Effects of SO2 and H2O on low-temperature NO conversion over F-V2O5-WO3/TiO2 catalysts

F-V_2 O_5-WO3/Ti02 catalysts were prepared by the impregnation method.As the content of F ions increased from 0.00 to 0.35 wt.%,the NO conversion of F-V_2 O_5-WO_3/TiO_2 catalysts initially increased and then decreased.The 0.2 F-V_2 O_5-WO_3/TiO_2 catalyst(0.2 wt.% F ion)exhibited the best denitration(De-NOx) performance,with more than 95% NO conversion in the temperature range 160-360℃,and 99.0% N2 selectivity between 110 and 280℃.The addition of an appropriate amount of F ions eroded the surface morphology of the catalyst and reduced its grain size,thus enhancing the NO conversion at low temperature as well as the sulfur and water resistance of the V_2 O_5-WO3/Ti02 catalyst.After selective catalytic reduction(SCR) reaction in a gas flow containing SO_2 and H_2 O,the number of NH3 adsorption sites,active component content,specific surface area and pore volume decreased to different degrees.Ammonium sulfate species deposited on the catalyst surface,which blocked part of the active sites and reduced the NO conversion performance of the catalyst.On-line thermal regeneration could not completely recover the catalyst activity,although it prolonged the cumulative life of the catalyst.In addition,a mechanism for the effects of S02 and H_2 O on catalyst NO conversion was proposed.     

Dynamic nano-Ag colloids cytotoxicity to and accumulation by Escherichia coli: Effects of Fe3+, ionic strength and humic acid

Released Ag ions or/and Ag particles are believed to contribute to the cytotoxicity of Ag nanomaterials, and thus, the cytotoxicity and mechanism of Ag nanomaterials should be dynamic in water due to unfixed Ag particle:Ag⁺ ratios. Our recent research found that the cytotoxicity of PVP-Ag nanoparticles is attributable to Ag particles alone in 3 hr bioassays, and shifts to both Ag particles and released Ag⁺ in 48 hr bioassays. Herein, as a continued study, the cytotoxicity and accumulation of 50 and 100 nm Ag colloids in Escherichia coli were determined dynamically. The cytotoxicity and mechanisms of nano-Ag colloids are dynamic throughout exposure and are derived from both Ag ions and particles. Ag accumulation by E. coli is derived mainly from extracellular Ag particles during the initial 12 hr of exposure, and thereafter mainly from intracellular Ag ions. Fe³⁺ accelerates the oxidative dissolution of nano-Ag colloids, which results in decreasing amounts of Ag particles and particle-related toxicity. Na⁺ stabilizes nano-Ag colloids, thereby decreasing the bioavailability of Ag particles and particle-related toxicity. Humic acid (HA) binds Ag⁺ to form Ag⁺-HA, decreasing ion-related toxicity and binding to the E. coli surface, decreasing particle-related toxicity. HA in complex conditions showed a stronger relative contribution to toxicity and accumulation than Na⁺ or Fe³⁺. The results highlighted the cytotoxicity and mechanism of nano-Ag colloids are dynamic and affected by environmental factors, and therefore exposure duration and water chemistry should be seriously considered in environmental and health risk assessments.     

Development of a static test apparatus for evaluating the performance of three PM2.5 separators commonly used in China

PM_(2.5) separator directly affects the accuracy of PM_(2.5) sampling.The specification testing and evaluation for PM_(2.5) separator is particularly important,especially under China's wide variation of terrain and climate.In this study,first a static test apparatus based on polydisperse aerosol was established and calibrated to evaluate the performance of the PM_(2.5) separators.A uniform mixing chamber was developed to make particles mix completely.The aerosol concentration relative standard deviations of three test points at the same horizontal chamber position were less than 0.57%,and the particle size distribution obeyed logarithmic normal distribution with an R~2 of 0.996.The flow rate deviation between the measurement and the set point flow rate agreed to within ± 1.0% in the range of -40 to 50℃.Secondly,the separation,flow and loading characteristics of three cyclone separators(VSCC-A,SCC-A and SCC112) were evaluated using this system.The results showed that the 50% cutoff sizes(D_(50)) of the three cyclones were 2.48,2.47 and 2.44 μm when worked at the manufacturer's recommended flow rates,respectively.The geometric standard deviation(GSD) of the capture efficiency of VSCCA was 1.23,showed a slightly sharper than SCC-A(GSD = 1.27),while the SCC112 did not meet the relevant indicator(GSD = 1.2 ± 0.1) with a GSD = 1.44.The flow rate and loading test had a great effect on D_(50),while the GSD remained almost the same as before.In addition,the maintenance frequency under different air pollution conditions of the cyclones was summarized according to the loading test.     

Effect of graphene oxide exposure on intestinal Wnt signaling in nematode Caenorhabditis elegans

Exposure to engineered nanomaterials(ENMs), such as graphene oxide(GO), can potentially induce the response of various molecular signaling pathways, which can mediate the protective function or the toxicity induction.Wnt signaling pathway is conserved evolutionarily in organisms.Using Caenorhabditis elegans as an in vivo assay model, we investigated the effect of GO exposure on intestinal Wnt signaling.In the intestine, GO exposure dysregulated Frizzled receptor MOM-5, Disheveled protein DSH-2, GSK-3(a component of APC complex), and two β-catenin proteins(BAR-1 and HMP-2), which mediated the induction of GO toxicity.In GO exposed nematodes, a Hox protein EGL-5 acted as a downstream target of BAR-1, and fatty acid transport ACS-22 acted as a downstream target of HMP-2.Functional analysis on HMP-2 and ACS-22 suggested that the dysregulation of these two proteins provides an important basis for the observed deficit in functional state of intestinal barrier.Our results imply the association of dysregulation in physiological and functional states of intestinal barrier with toxicity induction of GO in organisms.     

Effect of NOx and SO2 on the photooxidation of methylglyoxal: Implications in secondary aerosol formation

Methylglyoxal(CH_3COCHO,MG),which is one of the most abundant α-dicarbonyl compounds in the atmosphere,has been reported as a major source of secondary organic aerosol(SOA).In this work,the reaction of MG with hydroxyl radicals was studied in a 500 L smog chamber at(293±3) K,atmospheric pressure,(18±2)% relative humidity,and under different NOx and SO_2.Particle size distribution was measured by using a scanning mobility particle sizer(SMPS) and the results showed that the addition of SO_2 can promote SOA formation,while different NOx concentrations have different influences on SOA production.High NOx suppressed the SOA formation,whereas the particle mass concentration,particle number concentration and particle geometric mean diameter increased with the increasing NOx concentration at low NOx concentration in the presence of SO_2.In addition,the products of the OH-initiated oxidation of MG and the functional groups of the particle phase in the MG/OH/SO_2 and MG/OH/NOx/SO_2 reaction systems were detected by gas chromatography mass spectrometry(GC-MS) and attenuated total reflection fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy(ATR-FTIR) analysis.Two products,glyoxylic acid and oxalic acid,were detected by GC-MS.The mechanism of the reaction of MG and OH radicals that follows two main pathways,H atom abstraction and hydration,is proposed.Evidence is provided for the formation of organic nitrates and organic sulfate in particle phase from IR spectra.Incorporation of NOx and SO_2 influence suggested that SOA formation from anthropogenic hydrocarbons may be more efficient in polluted environment.     

Morphology-dependent interfacial interactions of Fe2O3 with Ag nanoparticles for determining the catalytic reduction of p-nitrophenol

In this work,we fabricated three kinds of Ag/Fe_2O_3 model catalysts with different morphologies to study the interfacial interactions between Ag and Fe_2O_3,and how they affected the catalytic activity in hydrogenation of p-nitrophenol was explored.The hydrothermal method was used to synthesize the metal oxide supported silver catalyst,with various morphologies including nanoplates(NPs),nanospheres(NSs),and nanocubes(NCs).The crystal structure,morphology and surface elements of the composite were investigated by various measurements,such as X-ray diffraction(XRD),scanning electron microscopy(SEM),transmission electron microscopy(TEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS).The catalytic activity was also evaluated by the reduction of p-nitrophenol to p-aminophenol.It was found that the activities of the above catalysts varied with the morphology of the support.Among them,Ag/Fe_2O_3 NPs promoted the highest performance,Ag/Fe_2O_3 NSs were slightly inferior,and Ag/Fe_2O_3 NCs were the worst.At last,we ascribed the remarkable activity of Ag/Fe_2O_3 NPs to the strong metal-support interactions between Ag and Fe_2O_3.     

UV/H2O2 oxidation of tri(2-chloroethyl) phosphate: Intermediate products, degradation pathway and toxicity evaluation

Tri(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP) with the initial concentration of 5 mg/L was degraded by UV/H₂O₂ oxidation process. The removal rate of TCEP in the UV/H₂O₂ system was 89.1% with the production of Cl^? and PO₄^3? of 0.23 and 0.64 mg/L. The removal rate of total organic carbon of the reaction was 48.8% and the pH reached 3.3 after the reaction. The oxidative degradation process of TCEP in the UV/H₂O₂ system obeyed the first order kinetic reaction with the apparent rate constant of 0.0025 min^?1 (R²=0.9788). The intermediate products were isolated and identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometer. The addition reaction of HO? and H₂O and the oxidation reaction with H₂O₂ were found during the degradation pathway of 5 mg/L TCEP in the UV/H₂O₂ system. For the first time, environment risk was estimated via the “ecological structure activity relationships” program and acute and chronic toxicity changes of intermediate products were pointed out. The luminescence inhibition rate of photobacterium was used to evaluate the acute toxicity of intermediate products. The results showed that the toxicity of the intermediate products increased with the increase of reaction time, which may be due to the production of chlorine compounds. Some measures should be introduced to the UV/H₂O₂ system to remove the highly toxic Cl-containing compounds, such as a nanofiltration or reverse osmosis unit.     

Will polycentric cities cause more CO2 emissions? A case study of 232 Chinese cities

From 2000 to 2010 China experienced rapid economic development and urbanization. Many cities in economically developed areas have developed from a single-center status to polycentricity. In this study, we used exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) to identify the population centers, which identified 232 cities in China as having urban centers. COMP was used to represent urban agglomeration, and POLYD (representing how far is the city's sub-centers to the main center), POLYC (representing the number of a city's centers), and POLYP (representing the population distributed between the main center and the sub-centers) were used to indicate urban polycentricity. Night light data were used to determine the CO₂ emissions from various cities in China. A mixed model was used to study the impact of urban aggregation and polycentric data on the CO₂ emission efficiency in 2000 and 2010. The study found that cities with higher compactness were distributed in coastal areas, and the cities with higher multicentricity were distributed in the Yangtze River Delta and Shandong Province. The more compact the city was, the less conducive it was to improving CO₂ emission efficiency. Polycentric development of the city was conducive to improving the CO₂ emission efficiency, but the number of urban centers had no significant relationship with the CO₂ emission efficiency. Our research showed that the compactness and multicentricity of the city had an impact on the CO₂ emission efficiency and provided some planning suggestions for the low carbon development of the city.     

Responses of nitrification performance, triclosan resistome and diversity of microbes to continuous triclosan stress in activated sludge system

Triclosan(TCS) is commonly found in wastewater treatment plants,which often affects biological treatment processes.The responses of nitrification,antibiotic resistome and microbial community under different TCS concentrations in activated sludge system were evaluated in this study.The experiment was conducted in a sequencing batch reactor(SBR)for 240 days.Quantitative PCR results demonstrated that the abundance of ammonium oxidizing bacteria could be temporarily inhibited by 1 mg/L TCS and then gradually recovered.And the abundances of nitrite oxidizing bacteria(NOB) under 2.5 and 4 mg/L TCS were three orders of magnitude lower than that of seed sludge,which accounted for partial nitrification.When the addition of TCS was stopped,the abundance of NOB increased.The mass balance experiments of TCS demonstrated that the primary removal pathway of TCS changed from adsorption to biodegradation as TCS was continuously added into the SBR system.Moreover,TCS increased the abundance of mexB,indicating the efflux pump might be the main TCS-resistance mechanism.As a response to TCS,bacteria could secrete more protein(PN) than polysaccharide.Three-dimensional excitation-emission matrix revealed that tryptophan PN-like substances might be the main component in PN to resist TCS.High-throughput sequencing found that the relative abundances of Paracoccus,Pseudoxanthomonas and Thauera increased,which could secrete extracellular polymeric substances(EPS).And Sphingopyxis might be the main TCS-degrading bacteria.Overall,TCS could cause partial nitrification and increase the relative abundances of EPS-secreting bacteria and TCS-degrading bacteria.