，在283、293和303K的最大吸附量分别为18．25、18．27和20．94mg／g。吸附过程是放热的、混乱度减小的自发过程，且符合准二级动力学模型。吸附速率常数随温度升高而减小，在293和303K时分别在90和120min基本达到平衡。结合FTIR和SEM手段发现核桃壳对Pb^2＋的吸附以物理吸附为主，同时包括离子交换、螯合等化学吸附以及颗粒内扩散步骤，是一个复杂的过程。     

毛木耳产漆酶发酵条件的研究

以毛木耳为产酶菌，以CMC为唯一碳源，探讨了不同培养条件对毛木耳产漆酶的影响。结果表明，在最适温度为27℃、pH值为6．0、接种量为10％、装液量为90mL／250mL、摇床转速为180rpm、培养天数为6d时，产酶活力最大。以各个因子的最佳梯度做优化培养，发酵液中的漆酶活力高达70．76IU／mL。     

絮凝剂PAN-DCD与甲基橙相互作用中的热力学研究

用平衡渗析法研究了有机高分子絮凝剂ＰＡＮ－ＤＣＤ与甲基橙（ＭＯ）在２０，２５，３０，３５℃下相互作用的热力学，求得结合常数Ｋ和热力学参数△Ｇ，△Ｈ，△Ｓ，在对不同絮凝剂结构进行表征的基础上，探讨了不同ＰＡＮ，ＤＣＤ配比对合成的絮凝剂与ＭＯ相互作用的影响，结果表明：ＰＡＮ－ＤＣＤ与ＭＯ的相互作用中能量作用是主要的：随ＰＡＮ与ＤＣＤ的比值增大，合成的絮凝剂ＰＤ１，ＰＤ２，ＰＤ３在常温下与ＭＯ的结合程试     

Chemical composition of the slippery epicuticular wax blooms on Macaranga (Euphorbiaceae) ant-plants

Summary. The stems of many Macaranga ant-plants (Euphorbiaceae) are covered by epicuticular wax crystals rendering the surface very slippery for most insects. These wax blooms act as selective barriers protecting the symbiotic ant partners, which are specialized “wax-runners”, against the competition of other ants. Glaucous stems occur almost exclusively among the ant-plants of the genus Macaranga (). We analyzed the cuticular lipids of 16 Macaranga species by GC-MS and investigated the wax crystal morphology using SEM. Presence of crystalline wax blooms was strongly correlated with high concentrations (52%–88%) of triterpenoids. In contrast epicuticular waxes of glossy Macaranga surfaces contained only 0% to 36% of these dominant components. Therefore we conclude that triterpenoids are responsible for the formation of the thread-like Macaranga wax crystals. In all Macaranga ant-plants investigated, the principal components were epitaraxerol and taraxerone accompanied by smaller portions of taraxerol, β-amyrin and friedelin. Only in the case of the non-myrmecophytic M. tanarius did β-amyrin predominate. Moreover, we found that only in M. tanarius, the dense wax crystal lacework is torn into large mosaic-like pieces in the course of secondary stem diameter growth. Both chemical and macroscopic differences may contribute to a reduced slipperiness of M. tanarius stems and appear to be functionally important. The distribution of wax crystals and their composition amongst different sections of the genus suggests that glaucousness is a polyphyletic character within Macaranga. Received 7 October 1999; accepted 3 December 1999