Effect of electrokinetic property of charged polyether sulfone membrane on bovine serum albumin fouling behavior

Negatively charged carboxymethylated polyethersulfone (CMPES) and positively charged quaternized polyethersulfone (QAPES) ultrafiltration (UF) membranes were prepared by bulk chemical modification and non-solvent induced phase separation method. The effects of PES membrane interfacial electrokinetic property on the bovine serum albumin (BSA) membrane fouling behavior were studied with the aid of the membrane-modified colloidal atomic force microscopy (AFM) probe. Electrokinetic test results indicated that the streaming potential (ΔE) of QAPES membrane was not consistent with its expected IEC value, however, within the pH range of 3–10, the ζ potentials of two charged-modified PES membranes were more stable than the unmodified membrane. When pH value was 3, 4.7 or 9, the interaction behavior between charged PES membrane and BSA showed that there was significant linear correlation between the jump distance r ₀ of membrane-BSA adhesion force (F/R) and the ζ potential absolute value. Charged modification significantly reduced the adhesion of PES membrane-BSA, and the adhesion data was good linear correlated with the flux decline rate in BSA filtration process, especially reflected in the CMPES membrane. The above experimental facts proved that the charged membrane interfacial electric double layer structure and its electrokinetic property had strong ties with the protein membrane fouling behavior.

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Distribution of polybrominated diphenyl ethers in breast milk,cord blood and placentas: a systematic review

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) have been extensively used as flame retardants in consumer products. PBDEs rapidly bioaccumulate in the environment, food, wild animals and humans. In this review, we investigated the harmful effects of PBDEs on humans, especially in early life, and summarised the levels of PBDEs in human biological samples (breast milk, cord blood and placentas). In addition, we described the spatiotemporal distribution of PBDEs in this review. PBDE levels in breast milk, cord blood and placentas were generally higher in North America than in other regions, such as Asia, Europe, Oceania and Africa. However, high levels of PBDEs in human biological samples were detected at e-waste recycling sites in South China, East China and South Korea. This finding suggests that newborns living in e-waste regions are exposed to high levels of PBDEs during prenatal and postnatal periods. The time trends of PBDE concentration differed according to the region. Few studies have investigated PBDE levels in humans from 1967 to 2000, but they increased rapidly after 2000. PBDE concentration peaked at approximately 2006 globally. Compared with other PBDE congeners, BDE-47, BDE-153 and BDE-209 were the major components, but the detection rate of BDE-209 was lower than those of others. Future studies should focus on determining the BDE-209 concentration, which requires the implementation of different analytical approaches. Additionally, the levels of PBDEs in human samples and the environment should be monitored, especially in e-waste recycling regions.

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Graphical abstract The figures described the spatial distribution of the lowest (Fig. a1) and highest concentration of ∑PBDE (Fig. a2) in different countries by 2006 and described the spatial distribution of the lowest (Fig. b1) and highest concentration of ∑PBDE (Fig. b2) in different countries from 2007 to 2015. All the figures indicated that the levels of PBDEs in North America were substantially higher than those in many regions of Europe, Asia, Oceania, or Africa. Comparing Fig. a1–b1 or Fig. a2–b2, increasing trends were observed in some countries, especially in some regions in China, Korea and Canada.

     

Field crops (Ipomoea aquatica Forsk. and Brassica chinensis L.) for phytoremediation of cadmium and nitrate co-contaminated soils via rotation with Sedum alfredii Hance

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Phytoremediation coupled with crop rotation (PCC) is a feasible strategy for remediation of contaminated soil without interrupting crop production....     

Microbial community composition and electricity generation in cattle manure slurry treatment using microbial fuel cells: effects of inoculum addition

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a sustainable technology to treat cattle manure slurry (CMS) for converting chemical energy to bioelectricity. In this...     

Development of IC-ELISA for detection of organophosphorus pesticides in water

Diethyl (carboxymethyl) phosphonate (DECP) was used as the hapten to develop an indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (IC-ELISA) for detecting organophosphorus pesticides (OPs). Conjugator of DECP with bovin serum albumin (BSA) was used as the immunogen for producing the polyclonal antibodies (PcAbs). Three antisera were obtained after the immune procedure. Characterization studies of the PcAbs indicated that the titer of antiserum-1 was highest in 3 antisera, and antiserum-1 had high affinity and specificity to the parathion, dichlorvos and pirimiphos. The IC-ELISA showed an IC₅₀ of 0.428 μ g/mL with a detection limit of 0.0125 μ g/mL to parathion. The assay also indicated that the IC₅₀ values of pirimiphos and dichlorvos were 0.331 μ g/mL and 1.25 μ g/mL respectively, and the detection limits of pirimiphos and dichlorvos were 0.0116 μ g/mL and 0.048 μ g/mL respectively. Recoveries of parathion, pirimiphos and dichlorvos spiked into water samples ranged from 90% to 160%. The results indicated that the ELISA could be a convenient and supplemental analytical tool for monitoring OPs residues in environmental water samples.     

灵芝漆酶对直接蓝86的催化脱色性能

利用灵芝菌Ganoderma lucidum U-281漆酶对直接蓝86进行酶促氧化脱色,并对其降解机理进行了探讨。结果表明,染料-漆酶共反应体系在20～50℃及pH小于5.0范围内,直接蓝86均可脱色50%以上;漆酶对直接蓝86具有宽泛的浓度适应性,对300 mg/L的该染料仍具有耐受性。最优脱色工艺参数为温度40℃、pH 5.0、染料初始浓度200 mg/L、漆酶用量1 U/mL。在优化条件下,直接蓝863 h的脱色率达到54.54%,48 h脱色率达到91.54%。紫外-可见吸收光谱分析表明,漆酶的酶促氧化导致染料的分子结构产生了变化,是造成直接蓝86脱色的主要发生机制。     

高气速间歇式生物过滤去除高负荷H2S

采用生物过滤法,以鸡粪堆肥和PE混合物为填料,在高气速条件下间歇式处理高负荷H2S废气。空床停留时间为20、15、10、6.7和5 s时,入口浓度3 000 mg/m3下的平均去除率分别为100%、100%、96.5%、89.2%和90.5%。高气速EBRT为5 s时,高入口负荷2 147 g/(m3.h)时的去除负荷为2 023 g/(m3.h),去除率达94%。采用Michaelis-Ment-en模型进行生物降解宏观动力学研究,其中Ks为550 mg/m3,Vm为6.8×104g/(m3.d)。结果表明,在实验温度17～24℃,湿度30%～50%下,生物过滤法间歇式处理高气速高负荷H2S的去除性能好。     

厌氧活性污泥处理废水中的U(Ⅵ)

用人工驯养的厌氧污泥进行除铀实验,探讨了微生物投加量(VSS)、pH值、U(Ⅵ)初始浓度、外加电子供体和污泥重复利用等对污泥处理U(Ⅵ)的影响,并进行了相关机理分析。实验结果表明,在适当的pH范围内(5.2～6.6),厌氧污泥对铀保持较长时间的高效去除率;当以还原铁粉和无水乙醇作电子供体时,U(Ⅵ)去除率保持在95%以上的时间为未加电子供体时的2倍。U(Ⅵ)去除速度与VSS投加量成正比关系,U(Ⅵ)初始浓度对去除效果的影响不大,厌氧污泥可以长期使用。pH值的影响最关键,其次是外加电子供体。厌氧污泥除U(Ⅵ)机理为氧化还原和吸附的共同作用。     

响应面法优化聚丙烯酸/腐殖酸/累托石吸附剂的制备条件

以累托石、丙烯酸及腐殖酸为原料制备出能同时吸附重金属和多环芳烃的吸附剂聚丙烯酸/腐殖酸/累托石,采用响应面试验设计法优化吸附剂的制备条件。利用Design Expert软件,建立了预测吸附剂对Cd2+、菲吸附量的二次回归模型,对回归模型进行了方差分析,并确定了吸附剂的最佳制备条件。结果表明,二次回归模型能较好地模拟Cd2+、菲的吸附量与影响因子丙烯酸中和度、引发剂量和交联剂量之间的关系。各因子对Cd2+吸附量的影响次序为:交联剂量>引发剂量>丙烯酸中和度;对菲吸附量的影响次序为引发剂量>交联剂量>丙烯酸中和度。吸附剂的最佳制备条件为:累托石、丙烯酸和腐殖酸三者的质量比为65∶30∶5,丙烯酸中和度、引发剂量和交联剂量分别为75.16%、2.57%和0.44%。在此优化条件下制备的吸附剂对Cd2+和菲的吸附量分别为170.19 mg/g和7.36 mg/g。     

Photodegradation of quinestrol in waters and the transformation products by UV irradiation

Quinestrol is synthetic estrogen used in contraceptive and hormone replacement therapy and occasionally for treating breast cancer and prostate cancer. It can make its way into the environment through sewage discharge and waste disposal produced by human excretions. In this study, the photodegradation kinetics of quinestrol in various conditions was investigated by UV and solar irradiation. The affecting factors were studied including concentration of hydrogen peroxide, different water types, and the initial concentrations of quinestrol. Concurrently, the transformation products and presumed pathways of quinestrol in distilled water by UV irradiation were identified and proposed. The results showed that the degradation of quinestrol in both irradiation conditions followed the pseudo-first-order kinetics. More rapid degradation was observed by UV irradiation (k = 0.018 min⁻¹) than solar irradiation (k = 0.004 h⁻¹), and the photodegradation rate of quinestrol depended on the concentration of hydrogen peroxide, the initial concentration of quinestrol and water types. The transformation products of quinestrol in distilled water were identified by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. When exposed to UV irradiation, quinestrol in aqueous solution was rapidly degraded, giving at least ten photodegradation products. The chemical structures of ten degradation products were identified on the basis of mass spectrum interpretation and literature data.