二氧化钛纳米颗粒对湖滨沼泽土壤氮矿化的影响

二氧化钛纳米颗粒（TiO₂NPs）的广泛应用使其环境释放量不断增加,从而影响到土壤氮的转化过程.然而,目前关于TiO₂NPs对湖滨沼泽土壤氮矿化的影响机制尚不明确.因此,本研究以典型沼泽土壤为研究对象,通过室内培养实验研究不同剂量TiO₂NPs处理（0 mg·kg^-1（CK）、10 mg·kg^-1（A10）、100 mg·kg^-1（A100）、250 mg·kg^-1（A250）、1000 mg·kg^-1（A1000））对土壤理化性质、酶活性和氮矿化过程的影响,探讨TiO₂NPs输入对土壤氮矿化过程影响的内在机制.结果表明：①不同剂量TiO₂NPs处理显著降低了土壤pH和总有机碳（TOC）含量（p<0.05）,A100、A250和A1000处理显著降低了硝态氮（NO₃^--N）含量（p<0.05）.②A250和A1000处理显著抑制了过氧化氢酶活性（p<0.05）;培养7 d,不同剂量TiO₂NPs处理均显著促进了脲酶活性（p<0.05）,抑制了脱氢酶活性（p<0.05）;随着培养时间延长,TiO₂NPs处理对脲酶和脱氢酶活性的抑制作用逐渐减弱,表明TiO₂NPs的负面作用会随时间减弱.③不同剂量TiO₂NPs处理对氨化速率没有显著影响（p>0.05）,A250、A1000处理对硝化和矿化速率有显著抑制作用（p<0.01）.④土壤氮矿化速率与土壤pH、总磷（TP）、NO₃^--N含量呈显著正相关,与脲酶、过氧化氢酶活性呈显著负相关.TiO₂NPs主要通过改变沼泽土壤NO₃^--N含量影响氮矿化过程.本研究可为湖滨湿地保护和TiO₂NPs环境风险评估提供理论依据.     

Comparative toxicity of silver nanoparticles and silver ions to Escherichia coli

With the increase in silver(Ag)-based products in our lives, it is essential to test the potential toxicity of silver nanoparticles(Ag NPs) and silver ions(Ag ions) on living organisms under various conditions. Here, we investigated the toxicity of Ag NPs with Ag ions to Escherichia coli K-12 strain under various conditions. We observed that both Ag NPs and Ag ions display antibacterial activities, and that Ag ions had higher toxicity to E. coli K-12 strain than Ag NPs under the same concentrations. To understand the toxicity of Ag NPs at a cellular level, reactive oxygen species(ROS) enzymes were detected for use as antioxidant enzymatic biomarkers. We have also studied the toxicity of Ag NPs and Ag ions under various coexistence conditions including: fixed total concentration, with a varied the ratio of Ag NPs to Ag ions; fixed the Ag NPs concentration and then increased the Ag ions concentration; fixed Ag ions concentration and then increasing the Ag NPs concentration.Exposure to Ag NPs and Ag ions clearly had synergistic toxicity; however, decreased toxicity(for a fixed Ag NPs concentration of 5 mg/L, after increasing the Ag ions concentration) to E. coli K-12 strain. Ag NPs and Ag ions in the presence of L-cysteine accelerated the bacterial cell growth rate, thereby reducing the bioavailability of Ag ions released from Ag NPs under the single and coexistence conditions. Further works are needed to consider this potential for Ag NPs and Ag ions toxicity across a range of environmental conditions.Environmental Significance Statement: As silver nanoparticles(Ag NPs)-based products are being broadly used in commercial industries, an ecotoxicological understanding of the Ag NPs being released into the environment should be further considered. Here, we investigate the comparative toxicity of Ag NPs and silver ions(Ag ions) to Escherichia coli K-12 strain, a representative ecotoxicological bioreporter. This study showed that toxicities of Ag NPs and Ag ions to E. coli K-12 strain display different relationships when existing individually or when coexisting, and in the presence of L-cysteine materials. These findings suggest that the toxicology research of nanomaterials should consider conditions when NPs coexist with and without their bioavailable ions.     

Application of nanoparticle tracking analysis for characterising the fate of engineered nanoparticles in sediment-water systems

Novel applications of nanotechnology may lead to the release of engineered nanoparticles (ENPs), which result in concerns over their potential environmental hazardous impact. It is essential for the research workers to be able to quantitatively characterise ENPs in the environment and subsequently to assist the risk assessment of the ENPs. This study hence explored the application of nanoparticle tracking system (NTA) to quantitatively describe the behaviour of the ENPs in natural sediment-water systems. The NTA allows the measurement of both particle number concentration (PNC) and particle size distribution (PSD) of the ENPs. The developed NTA method was applied to a range of gold and magnetite ENPs with a selection of surface properties. The results showed that the positively-charged ENPs interacted more strongly with the sediment than neutral and negatively-charged ENPs. It was also found that the citrate coated Au ENPs had a higher distribution percentage (53%) than 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid coated Au ENPs (20%) and citrate coated magnetite ENPs (21%). The principles of the electrostatic interactions between hard (and soft) acids and bases (HSAB) are used to explain such behaviours; the hard base coating (i.e. citrate ions) will interact more strongly with hard acid (i.e. magnetite) than soft acid (i.e. gold). The results indicate that NTA is a complementary method to existing approaches to characterise the fate and behaviour of ENPs in natural sediment.     

Effects of TiO2 nanoparticles on the aquatic plant Spirodela polyrrhiza: Evaluation of growth parameters, pigment contents and antioxidant enzyme activities

Plants are essential components of all ecosystems and play a critical role in environmental fate of nanoparticles. However, the toxicological impacts of nanoparticles on plants are not well documented. Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO₂-NPs) are produced worldwide in large quantities for a wide range of purposes. In the present study, the uptake of TiO₂-NPs by the aquatic plant Spirodela polyrrhiza and the consequent effects on the plant were evaluated. Initially, structural and morphological characteristics of the used TiO₂-NPs were determined using XRD, SEM, TEM and BET techniques. As a result, an anatase structure with the average crystalline size of 8nm was confirmed for the synthesized TiO₂-NPs. Subsequently, entrance of TiO₂-NP_S to plant roots was verified by fluorescence microscopic images. Activity of a number of antioxidant enzymes, as well as, changes in growth parameters and photosynthetic pigment contents as physiological indices were assessed to investigate the effects of TiO₂-NPs on S. polyrrhiza. The increasing concentration of TiO₂-NPs led to the significant decrease in all of the growth parameters and changes in antioxidant enzyme activities. The activity of superoxide dismutase enhanced significantly by the increasing concentration of TiO₂-NPs. Enhancement of superoxide dismutase activity could be explained as promoting antioxidant system to scavenging the reactive oxygen species. In contrast, the activity of peroxidase was notably decreased in the treated plants. Reduced peroxidase activity could be attributed to either direct effect of these particles on the molecular structure of the enzyme or plant defense system damage due to reactive oxygen species.     

Impact of density of coating agent on antibacterial activity of silver nanoparticle impregnated plasma treated activated carbon

To use stabilized nanoparticles(NPs) in water as disinfectants over a very long period, the amount of coating agent(for NP stabilization) needs to be optimized. To this end, silver nanoparticles(Ag-NPs) with two different coating densities of tri-sodium citrate(12.05 and46.17 molecules/nm~2, respectively), yet of very similar particle size(29 and 27 nm, respectively)were synthesized. Both sets of citrate capped NPs were then separately impregnated on plasma treated activated carbon(AC), with similar Ag loading of 0.8 and 0.82 wt.%, respectively. On passing contaminated water(containing 10~4 CFU Escherichia coli/m L of water) through a continuous flow-column packed with Ag/AC, zero cell concentration was achieved in 22 and 39 min, with Ag-NPs(impregnated on AC, named as Ag/AC) having lower and higher coating density, respectively. Therefore, even on ensuring similar Ag-NP size and loading, there is a significant difference in antibacterial performance based on citrate coating density in Ag/AC.This is observed in lower coating density case, due to both:(i) higher Ag~+ ion release from Ag-NP and(ii) stronger binding of individual Ag-NPs on AC. The latter ensures that, Ag-NP does not detach from the AC surface for a long duration. TGA-DSC shows that Ag-NPs with a low coating density bind to AC with 4.55 times higher adsorption energy, compared to Ag/AC with a high coating density, implying stronger binding. Therefore, coating density is an important parameter for achieving higher antibacterial efficacy, translating into a faster decontamination rate in experiments, over a long period of flow-column operation.     

纳米银对胶州湾西北部海区及河口区沉积物反硝化能力和功能基因丰度的影响

在胶州湾西北部海区和大沽河河口区选择S站和E站2个研究站位,现场采样带回实验室进行模拟培养,研究纳米银对沉积物反硝化能力、反硝化酶活性及功能基因丰度的影响.将不同剂量(0、135、1 350 mg·L~(-1))的纳米银添加至由表层沉积物和原位底层海水组成的培养体系中培养6 d,测定其在不同时间内NO_3~-和NO_2~-含量、NO_3~-还原酶和NO_2~-还原酶活性、反硝化功能基因narG和nirS相对丰度的变化,探讨纳米银对不同区域沉积物反硝化过程的影响和可能的作用途径.结果表明,纳米银胁迫对2个站位沉积物NO_3~-和NO_2~-的还原能力、NO_3~-和NO_2~-还原酶活性及narG和nirS的基因丰度均具有明显的抑制效应,纳米银浓度越高,抑制程度越强,并会导致NO_2~-累积量的增加;纳米银对NO_2~-还原酶的抑制程度明显大于NO_3~-还原酶,对功能基因nirS的抑制程度明显大于narG;纳米银胁迫对NO_3~-还原过程的影响主要通过对功能基因的抑制作用,而对NO_2~-还原过程的影响主要是通过对还原酶活性的抑制作用;纳米银对胶州湾西北部海域反硝化能力、NO_3~-还原酶和基因丰度的抑制程度大于大沽河河口区.     

聚丙烯塑料-锯末干混合制备高介孔率柱状活性炭

以聚丙烯塑料和梧桐锯末为原材料,无水K2CO3为活化剂,采用干混合法制备高介孔率柱状活性炭.通过单因素实验,探究了塑料含量、盐料比、活化温度及活化时间对活性炭吸附亚甲基蓝(MB)性能的影响.结果表明:当塑料含量为20%、盐料比为2.5、活化温度为950℃、活化时间为80 min时,所制备的活性炭具有较高的MB吸附量(322.9 mg·g-1).所制备的活性炭具有发达的微观孔隙结构,其比表面积达到1461.99m2·g-1,平均孔径为3.23 nm,总孔容为1.04 cm3·g-1,其中,介孔孔容为0.80 cm3·g-1,介孔率超过70%,充分说明该方法可制备优质高介孔率柱状活性炭.     

模板剂十二胺对胺改性HMS吸附CO2的影响

以正硅酸乙酯为硅源、十二胺为模板剂制备中孔硅HMS-1,采用焙烧和乙醇萃取的方法去除其模板剂,所得材料分别为HMS-2与HMS-3,并将四乙烯五胺（TEPA）与二乙醇胺（DEA）混合负载于3种材料上,采用X射线衍射（XRD）、傅里叶红外（FTIR）与氮气吸附实验对材料进行表征,研究改性前后的HMS对常压下低浓度CO₂的吸附性能及再生能力.XRD与FTIR结果表明,TEPA与DEA已被成功负载到HMS孔道内.氮气吸附实验表明,保留模板剂和胺基改性后,材料的孔容显著降低.20℃下,初始浓度为10%的CO₂在材料上的吸附量顺序为：MA-HMS-1（3.29mmol/g） > MA-HMS-3（2.7mmol/g） > HMS-1（1.88mmol/g） > MA-HMS-2（1.65mmol/g） > HMS-2（1.33mmol/g）,模板剂的存在,不仅增加了CO₂的吸附位点,还对混合胺改性的HMS吸附CO₂起到了协同作用.在20~75℃范围内,MA-HMS-1与MA-HMS-3受温度影响最明显,65℃时吸附量达最大值;随着温度的升高,HMS-1的吸附量随温度升高持续降低;MA-HMS-2的吸附量基本不变.含胺基的4种材料（HMS-1、MA-HMS-1、MA-HMS-2与MA-HMS-3）在80℃下拥有优良的再生性能,经4次循环再生后,MA-HMS-1的再生率为97.5%,高于MA-HMS-2（83%）和MA-HMS-3（84%）,保留HMS的模板剂对材料的再生性能有明显促进作用.     

多核yolk?shell型Co3O4@mSiO2纳米反应器降解双酚A

采用阳离子表面活性剂协助的自模板法合成了中空介孔SiO₂微球（HMSS）,然后向含HMSS的悬浮液中加入醋酸钴溶液和氨水,让两种溶液经HMSS表面介孔进入空腔中反应生成Co₃O₄内核,合成了多核yolk-shell型Co₃O₄@mSiO₂（介孔SiO₂）纳米反应器.结合XRD、XPS、SEM、STEM、BET等手段,分析了纳米反应器的形貌、结构、元素形态和比表面积.结果显示纳米反应器均匀分散,粒径约为300nm,表面布满介孔,内部分布大量Co₃O₄纳米粒子,拥有极大的比表面积161m²/g,远大于Co₃O₄纳米粒子的比表面积35m²/g,能有效吸附双酚A（BPA）,1h吸附容量达12.7mg/g.多核yolk-shell型Co₃O₄@mSiO₂纳米反应器能高效催化过一硫酸氢盐（PMS）降解BPA,2h降解率达81.8%,远高于Co₃O₄纳米粒子的降解率51.3%,同时能节省PMS的投加量,避免水中盐度过高.此外,合成的纳米反应器具有很好的再利用性,在pH值3~9范围内表现出稳定而高效的催化性能.     

超声辅助纳米铁降解酸性红G的实验研究

通过硼氢化纳还原法制备了铁纳米颗粒,并用十二烷基硫酸钠对其进行保护。所得铁纳米颗粒大小在13nm左右,体心立方相。对比了在机械搅拌和超声辅助条件下纳米铁对酸性红G的降解率,超声条件下纳米铁和微米铁对酸性红G的降解率,以及纳米铁投加量、pH值对酸性红G降解率的影响。结果表明,超声辅助下,pH=6～7时,4min内纳米铁对酸性红G有较高的降解率。机理分析表明超声辅助条件下纳米铁对酸性红G的降解主要是超声分散下纳米铁的还原作用得到提高以及纳米铁氧化产物的絮凝作用。