Temporal patterns of atmospheric mercury species in northern Mississippi during 2011–2012: Influence of sudden population swings

Gaseous elemental mercury (GEM), gaseous oxidized mercury (GOM) and particulate bound mercury (PBM) were measured on the University of Mississippi campus from July 2011 to June 2012. It is believed to be the first time that concentrations of atmospheric mercury species have been documented in northern Mississippi, and at a location with relatively large and sudden swings in population. The mean concentration (±1SD) of GEM was 1.54 ± 0.32 ng m⁻³; levels were lower and generally more stable during the winter (1.48 ± 0.22) and spring (1.46 ± 0.27) compared with the summer (1.56 ± 0.32) and fall (1.63 ± 0.42). Mean concentrations for GOM and PBM were 3.87 pg m⁻³ and 4.58 pg m⁻³, respectively; levels tended to be highest in the afternoon and lowest in the early morning hours. During the fall and spring academic semesters concentrations and variability of GOM and PBM both increased, possibly from vehicle exhaust. There were moderate negative correlations with wind speed (all species) and humidity (GOM and PBM). Backward air mass trajectory modeling for the ten highest peaks for each mercury species revealed that the majority of these events occurred from air masses that passed through the northern continental US region. Overall, this study illustrates the complexity of temporal fluctuations of airborne mercury species, even in a small town environment.     

Quantification of the interactions between Ca,Hg and extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) of sludge

The interactions between metals (Ca²⁺ and Hg²⁺) and extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) extracted from the aerobic and anaerobic sludge in wastewater treatment reactors were investigated using a combination of zeta potential measurement and 3-dimensional excitation–emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence spectroscopy with parallel factor (PARAFAC) analysis. Results show that Ca²⁺ had no substantial effects on the EEM fluorescence spectra of the EPS, but their zeta potentials increased with the increasing Ca²⁺ dosage. However, Hg²⁺ had a significant effect on the EEM fluorescence spectra of the EPS, while their zeta potentials seemed not to be affected by the dose of Hg²⁺. The interactions between Hg²⁺ and EPS were elucidated using the fluorescence quenching with PARAFAC analysis, while the interactions between Ca²⁺ and EPS were evaluated by the zeta potential technique. The binding constants for Hg²⁺ and EPS were two orders of magnitude higher than those for Ca²⁺ and EPS, suggesting that the binding mechanisms between Ca²⁺ and EPS were different from those between Hg²⁺ and EPS. The results might be useful for understanding the roles of EPS in bacterial self-protection against heavy metals and the aggregate formation mechanisms through ionic bridging interactions.     

Factors influencing on the bioaccessibility of polybrominated diphenyl ethers in size-specific dust from air conditioner filters

Size-specific concentrations and bioaccessibility of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in dust from air conditioner filters were measured, and the factors influencing the PBDE bioaccessibility were determined. Generally, the PBDE concentrations increased with decreasing dust particle size, and BDE209 (deca-BDE) was generally the predominant congener. The bioaccessibility ranged from 20.3% to 50.8% for tri- to hepta-BDEs, and from 5.1% to 13.9% for BDE209 in dust fractions of varied particle size. The bioaccessibility of most PBDE congeners decreased with increasing dust particle size. The way of being of PBDE (adsorbed to dust surface or incorporated into polymers) in dust significantly influenced the bioaccessibility. There was a significant negative correlation between the tri- to hepta-BDE bioaccessibility and organic matter (OM) contents in dust. Furthermore, tri- to hepta-BDE bioaccessibility increased with increasing polarity of OMs, while with decreasing aromaticity of OMs. The tri- to hepta-BDE bioaccessibility significantly positively correlated with the surface areas and pore volumes of dust. Using multiple linear regression analysis, it was found that the OM contents and pore volumes of dust were the most important factors to influence the tri- to hepta-BDE bioaccessibility and they could be used to estimate the bioaccessibility of tri- to hepta-BDEs according to the following equation: bioaccessibility (%) = 45.05 − 0.49 × OM% + 1.79 × pore volume. However, BDE209 bioaccessibility did not correlate to any of these factors.     

Effects of nitrogen application rate and a nitrification inhibitor dicyandiamide on methanotroph abundance and methane uptake in a grazed pasture soil

Methane-oxidizing bacteria (methanotrophs) in the soil are a unique group of methylotrophic bacteria that utilize methane (CH₄) as their sole source of carbon and energy which limit the flux of methane to the atmosphere from soils and consume atmospheric methane. A field experiment was conducted to determine the effect of nitrogen application rates and the nitrification inhibitor dicyandiamide (DCD) on the abundance of methanotrophs and on methane flux in a grazed pasture soil. Nitrogen (N) was applied at four different rates, with urea applied at 50 and 100 kg N ha^?1 and animal urine at 300 and 600 kg N ha^?1. DCD was applied at 10 kg ha^?1. The results showed that both the DNA and selected mRNA copy numbers of the methanotroph pmoA gene were not affected by the application of urea, urine or DCD. The methanotroph DNA and mRNA pmoA gene copy numbers were low in this soil, below 7.13?×?10³ g^?1 soil and 3.75?×?10³ μg^?1 RNA, respectively. Daily CH₄ flux varied slightly among different treatments during the experimental period, ranging from ?12.89 g CH₄ ha^?1 day^?1 to ?0.83 g CH₄ ha^?1 day^?1, but no significant treatment effect was found. This study suggests that the application of urea fertilizer, animal urine returns and the use of the nitrification inhibitor DCD do not significantly affect soil methanotroph abundance or daily CH₄ fluxes in grazed grassland soils.     

碘掺杂Ti02可见光光催化性能研究

在低于100℃温度条件下,采用溶胶一凝胶法以钛酸正丁酯为钛源,碘酸钾为碘源,制备了I掺杂纳米TiO2催化剂（I-TiO2）,运用x-射线衍射（XRD）、透射电镜（TEM）及x-射线光电子能谱（XPS）等对催化剂进行表征,结果表明,TiO2及I-TiO2催化剂均为锐钛矿,I吸附并包裹在TiO2表面或以间隙进入的形式存在,并未进入TiO2晶格。通过在可见光照射下（A〉420nm）以罗丹明B（RhodamineB,RhB）的光催化降解为探针反应研究了在不同条件下制备催化剂的催化性能,结果表明,掺杂比为n1：n^ti=0．05：l,焙烧温度为400℃,降解介质条件pH=7时,l-TiO2光催化活性明显优于未掺杂的TiO2。光催化降解过程通过红外光谱（IR）,总有机碳（TOC）跟踪测定,比较了TiO2掺杂前后降解RhB和对氯苯酚（4-CP）的光催化特性差异;同时采用苯甲酸荧光光度法跟踪测定体系中的氧化物种,表明在可见光下,I-TiO2光催化体系中产生·OH高活性氧化物种从而氧化降解目标化合物。     

改性甘蔗渣对Cu^2＋和Zn^2＋的吸附机理

研究了均苯四甲酸二酐（PMDA）和乙二胺四乙酸二酐（EDTAD）改性甘蔗渣对重金属离子Cu^2＋和Zn^2＋的吸附性能,包括吸附动力学和吸附等温线。结果表明,改性后的甘蔗渣对重金属离子Cu^2＋和Zn^2＋的吸附容量有显著提高,对Cu^2＋和Zn^2＋吸附等温线均符合Langmuir方程,吸附为单分子层吸附。根据Langmuir方程,PMDA和EDTAD改性甘蔗渣对Cu^2＋的吸附量分别为60．21和33．45mg／g,对Zn^2＋的吸附量分别是70．53和36．53mg／g。两种改性甘蔗渣对两种金属离子的吸附在30min内均可完成,用准二级吸附动力学方程模拟动力学过程得到较好的线性相关性。以EDTA溶液为洗脱剂对吸附Cu^2＋和Zn^2＋的改性甘蔗渣进行洗脱再生,再生的吸附剂可反复使用。     

基于BP人工神经网络的城市PM2.5浓度空间预测

针对PM2.5日均质量浓度,采用BP人工神经网络模型,预测研究区空气中PM2.5浓度的空间变异,通过与普通克里格(Ordinary Kriging)插值方法对比验证BP人工神经网络预测模型的精度.结果表明:BP人工神经网络预测模型下研究区检验样本点位置的PM2.5仿真浓度与观测浓度之间的均方差、平均绝对误差、平均相对偏差和相关系数分别为0.296 μg2/m6、0.412 μg/m3、1.650％和0.851;而与此同时,普通克里格插值方法下的对应结果分别为1.041 μg2/m6、0.689 μg/m3、11.910％、0.638.研究成果在肯定BP人工神经网络预测模型可用于揭示PM2.5浓度空间变异特征的同时,也证实了其相对于普通克里格插值方法在固定空间点位准确预测PM2.5浓度方面的优势.     

钢渣掺量对泡沫混凝土砌块性能的影响

泡沫混凝土是一种环保、节能的保温隔热材料,以其优良的保温性能,受到越来越多研究者的关注。对钢渣的特性进行了分析测试,对钢渣不同掺量对泡沫混凝土砌块特性的影响进行了研究,结果表明,采用添加5％～35％钢渣所制备的钢渣泡沫混凝土砌块,其密度等级为JC／T1062—2007中的B10级,掺人5％、15％钢渣的泡沫混凝土抗压强度达到A3．5等级,掺人25％、35％钢渣的泡沫混凝土抗压强度达到A2．5等级。随着钢渣掺量的增大,抗压强度、抗折强度降低,吸水率增大。在同一钢渣掺量的情况下,泡沫混凝土砌块的抗压强度变化率增加显著,而且随着钢渣的加入量升高而增大。钢渣的加入有利于提高泡沫混凝土砌块的后期抗压强度。     

矿化垃圾床＋三维电极／电Fenton法处理老龄垃圾渗滤液

提出以二级矿化垃圾床为预处理单元,串联三维电极／电Fenton处理老龄垃圾渗滤液的组合工艺。矿化垃圾床处理后渗滤液中COD、氨氮、总磷、色度的去除率分别为80．55％、88．47％、98．32％和87．53％。通过单因素实验和正交实验,确定了三维电极／电Fenton法最佳工艺条件。经该组合工艺后,渗滤液中COD、氨氮、总磷和色度的最高去除率分别可达97．08％、95．24％、99．55％和96．92％,其中COD、总磷、色度这3个指标低于《生活垃圾填埋场污染控制标准》（GB16889．2008）表2规定的排放标准,为该组合工艺在实际中的应用提供重要理论依据。