Plant steroid hormones produced under Ni stress are involved in the regulation of metal uptake and oxidative stress in Brassica juncea L

Brassinosteroids (BRs) are involved in the amelioration of various biotic and abiotic stresses. With an aim to explore the role of BRs under heavy metal stress, plants of Brassica juncea L. were grown in pots. The plants were subjected to various concentrations of Nickel metal (0.0, 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6 mM) and harvested on 60th day in order to observe the expression of these hormones. The isolated BRs from the leaves of Brassica plants characterized by GC-MS include 24-Epibrassinolide (24-EBL), Castasterone, Dolicholide and Typhasterole. The effect of isolated 24-EBL was studied on Ni metal uptake and antioxidative defense system in 60 d old plants of Brassica. It was observed that 24-EBL significantly increased the activities of stress ameliorating enzymes and lowered the metal uptake in plants. This is the first report in B. juncea L. plants showing the expression of BRs under metal treatments and effect of the isolated 24-EBL on metal uptake and in oxidative stress management.     

Photocatalytic oxidation of monuron in the suspension of WO3 under the irradiation of UV-visible light

A comprehensive study of the degradation of monuron, one of the phenylurea herbicides, was conducted by UV-Vis/WO₃ process. It was found that hydroxyl radicals played a major role in the decay of monuron while other radicals (e.g. superoxide) and hole might also contribute to the decomposition of monuron. The oxidation path likely plays a major role in the generation of hydroxyl radicals. The effects of initial pH level, initial concentration of monuron, and inorganic oxidants on the performance of UV-Vis/WO₃ process were also investigated and optimized. Comparison between monuron decay pathways by UV-Vis/WO₃ and UV/TiO₂ was conducted. The decay mechanisms, including N-terminus demethylation, dechlorination and direct hydroxylation on benzene ring, were observed to be involved in the oxidation of monuron in these two processes. Sixteen intermediates were identified during the photodegradation of monuron and degradation pathways were proposed accordingly.     

Catalytic destruction of pentachlorobenzene in simulated flue gas by a V2O5-WO3/TiO2 catalyst

Pentachlorobenzene (PeCB) in simulated flue gas was destructed by a commercial V₂O₅-WO₃/TiO₂ catalyst in this study. The effects of reaction temperature, oxygen concentration, space velocity and some co-existing pollutants on PeCB conversion were investigated. Furthermore, a possible mechanism for the oxidation of PeCB over the vanadium oxide on the catalysts was proposed. Results show that the increase of gas hourly space velocity (GHSV) and the decrease of operating temperature both resulted in the decrease of PeCB removal over the catalyst, while the effect of the oxygen content in the range of 5-20% (v/v) on PeCB conversion was negligible. PeCB decomposition could be obviously affected by the denitration reactions under the conditions because of the positive effect of NO but negative effect of NH₃. The introduction of SO₂ caused the catalyst poisoning, probably due to the sulfur-containing species formed and deposited on the catalyst surface. The PeCB molecules were first adsorbed on the catalyst surface, and then oxidized into the non-aromatic acyclic intermediates, low chlorinated aromatics and maleic anhydride.     

Thioarsenate formation upon dissolution of orpiment and arsenopyrite

Thioarsenates were previously determined as dominant species in geothermal and mineral waters with excess sulfide. Here, we used batch leaching experiments to determine their formation upon weathering or industrial leaching of the arsenic-sulfide minerals orpiment (As₂S₃) and arsenopyrite (FeAsS) under different pH and oxygen conditions. Under acidic conditions, as expected based on their known kinetic instability at low pH, no thioarsenates formed in either of the two mineral systems. Under neutral to alkaline conditions, orpiment dissolution yielded mono-, di- and trithioarsenate which accounted for up to 43-55% of total arsenic. Thioarsenate formation upon arsenopyrite dissolution was low at neutral (4%) but significant at alkaline pH, especially under suboxic to sulfidic conditions (20-43%, mainly as monothioarsenate). In contrast to orpiment, we postulate that recombination of arsenite and sulfide in solution is of minor importance for monothioarsenate formation during alkaline arsenopyrite dissolution. We propose instead that hydroxyl physisorption lead to formation of As-OH-S surface complexes by transposition of hydroxyl anions to arsenic or iron sites. Concurrently formed ironhydroxides could provide re-sorption sites for the freshly released monothioarsenate. However, sorption experiments with goethite showed slower sorption kinetics of monothioarsenate compared to arsenite, but comparable with arsenate. The discovery that thioarsenates are released by natural weathering and industrial leaching processes and that, once they are released, have a higher mobility than the commonly-investigated species arsenite and arsenate requires future studies to consider them when assessing arsenic release in sulfidic natural or mining-impacted environments.     

超声辐射浸渍法制备Fe-Ni-Mn/Al_2O_3催化剂及性能研究

以Al2O3为载体,分别采用超声辐射浸渍法和普通浸渍方法制备Fe-Ni-Mn/Al2O3催化剂。采用BET、XRD和SEM对催化剂的理化性质和孔结构进行了分析,以模拟酸性绿B废水为研究对象考察催化剂的催化性能。实验结果表明,浸渍溶液pH值和焙烧温度显著影响催化剂的性能。与普通浸渍法相比,超声浸渍法制备的Fe-Ni-Mn/Al2O3催化剂对酸性绿B脱色反应表现出较高的催化活性。     

改性TiO_2光催化降解三苯甲烷类污染物

以硫酸钛为原料采用水热法制备了掺Fe3＋TiO2晶体粉末,采用X射线衍射仪（XRD）对样品的结构进行了表征。在可见光条件下,用溴酚蓝、甲基绿、甲基蓝、孔雀石绿、甲基紫和碱性品红等6种典型三苯甲烷类化合物为目标降解物,研究了以自制的掺Fe3＋TiO2晶体粉末对它们的催化降解作用。实验结果表明,制备的掺Fe3＋TiO2晶体属于锐钛矿型。6种化合物的光催化降解反应遵循拟一级动力学规律,且可用Langmuir-Hinshelwood（L-H）动力学模型描述,其表观反应速度常数（k）的大小顺序为：溴酚蓝〈甲基绿〈甲基蓝〈孔雀石绿〈甲基紫〈碱性品红,大小变化次序与其半衰期t1/2成反比,并从分子结构上对它们的降解规律进行定性解释。     

Fe3O4纳米磁性微粒对全氟辛烷磺酸盐的吸附

采用共沉淀法合成Fe3O4纳米磁性颗粒,用透射电子显微镜(TEM)、X射线衍射仪(XRD)以及振动样品磁强计(VSM)对Fe3O4纳米磁性颗粒的粒径、形貌和磁性进行表征并研究Fe3O4纳米磁性微粒对全氟辛磺酸盐的吸附。结果表明:在PFOS初始浓度4 mg/L,pH为3,反应时间24 h,Fe3O4纳米磁性微粒投加量1.25 g/L,对全氟辛磺酸盐去除率达到90%。Fe3O4纳米磁性微粒对PFOS的吸附符合Freundlich吸附方程。     

铁及铁铜氧化物对臭氧氧化酸性红B的催化效能

采用自蔓延溶胶凝胶法分别制备了铁氧化物和铁铜复合氧化物催化剂,以酸性红B为降解对象,对比了单独臭氧氧化、铁氧化物和铁铜复合氧化物催化臭氧氧化对酸性红B的降解效果,考察了磁力搅拌速度(500～1 640 r/min)、溶液pH(3～11)、臭氧投加速率(3.55～28.4 mg/min)对铁铜复合氧化物催化性能的影响。结果表明,与单独臭氧氧化比较,铁氧化物和铁铜复合氧化物均能加速酸性红B的降解,促进色度和COD的去除,结合催化剂的表征结果,推断催化剂表面羟基促进臭氧分解产生.OH是其氧化性能较好的主要原因,另外,催化剂的吸附能力对催化性能也有一定影响。随着磁力搅拌速度、溶液pH、臭氧投加速率的增大,铁铜复合氧化物催化臭氧氧化酸性红B的效果越好。