Enhanced photocatalytic activity of fish scale loaded TiO2 composites under solar light irradiation

Fish scale (FS) loaded TiO₂ composites were investigated as photocatalysts in degradation of Methyl Orange under solar light irradiation. Composites were prepared through sol-gel method by varying mass ratio of TiO₂/FS at 90:10, 70:30 and 50:50, respectively. The catalysts prepared in this study were characterized by using XRD, SEM, FT-IR and nitrogen sorption. The effects of solar irradiation, mass ratio of TiO₂/FS composites, irradiation time and catalyst loadings were studied. Synergistic effect was found in TiO₂/FS of 90:10 composite which performed higher photocatalytic degradation than synthesized TiO₂ under solar light irradiation. However, further increasing fish scale content in the composites reduced the photocatalytic activity drastically. Under solar light irradiation, all the catalysts in this study exhibited photocatalytic activity, except TiO₂/FS of 50:50 composite that only acted as a weak biosorbent without performing any photocatalytic property. Photocatalytic degradation increased with increasing catalyst loading and irradiation time but decreased with increased of initial dye concentration.     

Organic contaminates in water

Abstract

The carbon adsorption method was used for separating organic matter from large samples of drainage, river and tap water. The carbon chloroform extract (CCE) was separated into different solubility fractions and the neutral fraction was separated into aliphatic, aromatic and oxy‐compounds using column chromatography. The aromatic fraction was subjected to TLC, IR and UV analysis. The pesticide endrin was present in both river and tap water at concentrations of 0.7 and 1.5 ppb, respectively.     

Assessment of big floods in the Eastern Black Sea Basin of Turkey

In this study, general knowledge and some details of the floods in Eastern Black Sea Basin of Turkey are presented. Brief hydro-meteorological analysis of selected nine floods and detailed analysis of the greatest flood are given. In the studied area, 51 big floods have taken place between 1955–2005 years, causing 258 deaths and nearly US $500,000,000 of damage. Most of the floods have occurred in June, July and August. It is concluded that especially for the rainstorms that have caused significantly damages, the return periods of the rainfall heights and resultant flood discharges have gone up to 250 and 500 years, respectively. A general agreement is observed between the return periods of rains and resultant floods. It is concluded that there has been no significant climate change to cause increases in flood harms. The most important human factors to increase the damage are determined as wrong and illegal land use, deforestation and wrong urbanization and settlement, psychological and technical factors. Some structural and non-structural measures to mitigate flood damages are also included in the paper. Structural measures include dykes and flood levees. Main non-structural measures include flood warning system, modification of land use, watershed management and improvement, flood insurance, organization of flood management studies, coordination between related institutions and education of the people and informing of the stakeholders.     

Production of brown and black pigments by using flotation waste from copper slag.

One of the major problems in copper-producing countries is the treatment of the large amount of copper slag or copper flotation waste generated from copper slag which contains significant amounts of heavy metals such as Cu, Zn, Pb and Co. Dumping or disposal of such large quantities of flotation waste from copper slag causes environmental and space problems. In this study, the treatment of flotation waste from copper slag by a thermal method and its use as an iron source in the production of inorganic brown and black pigments that are used in the ceramic industry were investigated. The pigments were produced by calcining different amounts of flotation waste and chromite, Cr2O3, ZnO and CoO mixtures. The pigments obtained were added to transparent ceramic glazes and porcelainized tile bodies. Their colours were defined by L*a*b* measurements with a spectrophotometer. The results showed that flotation waste from copper slag could be used as an iron source to produce brown and black pigments in both ceramic body and glazes.     

Adaptation and validation of QuEChERS method for the analysis of trifluralin in wind-eroded soil

This study was carried out to develop and validate a reliable analytical procedure for trifluralin analysis in wind-eroded sediments. Soil sediments trapped in BEST sediment traps were subjected to QuEChERS extraction method, incorporating a simple simultaneous cleanup step, followed by trifluralin analysis with GC-ECD. Results revealed that QuEChERS method offered a potential alternative technique for pesticide extraction from soil samples. The validity of analytical method was performed by the method-performance criteria such as, recovery, LOD, LOQ repeatability, precision, and all found to be within the required limits. It was also observed in this study that herbicide concentrations in the wind-eroded sediment did not vary with the time and trap height. Trifluralin concentrations of surface soil after four erosion events were higher (626.05 μg/kg) than wind-eroded soil (450.08 μg/kg).     

Treatment of contaminated soil with phosphorus and manganese oxide reduces lead absorption by Sprague-Dawley rats

This study was conducted to determine the extent of Pb absorption into young rats (Rattus norvegicus var. Sprague-Dawley) fed untreated Pb-contaminated soil or Pb-contaminated soil treated with two different sources of P and P + Mn oxide. Data were compared from an in vitro, physiologically based extraction test (PBET) with the animal data to support the validity of the in vitro test to assess bioavailable Pb from a treated Pb-contaminated soil. Soil with a total Pb concentration of 2290 mg kg(-1) was used. Rats were fed 19 different test diets for 21 consecutive days. The test diets represented 95 g AIN93G rat meal kg(-1) diet with varying proportions of silica sand or soil to provide low, medium, or high doses of Pb from either Pb acetate, treated, or untreated soil. Blood, liver, kidney, and bone Pb concentrations were examined. For all four tissues, Pb concentrations for the Pb acetate groups were significantly higher than concentrations for all the soil groups. In general, either triple superphosphate (TSP) or phosphate rock (PR) treatments resulted in significant reductions in tissue Pb concentrations compared with untreated soil. Blood and kidney Pb concentrations for the PR + Mn oxide group were significantly lower than those of the PR group at the low and high doses. Relative bioavailability of Pb, as measured in all tissues, was significantly reduced when comparing untreated with amended soil. Correlation between the in vitro and in vivo tests, based on bone and liver tissue, showed that the in vitro test is successful at predicting Pb bioavailability.     

INLET CONCENTRATION TIME NOMOGRAM FOR URBAN BASINS1

ABSTRACT: A physically-based nomogram to determine inlet concentration times for composite developed basins is presented. This nomogram is constructed from previously derived kinematic wave formulations of both catchment and gutter flow components of surface runoff. With specified physical properties of a basin and rainfall intensity-duration relationships, the inlet time can be obtained from the nomogram directly.     

天山北坡城市群气溶胶光学特性时空分布特征

为探究天山北坡城市群大气气溶胶光学特性时空分布特征,本文利用卫星遥感MCD19-A2气溶胶产品分析了2000~2019年研究区气溶胶光学厚度（aerosol optical depth,AOD）时空分布特征及变化趋势,针对AOD较为稳定的2016~2019年,利用多波段太阳光度计地基遥感技术,对AOD及Angström波长指数（α）等参数进行特征分析.结果表明：①空间上,研究区AOD空间分布与地形呈现较好的一致性,高值现象主要分布在低海拔地区;AOD空间分布表现出较强烈季节变化,春季（0.15±0.03） > 秋季（0.14±0.03） > 夏季（0.14±0.02）;②时间上,2000~2019年间研究区AOD年均值为0.12,年增幅1.03%,整体呈现增加趋势;AOD月均值的年际变化表现为双峰型,5月和11月为第一峰值和第二峰值,自然尘源粉尘的释放和传输以及人类社会燃煤供暖是造成AOD增加的主要原因;③受沙尘天气的影响,春季AOD的变化幅度较为剧烈,气溶胶主控粒子粒径及变化幅度均大于夏季;研究区AOD高值主要受粗模态粒子气溶胶的影响,细模态粒子吸湿增长会引起AOD的波动,但不易导致AOD高值.     

Cleaner production of polyurethane (PU) foams through use of hydrodesulfurization (HDS) spent catalyst

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Due to the increased population in the urbanized areas, considerable attention is being paid on the development of energy-efficient buildings. In...     

Hydrogen production,storage, utilisation and environmental impacts: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Dihydrogen (H2), commonly named ‘hydrogen’, is increasingly recognised as a clean and reliable energy vector for decarbonisation and defossilisation by...