NO2 catalytic formation,consumption, and efflux in various types of diesel particulate filter

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The high NO2/NOX ratio in the after-treatment system is beneficial to its performance and achieved by NO catalytic conversion in diesel oxidation...     

三门峡水库水体中不同形态汞的分布特征

为了解三门峡水库水体中不同形态汞的分布特征,在丰水期和枯水期对三门峡水库进行采样,分别采用冷原子荧光光谱法(CVAFS)和蒸馏-乙基化衍生-气相色谱-冷原子荧光法(GC-CVAFS)测定水样中总汞、总甲基汞、溶解态总汞和溶解态甲基汞的浓度.结果表明,三门峡水库水体中总汞、溶解态汞和颗粒态汞浓度范围分别为1.65~9.65、0.80~3.16和0.70~7.81 ng·L~(-1),符合国家地表水环境质量标准(GB 3838-2002)一类水汞浓度标准限值;总甲基汞、溶解态甲基汞和颗粒态甲基汞浓度分别为0.05~0.36、0.02~0.14和ND~0.26 ng·L~(-1).三门峡水库水体总汞和甲基汞在季节和空间分布上没有呈现出明显的变化规律.总汞和甲基汞与未受污染的天然水体差别不大,水库未受到明显的汞污染.丰、枯水期沉积物中总汞浓度分别为(92.96±10.65)ng·g~(-1)和(80.06±19.14)ng·g~(-1),甲基汞浓度分别为(0.33±0.14)ng·g~(-1)和(0.50±0.19)ng·g~(-1).较低的甲基汞浓度说明在三门峡水库汞的迁移转化过程中,甲基化作用可能并非主要的过程,这可能与水体底层溶解氧浓度较高以及沉积物中有机质浓度较低有关.     

Re-evaluation of thyroid hormone signaling antagonism of tetrabromobisphenol A for validating the T3-induced Xenopus metamorphosis assay

We developed the T3-induced Xenopus metamorphosis assay, which is supposed to be able to sensitively detect thyroid hormone(TH) signaling disruption of chemicals. The present study aimed to validate the T3-induced Xenopus metamorphosis assay by re-evaluating the TH signaling antagonism of tetrabromobisphenol A(TBBPA), a known TH signaling disruptor. According to the assay we developed, Xenopus tadpoles at stage 52 were exposed to 10–500 nmol/L TBBPA in the presence of 1 nmol/L T3. After 96 hr of exposure, TBBPA in the range of 10–500 nmol/L was found to significantly inhibit T3-induced morphological changes of Xenopus tadpoles in a concentration-dependent manner in term of body weight and four morphological endpoints including head area(HA), mouth width(MW), unilateral brain width/brain length(ULBW/BL), and hind-limb length/snout-vent length(HLL/SVL).The results show that these endpoints we developed are sensitive for characterizing the antagonistic effects of TBBPA on T3-induced metamorphosis. Following a 24-hr exposure,we found that TBBPA antagonized expression of T3-induced TH-response genes in the tail,which is consistent with previous findings in the intestine. We propose that the tail can be used as an alternative tissue to the intestine for examining molecular endpoints for evaluating TH signaling disruption. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that the T3-induced Xenopus metamorphosis assay we developed is an ideal in vivo assay for detecting TH signaling disruption.     

Performance of low temperature Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) catalyzed by mixed bacterial consortia

Microbial Fuel Cells(MFCs) are a promising technology for treating wastewater in a sustainable manner. In potential applications, low temperatures substantially reduce MFC performance. To better understand the effect of temperature and particularly how bioanodes respond to changes in temperature, we investigated the current generation of mixed-culture and pure-culture MFCs at two low temperatures, 10°C and 5°C. The results implied that the mixed-culture MFC sustainably performed better than the pure-culture(Shewanella) MFC at 10°C, but the electrogenic activity of anodic bacteria was substantially reduced at the lower temperature of 5°C. At 10°C, the maximum output voltage generated with the mixed-culture was 540–560 m V, which was 10%–15% higher than that of Shewanella MFCs. The maximum power density reached 465.3 ± 5.8 m W/m~2 for the mixed-culture at10°C, while only 68.7 ± 3.7 m W/m~2 was achieved with the pure-culture. It was shown that the anodic biofilm of the mixed-culture MFC had a lower overpotential and resistance than the pure-culture MFC. Phylogenetic analysis disclosed the prevalence of Geobacter and Pseudomonas rather than Shewanella in the mixed-culture anodic biofilm, which mitigated the increase of resistance or overpotential at low temperatures.     

Pseudomonas sp. ZXY-1, a newly isolated and highly efficient atrazine-degrading bacterium, and optimization of biodegradation using response surface methodology

Atrazine, a widely used herbicide, is increasing the agricultural production effectively, while also causing great environmental concern. Efficient atrazine-degrading bacterium is necessary to removal atrazine rapidly to keep a safe environment. In the present study, a new atrazine-degrading strain ZXY-1, identified as Pseudomonas, was isolated. This new isolated strain has a strong ability to biodegrade atrazine with a high efficiency of 9.09 mg/L/hr.Temperature, p H, inoculum size and initial atrazine concentration were examined to further optimize the degradation of atrazine, and the synthetic effect of these factors were investigated by the response surface methodology. With a high quadratic polynomial mathematical model(R~2= 0.9821) being obtained, the highest biodegradation efficiency of 19.03 mg/L/hr was reached compared to previous reports under the optimal conditions(30.71°C, pH 7.14, 4.23%(V/V) inoculum size and 157.1 mg/L initial atrazine concentration).Overall, this study provided an efficient bacterium and approach that could be potentially useful for the bioremediation of wastewater containing atrazine.     

Shifts in microbial community structure and diversity in a MBR combined with worm reactors treating synthetic wastewater

The chemical oxygen demand (COD) and NH₃-N removal, membrane fouling, sludge characteristics and microbial community structure in a membrane bioreactor (MBR) coupled with worm reactors (SSBWR) were evaluated for 210 days. The obtained results were compared to those from a conventional MBR (C-MBR) operated in parallel. The results indicated that the combined MBR (S-MBR) achieved higher COD and NH₃-N removal efficiency, slower increase in membrane fouling, better sludge settleability and higher activities of the related enzymes in the activated sludge. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis was used to analyze the microbial community structures in the C-MBR and the S-MBR. The microbial community structure in the S-MBR was more diverse than that in the C-MBR. Additionally, the slow-growing microbes such as Saprospiraceae, Actinomyces, Frankia, Clostridium, Comamonas, Pseudomonas, Dechloromonas and Flavobacterium were enriched in the S-MBR, further accounting for the sludge reduction, membrane fouling alleviation and wastewater treatment.     

Performance and microbial community of a membrane bioreactor system——Treating wastewater from ethanol fermentation of food waste

In this study, a lab-scale biological anaerobic/anaerobic/anoxic/membrane bioreactor(A_-~3MBR) was designed to treat wastewater from the ethanol fermentation of food waste,a promising way for the disposal of food waste and reclamation of resources. The 454 pyrosequencing technique was used to investigate the composition of the microbial community in the treatment system. The system yielded a stable effluent concentration of chemical oxygen demand(202 ± 23 mg/L), total nitrogen(62.1 ± 7.1 mg/L), ammonia(0.3 ±0.13 mg/L) and total phosphorus(8.3 ± 0.9 mg/L), and the reactors played different roles in specific pollutant removal. The exploration of the microbial community in the system revealed that:(1) the microbial diversity of anaerobic reactors A_1 and A_2, in which organic pollutants were massively degraded, was much higher than that in anoxic A_3 and aerobic MBR;(2) although the community composition in each reactor was quite different, bacteria assigned to the classes Clostridia, Bacteroidia, and Synergistia were important and common microorganisms for organic pollutant degradation in the anaerobic units, and bacteria from Alphaproteobacteria and Betaproteobacteria were the dominant microbial population in A_3 and MBR;(3) the taxon identification indicated that Arcobacter in the anaerobic reactors and Thauera in the anoxic reactor were two representative genera in the biological process. Our results proved that the biological A_-~3MBR process is an alternative technique for treating wastewater from food waste.     

Simultaneous removal of Cu(II) and Cr(VI) by Mg–Al–Cl layered double hydroxide and mechanism insight

Mg–Al–Cl layered double hydroxide (Cl-LDH) was prepared to simultaneously remove Cu(II) and Cr(VI) from aqueous solution. The coexisting Cu(II) (20 mg/L) and Cr(VI) (40 mg/L) were completely removed within 30 min by Cl-LDH in a dosage of 2.0 g/L; the removal rate of Cu(II) was accelerated in the presence of Cr(VI). Moreover, compared with the adsorption of single Cu(II) or Cr(VI), the adsorption capacities of Cl-LDH for Cu(II) and Cr(VI) can be improved by 81.05% and 49.56%, respectively, in the case of coexisting Cu(II) (200 mg/L) and Cr(VI) (400 mg/L). The affecting factors (such as solution initial pH, adsorbent dosage, and contact time) have been systematically investigated. Besides, the changes of pH values and the concentrations of Mg²⁺ and Al³⁺ in relevant solutions were monitored. To get the underlying mechanism, the Cl-LDH samples before and after adsorption were thoroughly characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. On the basis of these analyses, a possible mechanism was proposed. The coadsorption process involves anion exchange of Cr(VI) with Cl⁻ in Cl-LDH interlayer, isomorphic substitution of Mg²⁺ with Cu²⁺, formation of Cu₂Cl(OH)₃ precipitation, and the adsorption of Cr(VI) by Cu₂Cl(OH)₃. This work provides a new insight into simultaneous removal of heavy metal cations and anions from wastewater by Cl-LDH.     

Research on the degradation mechanism of pyridine in drinking water by dielectric barrier discharge

Pyridine, an important chemical raw material, is widely used in industry, for example in textiles,leather, printing, dyeing, etc. In this research, a dielectric barrier discharge(DBD) system was developed to remove pyridine, as a representative type of nitrogen heterocyclic compound in drinking water. First, the influence of the active species inhibitors tertiary butanol alcohol(TBA),HCO_3~-, and CO_3~(2-)on the degradation rate of pyridine was investigated to verify the existence of active species produced by the strong ionization discharge in the system. The intermediate and final products generated in the degradation process of pyridine were confirmed and analyzed through a series of analytical techniques, including liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry(LC–MS), high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC), ion chromatography(IC), total organic carbon(TOC) analysis, ultraviolet(UV) spectroscopy, etc. The results showed that the degradation of pyridine was mainly due to the strong oxidizing power of ozone and hydroxyl radical produced by the DBD system. Several intermediate products including 3-hydroxyl pyridine, fumaric acid, 2, 3-dihydroxypyridine, and oxalic acid were detected. Nitrogen was removed from the pyridine molecule to form nitrate. Through analysis of the degradation mechanism of pyridine, the oxidation pathway was deduced. The study provided a theoretical and experimental basis for the application of DBD strong ionization discharge in treatment of nitrogen heterocyclic compounds in drinking water.     

Assessment of the maximum allowed acid deposition load at current stage in China

Soil acidification caused by acid deposition has been significant in some forests in southern China. We present an approach for assessing the current stage maximum allowed load (SML) of acid deposition for terrestrial system in the country. The main idea was that soil base cation exchange as a finite buffer to acidity was included in the soil acidity mass balance calculation at current acidification stage. We calculated the SML for five forests in southern China. The usual critical loads for the same forests were also calculated by the steady state mass balance model for comparison. The results showed that the SML is a more tolerant limit than the critical load for the forests with soils not acidified seriously at current stage. However, the SML become a more stringent limit to acid deposition when the forest soils have acidified seriously to very low base cation saturation. In this case the SML assessment is beneficial for the soils recovering from a serious acidified state. Based on a national scale database, the SML mapping for non-agricultural soil system in China was carried out.