Inhibitory effects of nisin-coated multi-walled carbon nanotube sheet on biofilm formation from Bacillus anthracis spores

Multi-walled carbon nanotube（MWCNT） sheet was fabricated from a drawable MWCNT forest and then deposited on poly（methyl methacrylate） film. The film was further coated with a natural antimicrobial peptide nisin. We studied the effects of nisin coating on the attachment of Bacillus anthracis spores, the germination of attached spores, and the subsequent biofilm formation from attached spores. It was found that the strong adsorptivity and the super hydrophobicity of MWCNTs provided an ideal platform for nisin coating. Nisin coating on MWCNT sheets decreased surface hydrophobicity, reduced spore attachment, and reduced the germination of attached spores by 3.5 fold, and further inhibited the subsequent biofilm formation by 94.6% compared to that on uncoated MWCNT sheet. Nisin also changed the morphology of vegetative cells in the formed biofilm.The results of this study demonstrated that the anti-adhesion and antimicrobial effect of nisin in combination with the physical properties of carbon nanotubes had the potential in producing effective anti-biofilm formation surfaces.     

Fouling distribution in forward osmosis membrane process

Fouling behavior along the length of membrane module was systematically investigated by performing simple modeling and lab-scale experiments of forward osmosis （FO） membrane process. The flux distribution model developed in this study showed a good agreement with experimental results, validating the robustness of the model. This model demonstrated, as expected, that the permeate flux decreased along the membrane channel due to decreasing osmotic pressure differential across the FO membrane. A series of fouling experiments were conducted under the draw and feed solutions at various recoveries simulated by the model. The simulated fouling experiments revealed that higher organic （alginate） fouling and thus more flux decline were observed at the last section of a membrane channel, as foulants in feed solution became more concentrated. Furthermore, the water flux in FO process declined more severely as the recovery increased due to more foulants transported to membrane surface with elevated solute concentrations at higher recovery, which created favorable solution environments for organic adsorption. The fouling reversibility also decreased at the last section of the membrane channel, suggesting that fouling distribution on FO membrane along the module should be carefully examined to improve overall cleaning efficiency. Lastly, it was found that such fouling distribution observed with co-current flow operation became less pronounced in counter- current flow operation of FO membrane process.     

Potential bioremediation of mercury-contaminated substrate using filamentous fungi isolated from forest soil

The use of filamentous fungi in bioremediation of heavy metal contamination has been developed recently. This research aims to observe the capability of filamentous fungi isolated from forest soil for bioremediation of mercury contamination in a substrate. Six fungal strains were selected based on their capability to grow in 25 mg/L Hg2+-contaminated potato dextrose agar plates. Fungal strain KRP1 showed the highest ratio of growth diameter, 0.831, thus was chosen for further observation.Identification based on colony and cell morphology carried out by 18S rRNA analysis gave a 98%match to Aspergillus flavus strain KRP1. The fungal characteristics in mercury(Ⅱ) contamination such as range of optimum pH, optimum temperature and tolerance level were 5.5–7 and 25–35℃ and 100 mg/L respectively. The concentration of mercury in the media affected fungal growth during lag phases. The capability of the fungal strain to remove the mercury(Ⅱ) contaminant was evaluated in 100 mL sterile 10 mg/L Hg2+-contaminated potato dextrose broth media in 250 mL Erlenmeyer flasks inoculated with 108spore/mL fungal spore suspension and incubation at 30℃ for 7 days. The mercury(Ⅱ) utilization was observed for flasks shaken in a 130 r/min orbital shaker(shaken) and nonshaken flasks(static) treatments. Flasks containing contaminated media with no fungal spores were also provided as control. All treatments were done in triplicate. The strain was able to remove 97.50%and 98.73% mercury from shaken and static systems respectively. A. flavus strain KRP1 seems to have potential use in bioremediation of aqueous substrates containing mercury(Ⅱ) through a biosorption mechanism.     

垃圾“零填埋”,路在何方?

<正>垃圾主要指在日常生活中为日常生活提供服务的活动中产生的固体废物。与其他固体废物不同的是,垃圾是我们每个人每一天都要产生和排放的,不可避免地要与我们经常性地发生"亲密接触",处理不当会影响市容、传播疾病和污染环境。正因为     

Aerobic granules cultivated and operated in continuous-flow bioreactor under particle-size selective pressure

A novel method based on the selective pressure of particle size （particle-size cultivation method, PSCM） was developed for the cultivation and operation of aerobic granular sludge in a continuous-flow reactor, and compared with the conventional method based on the selective pressure of settling velocity （settling-velocity cultivation method, SVCM）. Results indicated that aerobic granules could be cultivated in continuous operation mode by this developed method within 14 days. Although in the granulation process, under particle-size selective pressure, mixed liquor suspended solids （MLSS） in the reactor fluctuated greatly and filamentous bacteria dominated the sludge system during the initial operation days, no obvious difference in profile was found between the aerobic granules cultivated by PSCM and SVCM. Moreover, aerobic granules cultivated by PSCM presented larger diameter, lower water content and higher specific rates of nitrification, denitrifieation and phosphorus removal, but lower settling velocity. Under long term operation of more than 30 days, aerobic granules in the continuous-flow reactor could remain stable and obtain good chemical oxygen demand （COD）, NH4^＋-N, total nitrogen （TN） and total phosphorus （TP） removal. The results indicate that PSCM was dependent on the cultivation and maintenance of the stability of aerobic granules in continuous-flow bioreactors.     

日本膜技术的发展与产业化及其借鉴意义

对日本膜技术发展历史及现状进行了系统梳理。研究表明,经过数十年持续不断的投入,日本膜技术已广泛应用在净水处理、生活污水处理、工业废水处理及脱盐等领域,并在国际市场占据重要地位。虽然受本土市场规模的局限,超滤微滤膜在日本给水处理领域的处理规模仅为1.3×106m3d,反渗透膜脱盐能力为1.44×106m3d,但日本的超滤微滤膜在全球给排水领域的应用约为1.0×107m3d,反渗透膜产品在全球的应用超过3.0×107m3d。建议我国膜企业应借鉴日本膜产业的发展经验,加大膜企业的研发投入,加强膜技术的研发创新能力,通过提供更高性价比的产品和卓越的技术服务开拓国际市场。     

植物性食物中重金属生物可利用性研究进展

重金属生物可利用性是衡量重金属污染对人体危害的重要指标,也是健康风险评价中最为关键的因子。该文以植物性食物中重金属生物可利用性为出发点,综述了国内外有关重金属在土壤、植物以及人体中的生物可利用性最新研究进展,分析了化学提取法、植物指示法和生物模拟法在重金属生物可利用性研究中的应用现状,并提出了未来的研究方向和重点。     

UASB处理酒精废水耐冲击特性与颗粒污泥分析

针对UASB耐冲击能力低的问题,采用短暂冲击负荷的方法进行52 d中试研究,并考察接种絮状污泥的UASB对以污冷凝水为主要成分的酒精废水的处理效果,结果表明,UASB呈现较强耐冲击负荷能力;第49天产气速率最高,可达3.03 L/(L·d),反应器内形成了粒径0.5~1.5 mm的颗粒,电镜扫描的颗粒污泥结构致密,由多个杆状细菌形成网状结构。在夏季无保温措施、负荷冲击条件下培养颗粒污泥是可行的。     

新型IC反应器在山梨醇废水处理中的工程应用

将布水装置优化后的新型内循环(IC)反应器应用于某山梨醇生产企业实际废水的二级厌氧生化处理,获得了较好的处理效果。调试阶段的结果表明:经过IC反应器的处理后,废水COD浓度由处理前的2 374~4 967 mg/L降至301~823 mg/L,COD去除率达81.4%~91.2%,COD容积负荷达8.1~13.7 kg/(m3·d);总体来说,当水力负荷增大时,COD容积负荷也相应增大;IC反应器的出水挥发性脂肪酸(VFA)基本控制在200 mg/L以下;厌氧出水再依次经过接触氧化池和絮凝沉淀池等配套工艺的处理后,COD降至80 mg/L以下,实现达标排放。     

生物炭原位修复富营养化水体的试验研究

通过实验模拟,考察了粒径、炭层厚度、水体温度等因素对生物炭吸附与固定底泥氮磷的影响。结果表明:生物炭对氨氮与磷酸盐的最大吸附容量分别为4.92 mg/g、1.90 mg/g,吸附过程符合Langmuir和Freundlich方程,在温度5~35℃、粒径80目、炭层厚度0.5cm时,模拟水体中TN和TP浓度可维持在0.55~0.85 mg/L和0.02~0.04 mg/L之间,说明生物炭能很好的吸附水体中的N、P并将其固定在底泥中。