Adsorption thermodynamics and kinetic investigation of aromatic amphoteric compounds onto different polymeric adsorbents

The adsorption behavior of p-aminobenzoic acid and o-aminobenzoic acid onto the different polymeric adsorbents was systematically investigated as a function of the solution concentration and temperature.Experimental results indicated that the equilibrium adsorption data of the four polymeric adsorbents fitted well in the Freundlich isotherm.The adsorption capacity of multi-functional polymeric adsorbent NJ-99 was the highest,which might be attributed to the strong hydrogen-bonding interaction between the amino groups on the resin and the carboxyl group of aminobenzoic acid.The adsorption capacity of o-aminobenzoic acid onto any adsorbent was higher than p-aminobenzoic acid.Thermodynamic studies suggested the exothermic,spontaneous physical adsorption process.Adsorption kinetics results showed that the adsorption followed the pseudo-second-order kinetics model and the intraparticle mass transfer process was the rate-controlling step.     

Effect of NOM characteristics on brominated organics formation by ozonation

In this study, organic fractions, namely, humic acid, fulvic acid, hydrophobic base and neutral, and hydrophilic acid, base, and -neutral, were extracted from source water. First, the characteristics of the organic fractions, such as carboxylic acidity, phenolic acidity, ultraviolet absorbance, and aromatic content, were analyzed. Further, a systematic study was carried out to the by-products obtained when organic fractions, to which various amounts of bromide had been added, were oxidized with ozone. Samples after ozonation were analyzed for several brominated organics. The results indicate that the characteristics of the aquatic organic matter, including carboxylic/phenolic acidity, aromatic/aliphatic content, and ultraviolet absorbance, appear to affect the formation of halogenated organics. In general, hydrophobic organics having higher phenolic acidity, aromatic content, and ultraviolet absorbance have higher ozone consumption and produce higher concentrations of brominated organics than hydrophilic organics. It was also found that humic acid demonstrated the highest bromoform (CHBr(3)), dibromoacetic acid (DBAA), and 2,4-dibromophenol (2,4-DBP) formation, whereas hydrophilic neutral produced less CHBr(3) and 2,4-DBP than the rest of the organic fractions but produced the highest amount of dibromoacetone (DBAC) and dibromoacetonitrile (DBAN).     

A study on oxidative degradation of polyacrylamide in wastewater with UV/FENTON/C4H4O62−

The degradation of polyacrylamide (PAM) in simulate wastewater was studied in UV/Fenton/C₄H₄O₆^2? system. The factors such as molecular ratio of H₂O₂/Fe²⁺/C₄H₄O₆^2?, pH, and the dosage of Fenton reagent that could affect the PAM degradation in the UV/Fenton/C₄H₄O₆^2? system were investigated. The experimental results showed that adding C₄H₄O₆^2? to UV/Fenton system could form photosensitive ferrous complexes, which led to higher degradation efficiency of PAM. The degradation rate of PAM could be up to 95.2% under the following conditions: the concentration of H₂O₂, Fe²⁺, and C₄H₄O₆^2? were 22.5, 2.25, and 2.25 mmol/L, respectively (i.e., molecular ratio of H₂O₂/Fe²⁺/C₄H₄O₆^2? was 10:1:1), the pH value was 3.0.     

A numerical study on the effects of EGR and spark timing to combustion characteristics and NOx emission of a GDI engine

EGR is one of the most significant strategies for reducing especially nitrogen oxides (NO_x) emissions from internal combustion engines. The thermal efficiency of spark ignition engines is lower than compression ignition engines because of its lower compression ratio. If the compression ratio is increased to obtain higher thermal efficiency, there may be a knocking tendency in spark ignition engines. EGR can be used in order to reduce NO_x emissions and avoid knocking phenomena at higher compression ratios. In-cylinder temperature at the end of combustion is decreased and heat capacity of fresh charge is increased when EGR applied. Besides EGR, spark timing is another significant parameter for reducing exhaust emissions such as nitrogen oxides, and unburned hydrocarbon (UHC). In this study the effects of EGR and spark timing on spark ignition engine were investigated numerically. KIVA codes were used in order to model combustion process. The combustion process has been modeled for a single cylinder, four stroke and gasoline direct injection (GDI) spark ignition engine. The results showed that in-cylinder pressure and heat release rate decrease as EGR ratio increase. In-cylinder pressure increases with the advancing of spark timing. Advancing spark timing increases the heat release rate and in-cylinder temperature. The simulation results also showed that EGR reduced exhaust gas temperature and NO_x emissions.     

Effects of humic acids derived from lignite and cattle manure on antioxidant enzymatic activities of barley root

To investigate the effects of humic acids (HAs) on the ability of plants to defend themselves against oxidative stress, barley was hydroponically cultured in the absence and presence of HAs, and the antioxidant enzymatic activities (catalase, superoxide dismutase, ascorbate and glutathione peroxidases) of root tissue were evaluated. Auxin-like structures in HAs, which were extracted from an oxidation product of lignite (LHA) and compost derived from cattle manure (CHA), were identified by pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) with tetramethylammonium hydroxide. The LHA, which had the lower molecular weight, was more effective in promoting the growth of barley root than CHA. However, the amounts of auxin-like structures in the CHA were much higher than those for LHA. The antioxidant enzymatic activities were initially decreased in the presence of LHA and CHA at the first day after refreshing the culture solution, but were significantly increased on the second day. The CHA sample, which contained relatively high levels of phenolic acids that contained auxin-like structures, was effective in increasing four types of enzymatic activities, while the activities of catalase and ascorbate peroxidase were increased in the presence of LHA, which contains naphthalene derivatives. These results indicate that using HAs as a supplement can be effective in enhancing antioxidation enzymatic activities, while the appearance of the effects is retarded because of the decomposition and release of auxin-like compounds from HAs by organic acids from the plant roots.     

Isolation and characterization of mesotrione-degrading Bacillus sp. from soil

Dissipation kinetics of mesotrione, a new triketone herbicide, sprayed on soil from Limagne (Puy-de-Dôme, France) showed that the soil microflora were able to biotransform it.Bacteria from this soil were cultured in mineral salt solution supplemented with mesotrione as sole source of carbon for the isolation of mesotrione-degrading bacteria. The bacterial community structure of the enrichment cultures was analyzed by temporal temperature gradient gel electrophoresis (TTGE). The TTGE fingerprints revealed that mesotrione had an impact on bacterial community structure only at its highest concentrations and showed mesotrione-sensitive and mesotrione-adapted strains. Two adapted strains, identified as Bacillus sp. and Arthrobacter sp., were isolated by colony hybridization methods.Biodegradation assays showed that only the Bacillus sp. strain was able to completely and rapidly biotransform mesotrione. Among several metabolites formed, 2-amino-4-methylsulfonylbenzoic acid (AMBA) accumulated in the medium. Although sulcotrione has a chemical structure closely resembling that of mesotrione, the isolates were unable to degrade it.     

碱激发胶凝材料及其固化Pb^2＋的试验研究

对碱激胶凝材料（碱-偏高岭土、碱-矿渣和碱-粉煤灰）与水-水泥体系固化Ph^2＋进行了试验研究,其中水-水泥体系为对比样。结果表明：对于相同稠度的碱激发胶凝材料,即使Pb^2＋含量达到2．4％,除了碱-粉煤灰的抗压强度略低外,其他都达到30MPa以上,满足填埋或做建筑基材的使用要求;与水泥相比,碱激发胶凝材料能显著降低重金属离子（Ph^2＋）浸出浓度,其规律性与其NH4交换容量大小的规律性一致,与其固化体的抗压强度的大小没有相关性。     

HPA／ZnFe2O4-TiO2光催化剂的制备及对马拉硫磷的可见光降解

以纳米TiO2载体,利用浸渍法制备了HPA／ZnFe2O4-TiO2光催化剂。对制备的催化剂进行了XRD、BET、TEM和UV-vis DRS表征。结果表明,催化剂样品均为锐钛矿相且ZnFe2O4很好地分散在载体表面,HPA／ZnFe2O4-TiO2光催化荆的平均粒径为10nm且在380-670nm均有强的光响应;反应最佳的HPA浓度为O.08molfL,最佳的ZnFe2O4负载量为1％。考察了HPA溶液初始浓度、ZnFe2O4负载量、溶液初始pH值、H2O2用量、催化剂用量对催化剂活性的影响。在溶液初始pH=13,H2O2=6mmol／L,催化剂用量为2g/L的最优条件下,光照反应进行100min后,马拉硫磷的降解率可达87％;重复4次后马拉硫磷的降解率仍可以达到67％。     

Gas/particle partitioning of atmospheric PCDD/Fs in a satellite town in Eastern China

Gas/particle partitioning of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) in ambient air was investigated in a satellite town in Eastern China from April 2007 to January 2008 comprehending large temperature variations (from 3 to 34 °C, daily average). Molecular weight, molecular structure and ambient temperatures are the three major factors that govern the gas/particle partitioning of atmospheric PCDD/Fs throughout the year. Generally, good agreements were obtained (except for winter) between measured particulate fractions and theoretical estimates of both the Junge–Pankow adsorption model and Harner Bidleman absorption model using different sets of subcooled liquid vapor pressure and octanol–air partition coefficient (K_oa), respectively. Models utilizing estimates, derived from gas chromatographic retention indices (GC-RIs), are more accurate than that of entropy-based. Moreover, during winter, the K_oa-based model using the GC-RIs approach performs better on lower chlorinated PCDD/Fs than that of -based. Furthermore, possible sources of mismatch between measured and predicted values in winter (3–7 °C) were discussed. Gas adsorption artifact was demonstrated to be of minor importance for the phenomena observed. On the other hand, large deviations of slopes (m_r) and intercepts (b_r) in logK_p vs. plots from theoretical values are observed in the literature data and these are found to be linearly correlated with ambient temperatures (P<0.001) in this study. This indicates that the non-equilibrium partitioning of PCDD/Fs in winter may be significantly influenced by the colder temperatures that may have slowed down the exchange between gaseous and particulate fractions.     

Effects of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid formulation on medulla spinalis of Poecilia reticulata: A histopathological study

This study investigated the possible effects of a commonly used foliar herbicide 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) formulation on medulla spinalis of lebistes. Fish were exposed to 2,4-D (15, 30, 45 mg L⁻¹), behavioral changes were monitored. Fish were fixed, histopathological examination was carried out on sections taken from the upper parts of the fish body. Histopathology showed increase in neuronal loss, swelling indicating formation of intracellular edema, vacuolization noticed as the formation of vacuoles within or adjacent to cells, deformation in the Nissl granules, pyknosis and gliosis in medulla spinalis. Behavioral changes were decreased general activity, grouping, shortness in breath, sudden rotations and jumping, loss of equilibrium and colour. In conclusion, this commercial formulation of 2,4-D is considerably neurotoxic to lebistes. Fish constitute the last link in the chain of the feeding cycle in aquatic eco-system, number of studies investigating acute and chronic neurotoxicity of various herbicides in fish should be increased.