Recycling of high purity selenium from CIGS solar cell waste materials

Copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) is a promising material in thin film solar cell production. To make CIGS solar cells more competitive, both economically and environmentally, in comparison to other energy sources, methods for recycling are needed. In addition to the generally high price of the material, significant amounts of the metals are lost in the manufacturing process. The feasibility of recycling selenium from CIGS through oxidation at elevated temperatures was therefore examined. During oxidation gaseous selenium dioxide was formed and could be separated from the other elements, which remained in solid state. Upon cooling, the selenium dioxide sublimes and can be collected as crystals. After oxidation for 1 h at 800 °C all of the selenium was separated from the CIGS material. Two different reduction methods for reduction of the selenium dioxide to selenium were tested. In the first reduction method an organic molecule was used as the reducing agent in a Riley reaction. In the second reduction method sulphur dioxide gas was used. Both methods resulted in high purity selenium. This proves that the studied selenium separation method could be the first step in a recycling process aimed at the complete separation and recovery of high purity elements from CIGS.     

固定化果胶酶抑制铜绿微囊藻生长研究

为证实固定化果胶酶抑制蓝藻生长的作用,在实验室条件下,以铜绿微囊藻（Microcystis aeruginosa）为受试藻种,用共培养法观察了固定化果胶酶对藻细胞群体的作用、用电镜观察了共培养后藻细胞的损伤状况,测定了对其生理生化特征的影响.结果表明固定化果胶酶与藻共培养液第3 d明显黄化,且黄化程度与固定化果胶酶的用量和培养时间呈正相关系;电镜照片显示固定化果胶酶对藻细胞有损伤作用,轻微损伤的藻细胞出现质壁分离,表面粗糙、凸凹不平,形状不规则,严重损伤的藻细胞表面发生深度皱缩或细胞结构完全解体;随着固定化果胶酶与铜绿微囊藻共培养时间的延长,藻细胞生长量、叶绿素a含量显著降低,表明藻细胞受到胁迫和伤害,藻细胞正常的光合作用受到严重影响.丙二醛（MDA）值显示藻细胞抗氧化防御体系被破坏,细胞内发生严重膜脂过氧化.固定化果胶酶能有效抑制铜绿微囊藻细胞的生长,铜绿微囊藻生长抑制率可高达96%.     

邻苯二甲酸二丁酯暴露对雄性大鼠生精细胞功能影响

观察不同剂量的邻苯二甲酸二丁酯(DBP)对成年大鼠生精细胞损伤、端粒酶和端粒酶逆转录酶(TERT)表达影响.对40只健康雄性SD大鼠随机分成4组,分别为500mg·kg-1·d-1、250mg·kg-1·d-1、50mg·kg-1·d-1 3个染毒组和1个对照组,灌胃量为5mL·kg-1体重,灌胃法连续给药6周.对体重...     

以预处理剩余污泥为燃料MFC产电性能及不连续供电的可行性

为探讨微生物燃料电池(microbial fuel cell,MFC)处理经预处理后剩余污泥的可行性以及不连续供电能力,采用双室MFC,以剩余污泥热处理上清液为基质进行启动和运行,通过改变电池阴极电子受体而导致电势差变化来监测其产电的运行稳定性.结果表明,反应器以氧气作为阴极电子受体148 h后启动成功,最大输出电压0.24 V,将阴极电子受体换为铁氰化钾时,能获得0.66 V的最大输出电压和4.21 W·m~(-3)的最大功率密度.当将阴极电子受体分别替换为氧气或者开路,又转换为铁氰化钾后,电池输出功率恢复迅速,电池对有机物去除效率基本不受影响,对化学需氧量(COD)、氨氮去除效率分别达70%和80%.本研究表明,利用预处理剩余污泥进行MFC处理和产电是可行的,可获得较高的功率密度,同时MFC可以实现不连续供电.     

微生物燃料电池恒电流预培养阳极生物膜分析表征

阳极性能是影响微生物燃料电池(Microbial Fuel Cells,MFCs)性能的关键因素之一,同时阳极的接种挂膜过程是影响微生物燃料电池启动效率的关键因素.因此,本课题组提出了预培养阳极作为微生物燃料电池的一种新型阳极的概念,在三电极体系下,通过外加恒定电流预培养阳极,在不同条件下对阳极表面进行电化学选择和生物膜驯化以丰富生物膜结构和厚度.结果表明,阳极的性能与预培养电流大小密切相关,预培养阳极CF-4i(外加4 A·m-2电流密度)通过循环伏安法、塔菲尔曲线、电化学阻抗谱测试,性能好于其他测试组及对照组,装配阳极CF-4i的微生物燃料电池能实现最大功率密度968.20 m W·m-2,是对照组的2.53倍.同时,通过共聚焦显微镜观察发现,生物膜大体分两层,外层的活细胞及内层的死细胞,外层活细胞长在内层死细胞之上.这种结构分布表明,阳极生物膜中的活细胞部分绝大多数都分布于生物膜的外侧,而不是均布于整个阳极生物膜中;同时这也表明不是整个阳极生物膜都具有新陈代谢活性,但死亡的细胞可以继续积累在电极表面附近,活的外层膜负责电流的产生,而内层的死细胞作为一种导电基质.     

采用电芬顿-磁固定化菌株耦合体系治理苯酚废水的研究

为实现对苯酚废水治理工艺的优化,针对传统包埋法制备固定化细胞的工艺方法进行改进,选用磁性纳米颗粒制备磁固定化细胞,将其与电芬顿法结合构建耦合体系,利用耦合协同作用实现催化剂的重复利用,并依托微生物的良好降解性能与稳定性提高苯酚降解率,进一步实现对苯酚废水治理工艺的系统优化。     

Mitochondrial toxicity and in vitro biological effects of ambient PM2.5 from an urban site in China

Abstract

The roles of PM_2.5-induced mitochondrial damage and oxidative stress on mast cell degranulation were examined in vitro. Mast cells were treated with suspensions of PM_2.5 in Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s medium at concentrations from 25 to 200?mg/L in the absence or presence of 10?mmol/L N-acetyl-L-cysteine. Biological effects and mitochondrial function were assessed by determining cell viability, β-hexosaminidase release, interleukin-4 secretion, reactive oxygen species generation, adenosine triphosphate production, potential alteration of mitochondrial membrane, and activities of mitochondrial electron transport chain complexes I and III. Exposure of mast cells to PM_2.5 induced reduction of adenosine triphosphate production, collapse of mitochondrial membrane potential, and inhibition of the activity of complex III. Co-treatment of mast cells exposed to PM_2.5 with N-acetyl-L-cysteine attenuated cytotoxicity and the production of reactive oxygen species, and decreased the release of β-hexosaminidase and interleukin-4. Evidently, PM_2.5-induced oxidative stress plays an essential role in mitochondrial toxicity and mast cell activation.     

Hydroxytyrosol, the phenolic compound of olive oil protects human PBMC against oxidative stress and DNA damage mediated by 2,3,7,8-TCDD

The protective effect of hydroxytyrosol (HT), a strong antioxidant compound from extra virgin olive oil, against TCDD induced toxicity was investigated in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). PBMC (1 × 10⁶ cells mL⁻¹) were divided into four groups and were incubated in a CO₂ incubator (5% CO₂) for 12 h with vehicle, TCDD (10 nM), TCDD + HT (10 nM + 100 μM) and HT alone (100 μM) respectively. To clarify the role of HT against TCDD induced cytotoxicity, oxidative stress and the levels of antioxidant enzymes were assessed. Incubation of PBMC with TCDD significantly decreased cell viability, catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and increased the levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione reductase (GR) and oxidative stress markers such as lipid peroxidation products (LPO), protein carbonyl content (PCC) and reactive oxygen species (ROS). Whereas, HT had an effective antioxidant property as observed by the increased cell viability, normalization of antioxidant enzymes and decreased levels of LPO, PCC and ROS in PBMC co-treated with HT and TCDD. Apoptosis detection and comet assay results shows that HT, by acting as an antioxidant, prevents the damage to DNA induced by TCDD. In addition light microscopic and histopathological observations revealed that the cells are apoptotic and degenerated during TCDD treatment, whereas cells showed intact morphology during co-treatment with HT. On the whole, the results reveal that HT exerts a promising antioxidant potential in protecting the PBMC against TCDD induced oxidative stress, which might be due to the presence of catechol moiety in its structure.     

Microbial fuel cells: Advances in electrode modifications for improvement of system performance

There is an increasing trend to conduct the researches related to Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) in the recent years. Limited power output has been the major obstacle for the practical application and upscaling of MFCs. Attempts have been made on electrode modifications such as anode treatments, cathode modifications with catalysts and bio cathodes developments to produce varying degrees of improved output current depending upon the types of modifications. Power density and Coulombic efficiency have been considered as the important parameters to analyze the system performances. This paper overviews on the advances made in MFCs’ researches focusing on different types of electrodes modifications along with the involved methodology. Furthermore, the system performances of different modified MFCs are compared in terms of the power density and the Coulombic efficiency.     

The response of soil Arthrobacter agilis lush13 to changing conditions: Transition between vegetative and dormant state

This work was aimed at studying the response of soil non-spore-forming actinobacterial strain Arthrobacter agilis Lush 13 to changing natural conditions, such as nutrient availability and the presence of degradable and recalcitrant aliphatic and aromatic substrates. The A. agilis strain Lush13 was able to degrade octane, nonane, hexadecane, benzoate, phenol, and 2,3-, 2,4-, 2,5-, 2,6-dichlorophenols, but not grew on 3,4-dichlorophenol, 2,3,4-, 2,4,5-, 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (TCP), pentachlorophenol (PCP), 2-chlorobenzoate, 3-chlorobenzoate, 3,5-dichlorobenzoate, 2,4-dichlorobenzoate. Under growth-arresting conditions due to nitrogen- or multiple starvation or recalcitrant (non-utilizable) carbon source, the studied strain preserved viability for prolonged periods (4–24 months) due to transition to dormancy in the form of conglomerated small and ultrasmall cyst-like dormant cells (CLC). Dormant cells were shown to germinate rapidly (30 min or later) after removal of starvation stress, and this process was followed by breakdown of conglomerates with the eliberation and further division of small multiple actively growing daughter cells. Results of this study shed some light to adaptive capabilities of soil arthrobacters in pure and polluted environments.