Catalytic degradation of toxic organic dye using an aluminum-doped Cu0.4Zn0.6-xAlxFe2O4 (x = 0.0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6) spinel ferrite in a photo-Fenton system

Catalytic activity of spinel ferrite in breaking down toxic dye materials are promising due to their uniqueness. In this study, aluminum-doped copper zinc ferrite, Cu_0.4Zn_0.6-xAl_xFe₂O₄ (x = 0.0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6), a catalyst for toxic dye degradation is synthesized through chemical co-precipitation route. The formation of the spinel ferrite catalyst is initially confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectra, which shows the frequency of metal-oxygen bond vibration at 539 and 427 cm⁻¹ attributed to the tetrahedral and octahedral sites respectively. Higher intensity sharp peak of X-ray diffraction for (311) plane is the evidence for the phase purity and the formation of spinel ferrite. The crystallite size is found to decrease with the increase of Al³⁺ ion. The surface structure of the obtained particles is investigated using a scanning electron microscope. Analyses of the material's magnetic characteristics using a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) revealed that it is, in fact, a soft magnet, as evidenced by the loop of its hysteresis, which is narrow. The catalytic degradation of methylene blue dye under the mechanism of the photo-Fenton process is studied with the obtained spinel ferrites and the result is found to be as high as 96.5%. The process follows pseudo-second order kinetics and the Langmuir isotherm.     

Evaluation of photolysis and hydrolysis of pyraclostrobin in aqueous solutions and its degradation products in paddy water

This study evaluated the hydrolysis and photolysis kinetics of pyraclostrobin in an aqueous solution using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography–photodiode array detection and identified the resulting metabolites of pyraclostrobin by hydrolysis and photolysis in paddy water using high-resolution mass spectrometry coupled with liquid chromatography. The effect of solution pH, metal ions and surfactants on the hydrolysis of pyraclostrobin was explored. The hydrolysis half-lives of pyraclostrobin were 23.1–115.5?days and were stable in buffer solution at pH 5.0. The degradation rate of pyraclostrobin in an aqueous solution under sunlight was slower than that under UV photolysis reaction. The half-lives of pyraclostrobin in a buffer solution at pH 5.0, 7.0, 9.0 and in paddy water were less than 12?h under the two light irradiation types. The metabolites of the two processes were identified and compared to further understand the mechanisms underlying hydrolysis and photolysis of pyraclostrobin in natural water. The extracted ions obtained from paddy water were automatically annotated by Compound Discoverer software with manual confirmation of their fragments. Two metabolites were detected and identified in the pyraclostrobin hydrolysis, whereas three metabolites were detected and identified in the photolysis in paddy water.     

废旧硬质聚氨酯泡沫塑料的木质素改性及再生

采用含有二乙二醇(DEG)和乙醇胺(ETA)的双组分解交联剂降解废旧硬质聚氨酯泡沫塑料(PU硬泡),并利用降解得到的低聚物多元醇与木质素复合制备出性能增强的再生PU硬泡。通过对制备的再生PU硬泡的红外光谱、密度、吸水率、抗压强度、热稳定性、导热系数、热重曲线等进行分析测试,考察m(DEG)∶m(ETA)对再生PU硬泡性能的影响。实验结果表明:m(DEG)∶m(ETA)=1∶3时废旧PU硬泡的降解效果最好;木质素加入量为2.0%(w)时再生PU硬泡的密度低、抗压强度高、保温性能良好,达到国家标准《建筑绝热用硬质聚氨酯泡沫塑料》(GB/T 21558—2008)的品质要求。     

浮桥河水库浮游植物的多样性及其演变

1997年4月至1998年1月对浮桥河水库浮游植物状况进行了调查,结果表明:该水库常见浮游植物约189种,隶属于8门92属,其中硅藻门25属64种,绿藻门39属79种,蓝藻门17属30种,甲藻门、隐藻门、裸藻门、黄藻门及金藻门种类较少。其个体密度年平均为44.9×104ind/L;生物量年平均为6.439mg/L,其中蓝藻占33.37%,硅藻和绿藻分别占20.68%和20.16%,甲藻占16.31%。浮游植物现存量的季节变化表现为从春季开始平稳上升,至秋季达到最大值。蓝藻、硅藻、绿藻等主要种类的季节变化按生物量大小依次为:秋季夏季春季冬季。浮游植物现存量的水平分布为上游最高,中游次之,下游最低,库汊低于中游而略高于下游。群落的相似性表现为上、中游相近,下游和库汊相近。群落的物种多样性根据计算Shannon-Weiner指数为上游最大,其次为中游,下游再次,库汊最低。与1980年的调查结果相比较,浮桥河水库浮游植物种类小型化明显,生物量增加2.5倍。     

Dynamics and Causation of Environmental Equity, Locally Unwanted Land Uses, and Neighborhood Changes

/ Why are some environmental risks distributed disproportionately in the neighborhoods of the minorities and the poor? A hypothesis was proposed in a recent study that market dynamics contributed to the current environmental inequity. That is, locally unwanted land uses (LULUs) make the host communities home to more poor people and people of color. This hypothesis was allegedly supported by a Houston case study, whereby its author analyzed the postsiting changes of the socioeconomic characteristics of the neighborhoods surrounding solid waste facilities. I argue that such an analysis of postsiting changes alone is insufficient to test the causation hypothesis. Instead, I propose a conceptual framework for analysis of environmental equity dynamics and causation. I suggest that the presiting neighborhood dynamics and the characteristics of control neighborhoods be analyzed as the first test for the causation hypothesis. Furthermore, I present theories of neighborhood change and then examine alternative hypotheses that these theories offer for explaining neighborhood changes and for the roles of LULUs in neighborhood changes. These alternative hypotheses should be examined when analyzing the relationship between LULUs and neighborhood changes in a metropolitan area. Using this framework of analysis, I revisited the Houston case. First, I found no evidence that provided support for the hypothesis that the presence of LULUs made the neighborhoods home to more blacks and poor people, contrary to the conclusion made by the previous study. Second, I examined alternative hypotheses for explaining neighborhood changes-invasion-succession, other push forces, and neighborhood life-cycle; the former two might offer better explanation.KEY WORDS: Environmental equity and justice; Locally unwanted lane uses; Siting; Market dynamics; Invasion-succession; Neighborhood changes     

蚯蚓对城镇污泥堆肥过程中微型动物群落演替的影响

采用实验对比和除趋势对应分析（DCA）等方法,以城镇污泥中的微型动物为对象,研究蚯蚓对堆肥过程微型动物群落演替的影响.结果表明,蚯蚓仅影响微型动物群落数量,对演替进程无明显影响.堆肥过程微型动物群落演替可分为3个阶段：第1阶段（0~10 d）,固着类纤毛虫为优势类群阶段,该阶段微型动物变化多受限于环境的改变,蚯蚓影响较小;第2阶段（10~30 d）,固着类纤毛虫和轮虫向肉足虫和线虫为优势类群的过渡阶段,该阶段蚯蚓对线虫数量有一定的限制;第3阶段（30 d后）,肉足虫和线虫为优势类群阶段,该阶段蚯蚓对有壳肉足虫的增长产生了明显的抑制作用.群落多样性指数结果显示,蚯蚓在第1和第2阶段作用不明显,在第3阶段增加了微型动物的多样性和均匀度,减小了优势物种的优势程度.对固着类纤毛虫的同化作用是蚯蚓稳定堆肥环境、促进有机质降解的重要因素.     

二溴硝基甲烷在紫外光照条件下的光降解

以二溴硝基甲烷为研究,采用单一控制变量法研究了光照强度、初始物浓度、自由氯、溴离子、pH值等影响因子对二溴硝基甲烷光降解的影响,探讨了二溴硝基甲烷的光降解动力学规律.结果表明：二溴硝基甲烷在紫外光条件下的降解遵循一级反应动力学规律,其光降解效率随二溴硝基甲烷初始浓度的增加而减小,随光照强度和pH值增加而增加;溴离子的存在能促进二溴硝基甲烷的光降解;添加自由氯能够显著加快二溴硝基甲烷的光降解效率,并且会使二溴硝基甲烷在光降解的过程中转化为以一溴一氯硝基甲烷为主的其他卤代硝基甲烷.此研究结果可为水处理过程中控制二溴硝基甲烷的形成、降低水质安全风险提供参考.     

Effect of substituents in hydroxyl radical-mediated degradation of azo pyridone dyes: Theoretical approaches on the reaction mechanism

Understanding the degradation behavior of azo dyes in photocatalytic wastewater treatment is of fundamental and practical importance for their application in textile-processing and other coloration industries. In this study, quantum chemistry, as density functional theory, was used to elucidate different degradation pathways of azo pyridone dyes in a hydroxyl radical (HO^?)-initiated photocatalytic system. A series of substituted azo pyridone dyes were synthesized by changing the substituent group in the para position of the benzene moiety, ranging from strong electron-donating to strong electron-withdrawing groups. The effect of dye molecular structure on the photocatalytic degradation reaction mechanism was analyzed and quantification of substituent effects on the thermodynamic and kinetics parameters was performed. Potential energy surface analysis revealed the most susceptible reaction site for the HO^? attack. The calculated reaction barriers are found to be strongly affected by the nature of substituent group with a good correlation using Hammett σ_p constants and experimentally determined reaction rates. The stability of pre-reaction complexes and transition state complexes were analyzed applying the distortion-interaction model. The increased stability of the transition state complexes with the distancing from the substituent group has been established.     

Plasmonic silver/silver oxide nanoparticles anchored bismuth vanadate as a novel visible-light ternary photocatalyst for degrading pharmaceutical micropollutants

The degradation of pharmaceutical micropollutants is an intensifying environmental problem and synthesis of efficient photocatalysts for this purpose is one of the foremost challenges worldwide. Therefore, this study was conducted to develop novel plasmonic Ag/Ag₂O/BiVO₄ nanocomposite photocatalysts by simple precipitation and thermal decomposition methods, which could exhibit higher photocatalytic activity for mineralized pharmaceutical micropollutants. Among the different treatments, the best performance was observed for the Ag/Ag₂O/BiVO₄ nanocomposites (5 wt.%; 10 min's visible light irradiation) which exhibited 6.57 times higher photodegradation rate than the pure BiVO₄. Further, the effects of different influencing factors on the photodegradation system of tetracycline hydrochloride (TC-HCl) were investigated and the feasibility for its practical application was explored through the specific light sources, water source and cycle experiments. The mechanistic study demonstrated that the photogenerated holes (h⁺), superoxide radicals (?O₂^?) and hydroxyl radicals (?OH) participated in TC-HCl removal process, which is different from the pure BiVO₄ reaction system. Hence, the present work can provide a new approach for the formation of novel plasmonic photocatalysts with high photoactivity and can act as effective practical application for environmental remediation.     

微生物菌剂对堆肥功能微生物重构的影响

堆肥产品不仅可以作为有机肥或土壤改良剂,还可以在包气带土层防护地下水污染的过程中起到微生物载体的作用.在堆肥中接种菌剂能够加速堆肥进程,促进堆肥材料的腐熟,但是也有研究认为接种剂与堆肥土著微生物的竞争会导致菌剂无法发挥作用.为了阐明菌剂与土著微生物之间的相互作用,采用宏蛋白质组学方法,分析餐厨垃圾堆肥接菌组（木质纤维素混合菌剂）和对照组（未接菌）中功能微生物群落和碳水化合物代谢途径的变化.结果表明:接菌组中假单胞菌目（Pseudomonadales）和散囊菌纲（Eurotiomycetes）菌群的相对丰度比对照组分别提高了12.5%和22.0%,成为优势细菌和真菌,二者在碳水化合物代谢活性上也成为优势菌群.菌剂主要是由芽孢杆菌目（Bacillales）和散囊菌纲的曲霉（Aspergillus）组成,曲霉因具有堆肥系统所需的木质纤维素分解能力而成为优势真菌,而菌剂中的芽孢杆菌虽然数量较多,但是缺乏堆肥系统所需的功能而无法成为优势细菌.餐厨垃圾中易降解物质分解过程中产生的有机酸会导致酸性环境,对照组中能够适应酸性环境的芽孢杆菌目和酵母菌纲（Saccharomycetes）是优势群落,添加菌剂后,堆肥系统中土著的假单胞菌目和散囊菌纲具有较高的碳水化合物代谢活性和多种有机酸转化通路,因此在与菌剂中的芽孢杆菌目和土著的芽孢杆菌及酵母菌的竞争中成为优势菌群.研究显示,外源菌剂与土著微生物之间以及各土著微生物之间都会发生竞争作用,能否成为优势菌群取决于是否适应堆肥底物新陈代谢的变化,因此只要选择好菌剂的功能和接种时机,菌剂就能够发挥原有的作用.