全氟化合物在阳离子表面活性剂改性碳纳米管上的吸附

采用两种阳离子表面活性剂,四丁基溴化铵(TBA)及聚乙烯亚胺(PEI)对碳纳米管进行改性,并研究了全氟辛酸(PFOA)、全氟辛烷磺酸盐(PFOS)、全氟己烷磺酸盐(PFHxS)在改性碳纳米管上的吸附行为.研究结果显示,除PFOS在TBA修饰的碳纳米管(TBA-MWCNTs)上的吸附等温线呈线性外,全氟化合物在原碳纳米管(Pri-MWCNTs)、TBA-MWCNTs及PEI修饰的碳纳米管(PEI-MWCNTs)上的吸附均为非线性.吸附等温线可以用Freundlich及Langmuir模型拟合.与Pri-MWCNTs相比,PEI-MWCNTs的零电荷点(pHzpc)增加了6.2个单位,全氟化合物的吸附系数Kd值增加2—3倍;而TBA-MWCNTs的pHzpc增加了1.0个单位,PFOS在高平衡浓度下的Kd值增加了两倍.随着溶液pH值的降低,全氟化合物在Pri-MWCNTs和PEI-MWCNTs上的吸附量有所增加,而在TBA-MWCNTs上的吸附受pH值的影响不大.这说明疏水作用及静电作用是全氟化合物在Pri-MWCNTs和PEI-MWCNTs上吸附的主要机制,而疏水作用则为TBA-MWCNTs上吸附的主要机制.与单溶质体系相比,PFOS与PFOA同时存在时二者在PEI-MWCNTs上吸附的Kd值均有所减小,且PFOA的减小程度大于PFOS.PFOS在TBA-MWCNTs上吸附的Kd值在高浓度下几乎不受PFOA的影响.     

A Retrospective Evaluation of the Global Decline of Carnivores and Ungulates

Assessing temporal changes in species extinction risk is necessary for measuring conservation success or failure and for directing conservation resources toward species or regions that would benefit most. Yet, there is no long‐term picture of genuine change that allows one to associate species extinction risk trends with drivers of change or conservation actions. Through a review of 40 years of IUCN‐related literature sources on species conservation status (e.g., action plans, red‐data books), we assigned retrospective red‐list categories to the world's carnivores and ungulates (2 groups with relatively long generation times) to examine how their extinction risk has changed since the 1970s. We then aggregated species’ categories to calculate a global trend in their extinction risk over time. A decline in the conservation status of carnivores and ungulates was underway 40 years ago and has since accelerated. One quarter of all species (n = 498) moved one or more categories closer to extinction globally, while almost half of the species moved closer to extinction in Southeast Asia. The conservation status of some species improved (toward less threatened categories), but for each species that improved in status 8 deteriorated. The status of large‐bodied species, particularly those above 100 kg (including many iconic taxa), deteriorated significantly more than small‐bodied species (below 10 kg). The trends we found are likely related to geopolitical events (such as the collapse of Soviet Union), international regulations (such as CITES), shifting cultural values, and natural resource exploitation (e.g., in Southeast Asia). Retrospective assessments of global species extinction risk reduce the risk of a shifting baseline syndrome, which can affect decisions on the desirable conservation status of species. Such assessments can help conservationists identify which conservation policies and strategies are or are not helping safeguard biodiversity and thus can improve future strategies. Una Evaluación Retrospectiva de la Declinación Global de Carnívoros y Ungulados     

Kinetic and equilibrium study of Alizarin Red S removal by activated carbon

Activated carbon has been applied for the adsorption of Alizarin Red S (ARS) from the waste water in a batch method to obtain high removal percentage. The influence of variables such as pH, temperature, ARS concentration, mass and size of adsorbent, and contact time on ARS removal percentage was investigated. Different kinetics, thermodynamics, and isotherm models were applied for fitting the experimental data. The adsorption process follows a pseudo second-order kinetic model with R ² of 0.98 and Freundlich, Tempkin, and Dubinin-Radushkevich isotherm models with high determination coefficients (R ²) of 0.91, 0.98, and 0.98, respectively. High enthalpy (positive value), Gibbs free energy (negative value), and high entropy values shows the feasibility and the endothermic spontaneous nature of the removal process.     

Application of Fe0/C/Clay ceramics for decoloration of synthetic Acid Red 73 and Reactive Blue 4 wastewater by micro-electrolysis

Dyes are common pollutants in textile wastewaters, and the treatment of the wastewater has now attracted much attention due to its wide application and low biodegradability. In this study, Fe⁰/C/Clay ceramics, a kind of novel micro-electrolysis filler, were sintered and employed in a dynamic micro-electrolysis reactor for synthetic Acid Red 73 (AR73) and Reactive Blue 4 (RB4) wastewater treatment. The effects of influent pH, hydraulic retention time (HRT), and aeration on the decoloration efficiencies of AR73 and RB4 were studied. The optimum conditions for wastewater treatment were: AR73, influent pH of 4, HRT of 2 h and aeration; RB4, influent pH of 5, HRT of 6 h and aeration. Under the optimum conditions, decoloration efficiency of AR73 and RB4 wastewater was 96% and 83%, respectively. Results of UV-vis spectrum scanning demonstrated that the chromophores were broken. Continuous running tests showed that improvement of micro-electrolysis system with Fe⁰/C/Clay ceramics for AR73 and RB4 synthetic wastewater treatment could avoid failure of micro-electrolysis reactor, which indicated great potential for the practical application of the ceramics in the field of actual industrial wastewater treatment.     

Dyes wastewater treatment by reduction-oxidation process in an electrochemical reactor packed with natural manganese mineral

A novel technology which combined electrochemical process catalyzed by manganese mineral with electro-assisted coagulation process was proposed in this study. The mineralization of organic pollutant from simulated dye wastewater containing an azo dye Acid Red B（ARB） was experimentally investigated using this method. It was found that the manganese mineral could catalyze the electrochemical process dramatically. The TOC removal percentage of electrochemical treatment catalyzed by manganese mineral was 43.6% while the TOC removal percentage of the process using the manganese mineral alone and using the electrolysis alone were 9.3% and 20.8%, respectively. Moreover, it was found that combined electroxidation with electro-assisted coagulation process could more effectively eliminate ARB. After a period of 180 min electrooxidation and 300 min electroreduction, almost 66.9% of TOC was removed, and the dissolved Mn^2＋. could be effectivly removed. The effects of the order of oxidation and reduction, the proper ratio electrooxidation/reduction time, and current density on the removal efficiency were investigated in detail. In addition, a proposed mechanism of manganese-mineral-catalyzed electrooxidation-reduction process was discussed in this paper.     

Evaluation of countermeasures for red light running by traffic simulator–based surrogate safety measures

Objective: The conflicts among motorists entering a signalized intersection with the red light indication have become a national safety issue. Because of its sensitivity, efforts have been made to investigate the possible causes and effectiveness of countermeasures using comparison sites and/or before-and-after studies. Nevertheless, these approaches are ineffective when comparison sites cannot be found, or crash data sets are not readily available or not reliable for statistical analysis. Considering the random nature of red light running (RLR) crashes, an inventive approach regardless of data availability is necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of each countermeasure face to face.

Method: The aims of this research are to (1) review erstwhile literature related to red light running and traffic safety models; (2) propose a practical methodology for evaluation of RLR countermeasures with a microscopic traffic simulation model and surrogate safety assessment model (SSAM); (3) apply the proposed methodology to actual signalized intersection in Virginia, with the most prevalent scenarios—increasing the yellow signal interval duration, installing an advance warning sign, and an RLR camera; and (4) analyze the relative effectiveness by RLR frequency and the number of conflicts (rear-end and crossing).

Results: All scenarios show a reduction in RLR frequency (?7.8, ?45.5, and ?52.4%, respectively), but only increasing the yellow signal interval duration results in a reduced total number of conflicts (?11.3%; a surrogate safety measure of possible RLR-related crashes). An RLR camera makes the greatest reduction (?60.9%) in crossing conflicts (a surrogate safety measure of possible angle crashes), whereas increasing the yellow signal interval duration results in only a 12.8% reduction of rear-end conflicts (a surrogate safety measure of possible rear-end crash).

Conclusions: Although increasing the yellow signal interval duration is advantageous because this reduces the total conflicts (a possibility of total RLR-related crashes), each countermeasure shows different effects by RLR-related conflict types that can be referred to when making a decision. Given that each intersection has different RLR crash issues, evaluated countermeasures are directly applicable to enhance the cost and time effectiveness, according to the situation of the target intersection. In addition, the proposed methodology is replicable at any site that has a dearth of crash data and/or comparison sites in order to test any other countermeasures (both engineering and enforcement countermeasures) for RLR crashes.     

Revegetation Strategies for Bauxite Refinery Residue: A Case Study of Alcan Gove in Northern Territory, Australia

Alumina extraction from bauxite ore with strong alkali produces waste bauxite refinery residue consisting of residue sand and red mud. The amount and composition of refinery residue depend on the purity of the bauxite ore and extraction conditions, and differs between refineries. The refinery residue is usually stored in engineered disposal areas that eventually have to be revegetated. This is challenging because of the alkaline and sodic nature of the residue. At Alcan Gove’s bauxite refinery in Gove, Northern Territory, Australia, research into revegetation of bauxite residue has been conducted since the mid-1970s. In this review, we discuss approaches taken by Alcan Gove to achieve revegetation outcomes (soil capping of refinery residue) on wet-slurry disposal areas. Problems encountered in the past include poor drainage and water logging during the wet season, and salt scalding and capillary rise during the dry season. The amount of available water in the soil capping is the most important determinant of vegetation survival in the seasonally dry climate. Vegetation cover was found to prevent deterioration of the soil cover by minimising capillary rise of alkalinity from the refinery residue. The sodicity and alkalinity of the residue in old impoundments has diminished slightly over the 25 years since it was deposited. However, development of a blocky structure in red mud, presumably due to desiccation, allows root penetration, thereby supplying additional water to salt and alkali-tolerant plant species. This has led to the establishment of an ecosystem that approaches a native woodland.     

Preparation, characterization, and photocatalytic activities of boron- and cerium-codoped TiO2

Boron- and cerium-codoped TiO2 photocatalysts were synthesized using modified sol-gel reaction process and characterized by X- ray diffraction （XRD）, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS）, particle size distribution （PSD）, diffuse reflectance spectra （DRS）, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller （BET）. The photocatalytic activities were evaluated by monitoring the degradation of dye Acid Red B （ARB）. The results showed that the prepared photocatalysts were mixed oxides mainly consisting of titania, ceria, and boron oxide. The structure of TiO2 could be transformed from amorphous to anatase and then to rutile by increasing calcination temperature; the transformation being accompanied by the growth of particle size without any obvious change in phase structure of CeO2. The XPS of B1.6Ce1.0-TiO2 prepared at 500℃ showed that a few boron atoms were incorporated into titania and ceria lattice, whereas others existed as B2O3. Cerium ions existed in two states, Ce^3＋ and Ce^4＋, and the atomic ratio of Ce^3＋/Ce^4＋ was 1.86. When boron and cerium were doped, the UV-Vis adsorption band wavelength showed an obvious shift toward the visible range （〈526 nm）. As the atomic ratio of Ce/Ti increased to 1.0, the absorbance edge wavelength increased to 481 nm. The absorbance edge wavelength decreased for higher cerium doping levels （Ce/Ti=2.0）. The particles size ranged from 122 to 255 nm with a domain at 168 nm （39.4%）. The degradation of ARB dye indicated that the photocatalytic activities of boron- and cerium-codoped TiO2 were much higher than those of P25 （a standard TiO2 powder）. The activities increased as the boron doping increased, whereas decreased when the Ce/Ti atomic ratio was greater than 0.5. The optimum atomic ratio of B/Ti and Ce/Ti was 1.6 and 0.5, respectively.     

质子化焦化污泥作为生物吸附剂对水溶液中活性红4的吸附性能

以焦化厂污水处理车间的剩余污泥为材料,经过质子化处理制备生物吸附剂,进行了吸附活性红4(RR4)的研究. 考察了吸附平衡时间,溶液pH,染料质量浓度,NaCl浓度等因素对RR4吸附的影响. 结果表明:生物吸附剂对RR4的吸附所需平衡时间为48 h;溶液的pH对吸附过程有较大影响,酸性条件利于吸附,碱性条件下发生解吸附(解吸附率大于70%);吸附等温曲线符合Langmuir和Freundlich方程, pH=1的条件下最大吸附量为(72.33±5.59) mg/g;ρ(RR4)为100 mg/L时,NaCl浓度对RR4的吸附不产生可见影响,ρ(RR4)为500 mg/L时,NaCl的存在对吸附有阻碍作用.      

阳离子表面活性剂聚集行为的热力学研究

为了深入了解阳离子表面活性剂溶液在复杂体系中的物理化学性质,以十六烷基三甲基氯化铵(CTAC)和十六烷基三甲基溴化铵(CTAB)为模型,通过电导法和表面张力法研究其在水相体系中的聚集行为。测定两种表面活性剂的临界胶束浓度CMC、胶束离解度β、胶束聚集数n和表面过剩吸附量Γs。由CMC与温度T的关系,应用准相分离模型计算了胶束化热力学参数ΔmicG0、ΔmicH0和ΔmicS0,结果表明ΔmicG0为负值,而且随温度变化很小,ΔmicH0的值相对于TΔmicS0来说小得多,表明胶束化过程为熵驱动过程。