Hydrothermal-treated Pt/Al2O3 as an excellent catalyst for toluene total oxidation

The preparation of highly active supported noble metal catalysts with a low noble metal loading has always been the ultimate goal of researchers working on catalysis. Hydrothermally treated Pt/Al₂O₃ (Pt/Al₂O₃-H) exhibits better catalytic activity than that (Pt/Al₂O₃-C) treated via the conventional calcination approach. At the high space velocity of 100,000 mL/(g∙hr), the temperature that correspond to 50% toluene conversion (T₅₀) of Pt/Al₂O₃-H is 115°C lower than that of Pt/Al₂O₃-C, and the turnover frequency (TOF) value can reach 0.0756 sec⁻¹. The mechanism by which the hydrothermal approach enhances Pt/Al₂O₃ activity has been investigated. The structure associated with the high catalytic activity of Pt nanoparticles (NPs) can be retained via hydrothermal treatment. Furthermore, the support is transformed to AlO(OH) with numerous surface hydroxyl groups, which in turn can facilitate the adsorption of toluene. And the synergistic effects of Pt NPs and AlO(OH) increases the contents of Pt in oxidation state and active oxygen, which are beneficial for toluene oxidation.     

Short-term inhalation exposure evaluations of airborne antibiotic resistance genes in environments

Antibiotic resistance is a sword of Damocles that hangs over humans. In regards to airborne antibiotic resistance genes (AARGs), critical knowledge gaps still exist in the identification of hotspots and quantification of exposure levels in different environments. Here, we have studied the profiles of AARGs, mobile genetic elements (MGEs) and bacterial communities in various atmospheric environments by high throughput qPCR and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. We propose a new AARGs exposure dose calculation that uses short-term inhalation (STI). Swine farms and hospitals were high-risk areas where AARGs standardised abundance was more abundant than suburbs and urban areas. Additionally, resistance gene abundance in swine farm worker sputum was higher than that in healthy individuals in other environments. The correlation between AARGs with MGEs and bacteria was strong in suburbs but weak in livestock farms and hospitals. STI exposure analysis revealed that occupational intake of AARGs (via PM₁₀) in swine farms and hospitals were 110 and 29 times higher than in suburbs, were 1.5 × 10⁴, 5.6 × 10⁴ and 5.1 × 10² copies, i.e., 61.9%, 75.1% and 10.7% of the overall daily inhalation intake, respectively. Our study comprehensively compares environmental differences in AARGs to identify high-risk areas, and forwardly proposes the STI exposure dose of AARGs to guide risk assessment.     

Chemical characterization and source identification of PM2.5 in Luoyang after the clean air actions

Luoyang is a typical heavy industrial city in China, with a coal-dominated energy structure and serious air pollution. Following the implementation of the clean air actions, the physicochemical characteristics and sources of PM_2.5 have changed. A comprehensive study of PM_2.5 was conducted from October 16, 2019 to January 23, 2020 to evaluate the effectiveness of previous control measures and further to provide theory basis for more effective policies in the future. Results showed that the aerosol pollution in Luoyang in autumn and winter is still serious with the average concentration of 91.1 μg/m³, although a large reduction (46.9%) since 2014. With the contribution of nitrate increased from 12.5% to 25.1% and sulfate decreased from 16.7% to 11.2%, aerosol pollution has changed from sulfate-dominate to nitrate-dominate. High NO₃⁻/SO₄²⁻ ratio and the increasing of NO₃⁻/SO₄²⁻ ratio with the aggravation of pollution indicating vehicle exhaust playing an increasingly important role in PM_2.5 pollution in Luoyang, especially in the haze processes. Secondary inorganic ions contributed significantly to the enhancement of PM_2.5 during the pollution period. The high value of Cl⁻/Na⁺ and EC concentration indicate coal combustion in Luoyang is still serious. The top three contributor sources were secondary inorganic aerosols (33.3%), coal combustion (13.6%), and industrial emissions (13.4%). Close-range transport from the western and northeastern directions were more important factors in air pollution in Luoyang during the sampling period. It is necessary to strengthen the control of coal combustion and reduce vehicle emissions in future policies.     

Identification and characterization of Fe3O4/peroxodisulfate advanced oxidation products from sulfameter

Sulfonamides (SAs) are one of the most widely used antibiotics and their residuals in the environment could cause some negative environmental issues. Advanced oxidation such as Fenton-like reaction has been widely applied in the treatment of SAs polluted water. Degradation rates of 95%-99.7% were achieved in this work for the tested 8 SAs, including sulfisomidine, sulfameter (SME), phthalylsulfathiazole, sulfamethoxypyridazine, sulfamonomethoxine, sulfisoxazole, sulfachloropyridazine, and sulfadimethoxine, in the Fe₃O₄/peroxodisulfate (PDS) oxidation system after the optimization of PDS concentration and pH. Meanwhile, it was found that a lot of unknown oxidation products were formed, which brought up the uncertainty of health risks to the environment, and the identification of these unknown products was critical. Therefore, SME was selected as the model compound, from which the oxidation products were never elucidated, to identify these intermediates/products. With liquid chromatography-high resolution tandem mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS/MS), 10 new products were identified, in which 2-amino-5-methoxypyrimidine (AMP) was confirmed by its standard. The investigation of the oxidation process of SME indicated that most of the products were not stable and the degradation pathways were very complicated as multiple reactions, such as oxidation of the amino group, SO₂ extrusion, and potential cross-reaction occurred simultaneously. Though most of the products were not verified due to the lack of standards, our results could be helpful in the evaluation of the treatment performance of SAs containing wastewater.     

Evidence on the causes of the rising levels of CODMn along the middle route of the South-to-North Diversion Project in China: The role of algal dissolved organic matter

As the biggest inter-basin water transfer scheme in the world,the South-to-North Water Diversion Project（SNWD） was designed to alleviate the water crisis in North China.The main channel of the middle route of the SNWD is of great concern in terms of the drinking water quality.In this study,we tested the hypothesis that the dissolved organic matter（DOM） derived from the planktonic algae causes the rising levels of COD_Mn along the middle route by monitoring data on water quality（2015-20...     

Clean and effective removal of Cl(-I) from strongly acidic wastewater by PbO2

Recycling strongly acidic wastewater as diluted H₂SO₄ after contaminants contained being removed was previously proposed, however, Cl(-I), a kind of contaminant contained in strongly acidic wastewater, is difficult to remove, which severely degrades the quality of recycled H₂SO₄. In this study, the removal of Cl(-I) using PbO₂ was investigated and the involved mechanisms were explored. The removal efficiency of Cl(-I) reached 93.38% at 50℃ when PbO₂/Cl(-I) mole ratio reached 2:1. The identification of reaction products shows that Cl(-I) was oxidized to Cl₂, and PbO₂ was reduced to PbSO₄. Cl₂ was absorbed by NaOH to form NaClO, which was used for the regeneration of PbO₂ from the generated PbSO₄. Cl(-I) was removed through two pathways, i.e., surface oxidation and •OH radical oxidation. •OH generated by the reaction of PbO₂ and OH⁻ plays an important role in Cl(-I) removal. The regenerated PbO₂ had excellent performance to remove Cl(-I) after six-time regeneration. This study provided an in-depth understanding on the effective removal of Cl(-I) by the oxidation method.     

我国重型柴油货车黑碳排放影响因素分析

柴油车的黑碳排放对空气质量和气候变化有重要影响,但我国柴油车黑碳排放清单编制仍有较大局限性. 为进一步提高柴油车黑碳排放清单编制精度,采用整车转毂台架和热光折射的方法研究不同排放标准、行驶工况和负载状况对重型柴油货车黑碳排放的影响. 结果表明:我国排放标准升级对重型柴油货车的黑碳排放有重要影响,从国Ⅰ、国Ⅱ排放标准升级到国Ⅲ、国Ⅳ和国Ⅴ排放标准,黑碳在颗粒物中的占比由41%左右逐步提至72%左右. 行驶工况对重型柴油货车的黑碳排放也有一定影响,车辆在C-WTVC (中国重型商用车燃料消耗量测试工况)下的黑碳排放占比较VECC (重型车典型道路行驶工况)下高5%~10%. 与半载状态相比,重型柴油货车在满载状态下黑碳排放占比更高,国Ⅲ、国Ⅳ重型柴油货车满载状态下黑碳排放占比较半载状态高7%~8%,国Ⅱ重型柴油货车满载状态下黑碳排放占比较半载状态高15%左右. 研究显示,柴油货车黑碳排放清单编制要综合考虑排放标准、驾驶特征、负荷状况等对黑碳排放的影响,不宜使用固定系数利用颗粒物排放因子外推黑碳排放因子.      

基于随机森林的南京市PM2.5和O3对减排的响应

自2013年《大气污染防治行动计划》实施后,南京市大气污染有所改善,但仍面临着细颗粒物(PM_2.5)和臭氧(O₃)污染问题.为探究污染物浓度对其前体物减排的响应,获得有效的减排策略,常利用大气化学模式进行多组基于排放扰动的敏感性试验,而这需要消耗大量计算时间和计算资源.应用随机森林算法对2015年大气化学传输模式(GEOS-Chem)模拟结果进行机器学习,高效地预测了南京2019年PM_2.5浓度日均值和日最大8 h臭氧(MDA8 O₃)浓度对不同人为源排放控制情景的响应.随机森林结果表明2019年中国人为排放每减少10%,南京ρ(PM_2.5)季节平均值下降2～4μg·m^-3.当2019年中国人为源减排比例高于20%时,南京ρ(PM_2.5)年均值将低于国家二级限值(35μg·m^-3).若仅对中国地区O₃前体物氮氧化物(NO_x)和挥发性有机污染物(VOCs)同比例减排,反而...     

鄱阳湖典型湿地土壤-植物系统重金属沿湖向富集及迁移转换特征分析

特殊的水文节律导致鄱阳湖形成面积较大的周期性环湖消落带,大量的营养物质和污染物极易在消落带中发生沉积,选择鄱阳湖典型河口型消落带,沿湖向按照不同植被类型设置采样断面,采集土壤-沉积物和优势植物样品(不同组织),分析不同时空下土壤/沉积物和优势植物体中重金属(Cr、 Ni、 Cu、 Zn、 As、 Cd、 Sb和Pb)的含量特征及富集水平,并进一步分析土壤-植物系统中重金属的迁移转换特征,揭示鄱阳湖典型消落带土壤-植物系统重金属迁移转换的影响因素.结果表明,消落带土壤/沉积物重金属含量沿湖向表现为明显的分布规律,呈现为先升高后降低的分布特征,即季节性淹水带土壤/沉积物是重金属富集的主要地带,Cu、 Pb和Sb在土壤/沉积物中的富集水平较高,其中Cu和Sb为显著富集(EF>5);潜在生态风险结果表明季节性淹水带总体处于轻度生态危害水平(70≤RI<140),显著高于淹水带和未淹水带.消落带沿湖向带状分布的优势植物体中重金属含量并未表现出显著的空间分布特征,但表现为显著的季节差异,生长季(4月)优势植物体内重金属具有较高的含量水平,重金属不同介质和组织的分配大体遵循基质>根...     

不同性质硅肥影响土壤生物有效态镉砷的主要因素

为研究硅肥影响土壤中生物有效态镉(Cd)和砷(As)的主要因素,选择不同性质的3种碱性硅肥[Na₂SiO₃、 CaSiO₃与ASSF (pH 9～11)]和一种弱酸偏中性可溶硅肥(NSSF,pH 5～6)并通过添加不同用量硅肥(25～800 mg·kg^-1,以Si计)开展室内土盆试验,淹水共育21 d后对土壤基本理化性质进行检测,同时利用薄膜扩散梯度(DGT)提取土壤生物有效态Cd和As.结果表明,不同性质硅肥施用对土壤基本理化性质的影响差异显著,具体来说：3种碱性硅肥均显著提升土壤pH值(P<0.05),其中Na₂SiO₃提升土壤pH能力最强;而NSSF的施用则显著降低土壤pH值但提升了土壤Eh值(P<0.05),每单位质量(mg) Si添加量的NSSF可使土壤pH下降0.001 7个单位;在Si添加量达到400 mg·kg^-1后,3种碱性硅肥和NSSF土壤pH和Eh变化都趋于平缓. 4种不同性质硅肥提升土壤有效硅含量能...