Ionic dye adsorption by zinc oxide nanoparticles

The adsorption behaviour of Basic Red 12, Acid Orange 7 and Acid Blue 1 on zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZNP) has been investigated to understand the physicochemical process involved and to explore the possible use of nanoparticles in the treatment and management of textile waste matter. The dye removal capacity of ZNP towards Basic Red 12, Acid Orange 7 and Acid Blue 1 was found to be 15.64, 6.78 and 6.38 mg g^?1, respectively. The adsorption process was pH dependent and optimum pH values of 9.0, 2.0 and 4.0 were obtained for Basic Red 12, Acid Orange 7 and Acid Blue 1, respectively. Equilibrium was established after 1.0 h for all dyes. Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin isotherm models were applied to the system. The adsorbent ZNP was characterised using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) techniques. SEM analysis revealed the noticeable nanoporous morphology of the material. The results of FTIR spectroscopy showed that the process is driven by an electrostatic complexation mechanism. XRD studies revealed the nanocrystalline structure of ZNP. BET surface area measurement suggested a high pore volume and large surface area for the adsorbent. The kinetic measurements suggested pseudo-second-order kinetic processes with high regression coefficients and smaller standard error of estimate values and lower residual sum of squares. The thermodynamic measurements suggested that all processes were exothermic and accompanied by negative values for Δ G⁰, Δ S⁰ and Δ H⁰.     

Indicators of sustainability as a tool in agricultural development: partitioning scientific and participatory processes

SUMMARY

Sustainable indicators have become popular tools by which policymakers can assess progress towards a more sustainable agriculture. Varying approaches to defining sustainability lead to disagreement about the value of indicators and yet some form of measurement is required so that society can judge the effects of policy. Environmental and social problems and their causes span national boundaries. An international framework for assessing agricultural activities, their effects and the pressures that drive those activities is therefore required. However, a guiding principle of the UN Agenda for Sustainable Development is that global problems require local action. Thus, indicators must provide information for policymakers as well as guidance for farmers and other practitioners. Many indicator programmes currently proposed do not provide this level of guidance as no evaluation as to what level of activity is sustainable has been agreed. A model is presented, to show how scientific and political or participatory approaches may be combined to meet the multiple objectives of involving people, maintaining scientific integrity and providing guidance for policymakers and practitioners alike.     

两栖动物监测方法和国外监测计划研究

两栖动物是生物多样性的重要组成部分,对环境变化非常敏感,可被用作环境监测的指示物种.介绍了两栖动物监测的指标、时间、频次以及监测的主要方法,包括目视遇测法、样线（带）法、繁殖区调查法、鸣叫调查法、围栏陷阱法、人工庇护所法、人工隐蔽物法和标志重捕法,分析了各种方法的适用性和局限性;还详细介绍了国外比较成熟的2个两栖动物监测计划——美国两栖动物监测计划和英国两栖爬行动物监测计划.     

土壤种子库研究方法评述

土壤种子库（soil seed bank,SSB）是指存在于土壤表面和土壤中的全部存活种子的总和。开展对土壤种子库的研究,对于分析了解过去地上植被植物群落和预示未来植被发展方向具有重要的指导意义,而对于土壤种子库研究方法的探讨则是开展土壤种子库基础实验研究的基础和支撑。本文从土壤种子库的取样时间、取样方法、取样大小和数量、鉴定方法四个方面归纳了土壤种子库的研究方法,理论分析了同位素应用于土壤种子库中种子年龄结构测定的可行性,以及植冠种子库的研究方法,并探讨了提高土壤种子库中种子萌发率的新方法。综合分析来看：（1）土壤种子库的取样时间、取样方法、取样大小和数量、鉴定方法是土壤种子库研究方法需要关注的四大关键问题,对土壤种子库的实验结果具有显著的直接影响。不同的取样时间代表的土壤种子库的内容和意义不同,取样方法、大小和数量则应根据研究区和研究内容来确定,鉴定方法也应根据具体实验区研究的物种数来考量;（2）理论上在利用同位素来测定土壤种子库中种子年龄结构是可行的,但若想广泛应用于实验中仍需进一步的深入研究;（3）目前对植冠种子库的研究方法也仅仅局限于直接计数法和间接计数法,对植冠种子库的研究方法的探讨则急需加强;（4）同时总结和提出了4种提高土壤种子库中种子萌发率的方法,未来在利用种子萌发法时,应加强注意和应用这4种方法来测定土壤种子库。     

血清中二噁英测定方法的优化

以国内外文献及标准方法为基础,优化了血清中17种2、3、7、8位取代的PCDD/Fs的测定方法,建立了同位素内标稀释-索式萃取一段法层析柱净化-高分辨气质联用分析方法.实验结果表明,17种2、3、7、8位取代的PCDD/Fs的方法检出限范围为3.72—14.74 pg.基质加标实验中目标化合物回收率为94.61%—117.14%,标准参考物质SRM1958中PCDD/Fs的多数单体测定结果也在参考值范围内.实际样品同位素内标回收率为66.2%—95.2%,RSD是4.0%—9.0%.该分析方法准确可靠、灵敏、操作简便,适用于血清中二噁英的测定.     

武宁县森林扰动及驱动因子分析

森林扰动是影响陆地生态系统的重要因子,也是影响全球碳循环的重要因素.以江西省武宁县为例,利用1986-2011年14景Landsat TM/ETM+遥感影像,通过扰动指数(disturbance index,DI)时间序列轨迹分析提取森林扰动信息,并引入经验正交函数(empirical orthogonal function,EOF)分解方法定量分析了森林扰动的时空变化规律,利用GIS深入分析了自然和社会驱动因子影响.结果表明,武宁县森林扰动在1986-1998年较强,扰动面积以1992年为最大,以地区性扰动为主;2000年以后则趋于平缓,扰动以砍伐和森林火灾为主;在空间上,扰动主要发生在近道路、低海拔、低坡度和近水地区,并受地形和交通的制约,城镇化逐渐成为该地区森林扰动的一个不可忽略的驱动因子.     

Inverse uncertainty characteristics of pollution source identification for river chemical spill incidents by stochastic analysis

Identifying source information after river chemical spill occurrences is critical for emergency responses. However, the inverse uncertainty characteristics of this kind of pollution source inversion problem have not yet been clearly elucidated. To fill this gap, stochastic analysis approaches, including a regional sensitivity analysis method, identifiability plot and perturbation methods, were employed to conduct an empirical investigation on generic inverse uncertainty characteristics under a well-accepted uncertainty analysis framework. Case studies based on field tracer experiments and synthetic numerical tracer experiments revealed several new rules. For example, the release load can be most easily inverted, and the source location is responsible for the largest uncertainty among the source parameters. The diffusion and convection processes are more sensitive than the dilution and pollutant attenuation processes to the optimization of objective functions in terms of structural uncertainty. The differences among the different objective functions are smaller for instantaneous release than for continuous release cases. Small monitoring errors affect the inversion results only slightly, which can be ignored in practice. Interestingly, the estimated values of the release location and time negatively deviate from the real values, and the extent is positively correlated with the relative size of the mixing zone to the objective river reach. These new findings improve decision making in emergency responses to sudden water pollution and guide the monitoring network design.

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甲胺生产废水中氨氮资源化的试验研究

利用MgSO4·7H2O和Na2HPO4·12H2O作为试验药剂,通过正交试验和单因素优化试验,对化学沉淀法处理甲胺生产废水中氨氮的工艺条件进行优化.结果表明,在pH=9.4、反应时间15 min、搅拌速度150 r/min、Mg:N(摩尔比值)=1.1、P:N(摩尔比值)=1.0时,化学沉淀法处理300 mL甲胺生产废水,氨氮去除率维持在92%以上,COD去除率可达37%以上.同时为验证工艺条件适应性和沉淀物(MgNH4PO4)作为农作物肥料使用的价值性,对最优条件下得到的沉淀物进行研究.与MgNH4PO4纯度为100%相比,沉淀物MgNH4PO4纯度达到86%以上.因此,化学沉淀法处理氨氮不仅具有良好的效果,而且得到的MgNH4PO4含有较高N、P,可以用作农作物肥料.     

Improvement of an efficient separation method for chemicals in diesel exhaust particles: analysis for nitrophenols

GOAL, SCOPE, AND BACKGROUND: Diesel exhaust is believed to consist of thousands of organic constituents and is a major cause of urban pollution. We recently reported that a systematic separation procedure involving successive solvent extractions, followed by repeated column chromatography, resulted in the isolation of vasodilatory active nitrophenols. These findings indicated that the estimation of the amount of nitrophenols in the environment is important to evaluate their effect on human health. The isolation procedure, however, involved successive solvent extractions followed by tedious, repeated chromatography, resulting in poor fractionation and in a significant loss of accuracy and reliability. Therefore, it was crucial to develop an alternative, efficient, and reliable analytical method. Here, we describe a facile and efficient acid-base extraction procedure for the analysis of nitrophenols. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Diesel exhaust particles (DEP) were collected from the exhaust of a 4JB1-type engine (ISUZU Automobile Co., Tokyo, Japan). Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis was performed with a GCMS-QP2010 instrument (Shimadzu, Kyoto, Japan). RESULTS: A solution of DEP in 1-butanol was extracted with aqueous NaOH to afford a nitrophenol-rich oily extract. The resulting oil was methylated with trimethylsilyldiazomethane and subsequently subjected to GC-MS analysis, revealing that 4-nitrophenol, 3-methyl-4-nitrophenol, 2-methyl-4-nitrophenol, and 4-nitro-3-phenylphenol were present in significantly higher concentrations than those reported previously. DISCUSSION: Simple acid-base extraction followed by the direct analysis of the resulting extract by GC-MS gave only broad peaks of nitrophenols with a poor detection limit, while the GC-MS analysis of the sample pretreated with (trimethylsilyl)diazomethane gave satisfactorily clear chromatograms with sharp peaks and with a significantly lowered detection limit (0.5 ng/ml, approximately 100 times). CONCLUSION: The present method involving an acid-base extraction, in situ derivatization, and GC-MS analysis has shown to be a simple, efficient, and reliable method for the isolation and identification of the chemical substances in DEP.     

Fe-Mn-sepiolite as an effective heterogeneous Fenton-like catalyst for the decolorization of reactive brilliant blue

A study of the decolorization of reactive brilliant blue in an aqueous solution using Fe-Mn-sepiolite as a heterogeneous Fenton-like catalyst has been performed. The Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra of the catalyst showed bending vibrations of the Fe-O. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of the catalyst showed characteristic diffraction peaks of α-Fe₂O₃, γ-Fe₂O₃ and MnO. A four factor central composite design (CCD) coupled with response surface methodology (RSM) was applied to evaluate and optimize the important variables (catalyst addition, hydrogen peroxide dosage, initial pH value and initial dye concentration). When the reaction conditions were catalyst dosage= 0.4 g, [H₂O₂]= 0.3 mL, pH= 2.5, [reactive brilliant blue]_o = 50 mg·L⁻¹, and volume of solution= 500 mL at room temperature, the decolorization efficiency of reactive brilliant blue was 91.98% within 60 min. Moreover, the Fe-Mn-sepiolite catalyst had good stability for the degradation of reactive brilliant blue even after six cycles. Leaching of iron ions (<0.4 mg·L⁻¹) was observed. The decoloring process was reactive brilliant blue specific via a redox reaction. The benzene ring and naphthalene ring were first oxidized to open ring; these were then oxidized to the alcohol and carboxylic acid. The reactive brilliant blue was decomposed mainly by the attack of ·OH radicals including surface-bound ·OH radicals generated on the catalyst surface.