Characteristic and mechanism of sorption and desorption of benzene on humic acid

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The sorption/desorption behaviors of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX) on soil organic matter (SOM) have a significant influence on...     

Synthetic organic chemicals (flame retardants and pesticides) with neurotoxic potential induced behavioral impairment on zebrafish (Danio rerio): a non-invasive approach for neurotoxicology

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Behavior responses of organisms can be used as a non-invasive method for neurotoxicology studies since it directly links the nervous system’s...     

Small queens in the ant Ectatomma tuberculatum: a new case of social parasitism

Social parasites exploit the worker force of colonies of other social insects to rear their own young. Social parasitism occurs in several Hymenoptera and is particularly common in several tribes of the ant subfamilies Myrmicinae and Formicinae. Here, we document the occurrence of miniaturized queens (microgynes) in colonies of Ectatomma tuberculatum, an ant belonging to the subfamily Ectatomminae. Behavioral observations and genetic analyses show that microgynes concentrate their reproductive efforts almost exclusively on the production of sexual offspring (microgynes and males), whereas the regular, large queens (macrogynes) produce workers in addition to sexuals. According to mitochondrial and nuclear markers, gene flow between microgynes and macrogynes is extremely limited. Whereas the co-occurrence of microgynes and macrogynes in the related species Ectatomma ruidum constitutes an intraspecific polymorphism associated with alternative dispersal tactics, microgynes found in colonies of E. tuberculatum appear to be a distinct species and to represent the first case of social parasitism in the poneromorph subfamilies of ants.     

长江三峡区间数字流域水系的构建

基于全球陆地一公里基础高程GLOBE数据 ,采用Martz和Garbrecht研制的数字高程流域水系模型自动提取长江三峡万县～宜昌区间的河网水系、各子流域分水线、河网与子流域编码及河网结构拓扑关系 ,从而构成该区域的数字流域和数字水系。结果表明该模型生成的水系是可以接受的 ,与 1:10万地形图上长江三峡万县～宜昌区间的水系一致 ,这为空间分布式模型的建立提供了必备的空间信息数据。最后 ,探讨了数字流域水系在流域生态学中的应用前景 ,构建的数字水系可为中尺度以上流域水体和水生生物的资源保护与合理利用提供决策平台 ,服务于社会经济的可持续发展。     

Material suppliers and industrial metabolism

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is not sufficiently tailored to the analysis of strategic environmental problems of material suppliers. Sustainable development calls for a reduction by a factor of 10 to 20 in the material intensity of the economy, a situation which leads to dramatic shifts in markets for raw materials. Furthermore, a material supplier might have major improvement options in the material’s numerous downstream uses. LCAs, however, can’t cover these two aspects. An adapted form of Substance Flow Analysis (SFA) may be an answer. This approach defines a system in relation to the flow of a specific material through society. All environmental interventions related to the material are inventoried. An emission evaluation indicates the dominant environmental bottlenecks, given the current market volume of each application of the material. This helps to identify improvement options and strategic choices in market portfolios. Scenario analysis on potential measures can further indicate changes of material flows — and thus markets — in the system. The approach is illustrated with a case study on chlorine.     

Phosphate recovery with granular acid-activated neutralized red mud: Fixed-bed column performance and breakthrough curve modelling

Granular acid-activated neutralized red mud (AaN-RM) has been successfully prepared with good chemical stability and physical strength. However, its potential for industrial application remains unknown. Therefore, the performance of granular AaN-RM for phosphate recovery in a fixed-bed column was investigated. The results demonstrated that the phosphate adsorption performance of granular AaN-RM in a fixed-bed column was affected by various operational parameters, such as the bed depth, flow rate, initial solution pH and initial phosphate concentration. With the optimal empty-bed contact time (EBCT) of 24.27 min, the number of processed bed volumes and the phosphate adsorption capacity reached 496.95 and 84.80 mg/g, respectively. Then, the saturated fixed-bed column could be effectively regenerated with a 0.5 mol/L HCl solution. The desorption efficiency remained as high as 83.45% with a low weight loss of 3.57% in the fifth regeneration cycle. In addition, breakthrough curve modelling showed that a 5-9-1 feed-forward artificial neural network (ANN) could be effectively applied for the optimization of the fixed-bed adsorption system; the coefficient of determination (R²) and the root mean square error (RMSE) evaluated on the validation-testing data were 0.9987 and 0.0183, respectively. Therefore, granular AaN-RM fixed-bed adsorption exhibits promising potential for phosphate removal and recovery from polluted water.     

Mechanism and catalytic performance for direct dimethyl ether synthesis by CO2 hydrogenation over CuZnZr/ferrierite hybrid catalyst

Direct synthesis of dimethyl ether(DME) by CO_2 hydrogenation has been investigated over three hybrid catalysts prepared by different methods:co-precipitation,sol-gel,and solid grinding to produce mixed Cu,ZnO,ZrO_2 catalysts that were physically mixed with a commercial ferrierite(FER) zeolite.The catalysts were characterized by N_2 physisorption,X-ray diffraction(XRD),transmission electron microscopy(TEM),X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS),temperature programmed desorption of CO_2(CO_2-TPD),temperature programmed desorption of NH_3(NH_3-TPD),and temperature programmed H2 reduction(H_2-TPR).The results demonstrate that smaller CuO and Cu crystallite sizes resulting in better dispersion of the active phases,higher surface area,and lower reduction temperature are all favorable for catalytic activity.The reaction mechanism has been studied using in situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy(DRIFTS).Methanol appears to be formed via the bidentate-formate(b-HCOO) species undergoing stepwise hydrogenation,while DME formation occurs from methanol dehydration and reaction of two surface methoxy groups.     

京津冀城市群二氧化碳排放达峰研究

基于IPCC排放因子方法建立了2015—2019年京津冀城市群地级城市CO₂排放清单,基于经济增长与CO₂排放关系的脱钩系数法,得到京津冀城市群13个地级以上城市的脱钩情况,结合历史CO₂排放和脱钩情况提出的京津冀城市群达峰判别方法,对京津冀城市群地级以上城市CO₂排放达峰情况进行了判断。结果表明:近5年来,保定、张家口、秦皇岛、邢台、沧州、廊坊、衡水7市碳排放量暂未达到峰值状态;北京、天津、石家庄、承德、邯郸、唐山6个城市已经处于CO₂排放达峰状态。建议已经具备达峰条件的城市抓紧开展达峰行动方案,制定CO₂排放达峰目标。     

关于在长江经济带布局以水质改善为目标的流域生态缓冲体系的思考

生态缓冲带能够有效减缓流域内的人类活动或自然过程对水环境和水生态系统的影响.在长江经济带构建流域生态缓冲体系,对长江生态保护修复具有十分重要的意义.讨论了构建流域生态缓冲体系涉及的生态缓冲带位置选择、缓冲体系所占最低面积比率、宽度划定等一些基本的原则要求;利用卫星遥感影像数据,提取各汇水单元的地形特征、土地利用类型特征、土壤类型、土壤侵蚀强度、水文水系等数据,对长江经济带流域生态缓冲体系进行布局.结果表明:①长江经济带内林草地是主要土地利用类型,占区域总面积的62.46%,但是分布很不均匀,主要集中在西部高地和中下游的丘陵地带,在人口密集、农田密集的区域分布偏少;城镇用地主要集中在长江中下游地区.②土壤类型空间差异显著,浙江省、江苏省、湖南省、江西省及安徽省大部分区域的土壤多是黏性比较大,污染物迁移能力较低;而污染物迁移能力较强的砂质土或者土层较薄的山地草甸土主要分布在四川省北部、西北部.水力侵蚀、风力侵蚀和冻融侵蚀均有分布,且以水力侵蚀为主,建议在中度及以上侵蚀强度区域尽量减少污染源,重点布置缓冲带,增加该区域的缓冲力度.③长江经济带范围内可以利用的中小型湿地、小型河流支浜的面积至少有1.4×104 km2,再结合林草缓冲带,就可以形成一个生态缓冲体系.④在土地利用类型分布结果基础上,叠加土壤侵蚀强度和水系分布,将污染源区、中度及以上侵蚀强度区、水体区作为缓冲对象,建立缓冲体系的重点区域,总面积约14.26×104 km2,占长江经济带总面积的6.95%.对照欧美地区的研究,6.95%的缓冲体系面积占比是偏低的,需要在长江经济带开展深入研究来确定适宜的缓冲体系面积比,推进长江经济带流域生态缓冲体系的构建.