Locally enhanced electric field treatment (LEEFT) for water disinfection

• Nanowire-assisted LEEFT is applied for water disinfection with low voltages. • LEEFT inactivates bacteria by disrupting cell membrane through electroporation. • Multiple electrodes and device configurations have been developed for LEEFT. • The LEEFT is low-cost, highly efficient, and produces no DBPs. • The LEEFT can potentially be applicable for water disinfection at all scales. Water disinfection is a critical step in water and wastewater treatment. The most widely used chlorination suffers from the formation of carcinogenic disinfection by-products (DBPs) while alternative methods (e.g., UV, O₃, and membrane filtration) are limited by microbial regrowth, no residual disinfectant, and high operation cost. Here, a nanowire-enabled disinfection method, locally enhanced electric field treatment (LEEFT), is introduced with advantages of no chemical addition, no DBP formation, low energy consumption, and efficient microbial inactivation. Attributed to the lightning rod effect, the electric field near the tip area of the nanowires on the electrode is significantly enhanced to inactivate microbes, even though a small external voltage (usually<5 V) is applied. In this review, after emphasizing the significance of water disinfection, the theory of the LEEFT is explained. Subsequently, the recent development of the LEEFT technology on electrode materials and device configurations are summarized. The disinfection performance is analyzed, with respect to the operating parameters, universality against different microorganisms, electrode durability, and energy consumption. The studies on the inactivation mechanisms during the LEEFT are also reviewed. Lastly, the challenges and future research of LEEFT disinfection are discussed.     

Biogenic palladium prepared by activated sludge microbes for the hexavalent chromium catalytic reduction: Impact of relative biomass

• Pd nanoparticles could be reduced and supported by activated sludge microbes. • The effect of biomass on Pd adsorption by microbes is greater than Pd reduction. • More biomass reduces Pd particle size, which is more dispersed on the cell surface. • When the biomass/Pd add to 6, the catalytic reduction rate of Cr(VI) reaches stable. Palladium, a kind of platinum group metal, owns catalytic capacity for a variety of hydrogenations. In this study, Pd nanoparticles (PdNPs) were generated through enzymatic recovery by microbes of activated sludge at various biomass/Pd, and further used for the Cr(VI) reduction. The results show that biomass had a strong adsorption capacity for Pd(II), which was 17.25 mg Pd/g sludge. The XRD and TEM-EDX results confirmed the existence of PdNPs associated with microbes (bio-Pd). The increase of biomass had little effect on the reduction rate of Pd(II), but it could cause decreasing particle size and shifting location of Pd(0) with the better dispersion degree on the cell surface. In the Cr(VI) reduction experiments, Cr(VI) was first adsorbed on bio-Pd with hydrogen and then reduced using active hydrogen as electron donor. Biomass improved the catalytic activity of PdNPs. When the biomass/Pd (w/w) ratio increased to six or higher, Cr(VI) reduction achieved maximum rate that 50 mg/L of Cr(VI) could be rapidly reduced in one minute.     

Effect of weathering on abundance and release of potentially toxic elements in soils developed on Lower Cambrian black shales, P. R. China

This paper examines the geochemical features of 8 soil profiles developed on metalliferous black shales distributed in the central parts of the South China black shale horizon. The concentrations of 21 trace elements and 8 major elements were determined using ICP-MS and XRF, respectively, and weathering intensity (W) was calculated according to a new technique recently proposed in the literature. The data showed that the black shale soils inherited a heterogeneous geochemical character from their parent materials. A partial least square regression model and EF_bedrock (enrichment factor normalized to underlying bedrock) indicated that W was not a major control in the redistribution of trace metals. Barium, Sn, Cu, V, and U tended to be leached in the upper soil horizons and trapped by Al and Fe oxides, whereas Sb, Cd, and Mo with negative EF values across the whole profiles may have been leached out during the first stage of pedogenesis (mainly weathering of black shale). Compared with the Chinese average soils, the soils were strongly enriched in the potentially toxic metals Mo, Cd, Sb, Sn, U, V, Cu, and Ba, among which the 5 first listed were enriched to the highest degrees. Elevated concentrations of these toxic metals can have a long-term negative effect on human health, in particular, the soils in mining areas dominated by strongly acidic conditions. As a whole, the black shale soils have much in common with acid sulfate soils. Therefore, black shale soils together with acid sulfate soils deserve more attention in the context of metal exposure and human health.     

镧、铈、钕对小鼠肝细胞线粒体的氧化损伤作用

轻稀土元素进入生物体后主要累积于肝脏,进入肝细胞,除蓄积在细胞核中,还存在于线粒体中。为探讨轻稀土元素对小鼠肝细胞线粒体的氧化损伤作用,选用5周龄雄性ICR小鼠分别以10、20和40mg·kg~(-1)的镧(La)、铈(Ce)和钕(Nd)灌胃,6周后测定小鼠肝细胞线粒体中超氧化物岐化酶(SOD)、过氧化氢酶(CAT)、谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶(GPx)的活性,以及谷胱甘肽(GSH)和丙二醛(MDA)的含量。结果显示,与对照组相比,La中剂量组和Ce低剂量组SOD活性显著升高,La高剂量组和Nd中、高剂量组中SOD活性显著降低(P<0.05,P<0.01);除个别剂量组外,各染毒组CAT和GPx活性与GSH含量显著降低(P<0.05,P<0.01);Nd各剂量组、La高剂量组和Ce高剂量组的MDA含量显著升高(P<0.05,P<0.01)。研究表明,La、Ce和Nd所导致的CAT和GPx活性以及GSH含量降低可能是造成肝细胞线粒体氧化损伤的主要原因。     

五氟苯甲酰氯衍生色谱法分析水体中痕量羟基多溴联苯醚

以五氟苯甲酰氯(PFBCl)作为衍生化试剂,气相色谱-电子捕获检测器(Gas chromatography-electron capture detector,GC-ECD)为检测手段,建立了水体中痕量羟基多溴联苯醚(Hydroxylated polybrominated diphenyl ethers,简称OH-PBDEs)的酰基化衍生-GC/ECD检测方法.通过实验讨论了衍生化缓冲溶液、衍生化时间以及衍生后萃取溶液异辛烷的用量对检测结果的影响,确定了最佳的衍生化条件.在最佳的衍生化条件下,4-OH-BDE 42、4’-OH-BDE 49、6-OH-BDE 47、2’-OH-BDE 68和6’-OH-BDE 99的衍生化产物均获得了良好的分离度和色谱响应值.本方法的仪器检出限为0.02—0.14 pg,方法检出限为0.61—4.67 pg.L-1,标准曲线线性相关系数的范围为0.9973—0.9996,相对标准偏差均小于10%.3种采自大连市不同地区环境水样的加标回收率检测结果表明,所建立的分析方法适于水体中痕量OH-PBDEs的检测.     

Transition to a low-carbon city: lessons learned from Suzhou in China

Climate change has become one of the most serious challenges facing humanity; developing a low-carbon economy provides new opportunities for addressing this issue. Building a low-carbon city has been pursued by people with a high degree of enthusiasm in China. Different from actions at the national level and distinct from practices of developed countries, low-carbon development in Chinese cities should be placed on diverse concerns. Taking Suzhou of Jiangsu Province of China as a case city, this paper adopts a scenario analysis approach to explore strategic focal points in the transition to a low-carbon city. Within this transition, we mainly focus on the different contributions from two factors-economic restructuring and technological upgrading. Scenario analysis results show that 1) in the case of no breakthrough technologies, it is difficult to achieve absolute emission reductions; 2) technologies involved in optimizing energy structure and improving energy efficiency of basic service sectors should be highly emphasized in local planning; 3) in comparison with technological upgrading, economic structural adjustment could be a stronger contributor to mitigation, which is one of the main differences from developed countries. However, the key issue of economic restructuring is to promote the growth of emerging low-carbon industries, which requires not only a strategic choice of new industries but also an introduction of advanced low-carbon technologies. It is also found that establishing a local carbon emissions accounting system is a prerequisite and the first priority for realizing a low-carbon transition and government capacity buildings should be strengthened accordingly.     

Competitive adsorption and desorption of copper and lead in some soil of North China

The competitive adsorption and desorption of Pb(II) and Cu(II) ions in the soil of three sites in North China were investigated using single and binary metal solutions with 0.01 mol·L^-1 CaCl₂ as background electrolyte. The desorption isotherms of Pb(II) and Cu(II) were similar to the adsorption isotherms, which can be fitted well by Freundlich equation (R₂>0.96). The soil in the three sites had greater sorption capacities for Pb(II) than Cu(II), which was affected strongly by the soil characteristics. In the binary metal solution containing 1∶1 molar ratio of Pb(II) and Cu(II), the total amount of Pb(II) and Cu(II) adsorption was affected by the simultaneous presence of the two metal ions, indicating the existence of adsorption competition between the two metal ions. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy was used to investigate the interaction between soil and metal ions, and the results revealed that the carboxyl and hydroxyl groups in the soil were the main binding sites of metal ions.     

高效填料塔生物反应器处理制药废水处理厂含硫臭气

采用装有特制ZX01型填料的生物反应器,对某药厂废水处理厂产生的含硫臭气进行了近4个月的连续脱臭试验.结果表明:该填料塔生物反应器的最大容积负荷N_v≤204g/(m³·h)时,H₂S去除率接近100%,H₂S代谢产物主要以SO₄^2-为主.采用少量含N、P等营养物的二次沉淀池出水为喷淋水,其最适喷淋率为3.56L/(L·d).该填料塔有较强的抗负荷冲击能力,塔内阻抗低,无堵塞现象,无需经常进行反冲洗,可长期稳定运行.     

用EXAFS研究Zn在水锰矿上的吸附-解吸机理

用延展X光吸收精细结构光谱(EXAFS)研究了重金属Zn(Ⅱ)在水锰矿(γ-MnOOH)上吸附产物的微观结构及其吸附机理.结果表明,Zn(Ⅱ)-水锰矿体系中(pH 7.5,0.1mol/LNaNO₃介质,25℃),Zn²⁺主要是通过共用水合Zn²⁺的O原子及水锰矿表面上的O原子形成Zn-O键,从而结合到水锰矿固体表面上的.平均Zn-O原子间距为1.998±0.010 A(n=3).这个Zn-O键键长是六配位的Zn(H₂O)²⁺₆及其水解产物四配位的Zn(OH)₂或Zn(OH)₄^2-各以一定比例混合吸附于水锰矿表面而形成的.同时,对第二配位层(Zn-Mn相互作用)的EXAFS图谱分析证明存在2个典型的Zn-Mn原子间距,即R₁=3.08±0.024A(n=3)和R2=3.54±0.018 A(n=3).这2个Zn-Mn原子距分别对应于水锰矿结构单元MnO6八面体与Zn水合离子ZnO多面体结合的2种方式,即共用2个O原子的边-边结合与共用1个O原子的角-角结合.边-边结合是较强的吸附位,Zn-Mn原子距较短(R₁=3.08A),吸附较不可逆.角-角结合是较弱的吸附位,Zn-Mn原子距较长(R₂=3.54A),吸附较为可逆.这一结果从微观上证明了亚稳平衡态吸附理论(MEA理论)的基本假设,即具有相同吸附密度的同一吸附质由于吸附力强弱以及微观构型的不同可具有不同的化学位,因而证明了修正传统吸附热力学的基本假设(吸附密度为热力学状态函数)的必要性.宏观的吸附-解吸热力学实验表明Zn(Ⅱ)在水锰矿上的吸附是不可逆的,EXAFS结果指出这种不可逆性主要是由Zn水合离子中ZnO多面体与水锰矿结构单元MnO₆八面体之间的边-边结合所导致的.     

模拟阳光下Ag／I-TiO2光催化预处理山核桃加工废水

研究了在模拟太阳光下,采用银修饰的碘掺杂二氧化钛光催化剂（Ag／I—TiO2）对某食品厂山核桃加工废水进行光催化预处理的效果。结合x射线衍射（XRD）、比表面积分析（BET）、紫外-可见漫反射光谱（uV—Vis）的表征结果,来分析催化剂结构对于废水处理效果的影响。探讨了Ag含量、废水初始pH（pHi）和光照时间等因素对化学需氧量（COD）去除及水质可生化性（B／C）提高的影响。并得出适宜的反应参数为：3％Ag含量;pHi为6;光照时间为240min。在最佳条件下,COD去除率45％,废水B／C比由0．17上升到0．31。光催化氧化法能够有效降低山核桃加工废水的COD含量,并达到显著提高废水可生化性的目的。