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Driscoll Spears posted an update 1 year, 6 months ago
This research provides a green chemical strategy to address both RM recycling and heavy metal contaminated soil remediation problems, which shows high economic feasibility and ecological benefits.In this work, a novel Ag/AgCl@g-C3N4@UIO-66(NH2) heterojunction was constructed for photocatalytic inactivation of Microcystis aeruginosa (M. aeruginosa) under visible light. The photocatalyst was synthesized by a facile method and characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, BET, XPS, FT-IR, UV-vis DRS, PL and EIS. The nanocomposite can not only provide lots of active sites, but also improve capacities to utilize visible-light energy and effectively transfer charge carriers, thus enhancing removal efficiencies of cyanobacteria (99.9% chlorophyll a was degraded within 180 min). Various factors in photodegradation of chlorophyll a were studied. Besides, changes on cellular morphologies, membrane permeability, physiological activities of M. aeruginosa during photocatalysis were investigated. Moreover, the cycle test indicated that Ag/AgCl@g-C3N4@UIO-66(NH2) exhibits excellent reusability and photocatalytic stability. Finally, a possible mechanism of M. aeruginosa inactivation was proposed. In a word, Ag/AgCl@g-C3N4@UIO-66(NH2) can efficiently inactivate cyanobacteria under visible light, thus providing useful references for further removal of harmful algae in real water bodies.Spent carbon cathode (SCC), a hazardous solid waste discharged from the aluminum electrolysis industry, has a serious environmental pollution risk. This study aims to explore an environmental friendly process for dissociating toxic substances and recovering valuable components from SCC. Parameters of molten salt-assisted roasting and water leaching were optimized. GW3965 chemical structure A possible dissociation mechanism of toxic substances was proposed. Results showed that 99.12% of cyanide was decomposed and 96.63% of fluoride was leached under optimal conditions. The recovery route of fluoride was designed according to the solution equilibrium chemical calculation and the difference in solubility and particle size between the recovered products. Exhaust gas with a high concentration of CO and CO2 was used for the carbonation of the leaching solution to recover cryolite. Effects of reaction conditions on precipitation mass and phase composition of recovered cryolite were investigated in detail. Characterization results indicated that the crystallinity and particle size of cryolite recovered under optimal conditions were extremely similar to those of commercial products. Finally, NaF and Na2CO3 were separated and recovered via evaporative crystallization combined with selective filtration. This proposed process with circular economy and green chemistry characteristics is expected to recover valuable components while minimizing environmental hazards of SCC.Verticillium wilt caused by Verticillium dahliae Kleb. is a major disease in cotton. We found that pectin lyase can enhance cotton resistance to Verticillium wilt and induce cell apoptosis of V. dahliae strain Vd080. The biocontrol effect of pectin lyase on Vd080 reached 61.9%. Pectin lyase increased ERG4 (Delta (24 (24 (1)))-sterol reductase) expression, the ergosterol content of the cell membrane, the collapse of mitochondrial membrane potential, hydrogen peroxide content, metacaspase activity, and Ca2+ content in the cytoplasm in the Vd080 strain and induced endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. Pectin lyase also increased the expression levels of the ER molecular chaperone glucose regulating protein Grp78 (BiP), protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) and calnexin (CNX), reduced the expression levels of the protein Hsp40. When the PDI and BiP genes of Vd080 were knocked out, the mutants △BiP and △PDI had reduced sensitivity to pectin lyase. In the absence of external stress, ER stress appeared in mutant △BiP cells. Pectin lyase affects the ergosterol content of the Vd080 cell membrane, which causes ER stress and increases the level of BiP to induce Vd080 cell apoptosis. These results demonstrate that pectin lyase can be used to control Verticillium wilt in cotton.Metal sulfides (MeSx) have been found to be effective in enhancing pollutant degradation by Fenton-like reactions, but their role in persulfate (PS)-based oxidation processes as well as underlying mechanism have not been fully explored. In this study, effects of different MeSx including WS2, MoS2, FeS2 and ZnS on pollutant degradation by Fe2+/PS or Fe3+/PS systems were examined. It was found that the maximum degradation rate of 2,4,4′-trichlorobiphenyl increased by 5.6 and 16.2 times with the addition of WS2 (0.2 g/L) in the Fe2+/PS and Fe3+/PS systems, respectively. Similar enhancement effects were also observed for MoS2, FeS2 and ZnS, which can enhance the degradation of a wide range of pollutants including sulfamethoxazole, bisphenol A and chlorophenol. The mechanism of these processes were further investigated, and it was observed that Fe(III)/Fe(II) redox cycles were dramatically accelerated on MeSx surfaces, which increased PS activation to generate sulfate radicals and hydroxyl radicals, as evidenced by the combined analyses of surface Fe species, electron paramagnetic resonance and radical probing tests. Both surface metallic active sites and reducing sulfur species contributed to Fe(II) regeneration, but the efficiencies varied with the properties of MeSx surface. This study provides a novel strategy for improving the performance of PS activation for environmental remediation and a comprehensive understanding of the mechanism of MeSx enhancing Fenton-like reactions.The effect of the reactor configuration and several key parameters such as the gas temperature, humidity, and flow rate on the corona discharge plasma in honeycomb monoliths was investigated. The AC corona discharge-based plasma reactor consisted of two parallel electrodes (perforated disk/wire-mesh) placed at both ends of the honeycomb monolith. Although the wire-mesh electrode offers increased sharpness, the perforated disk electrode, where the corona discharge started at the sharp edges of the holes, produced more discharge power because of the larger effective electrode area. Loading a small amount of metal onto the monolith was found to increase the discharge power significantly. Coating the monolith with a zeolite such as ZSM-5 (Si/Al 23.9) led to a decrease in the discharge power because of its hydrophobic nature and large surface area. The result also revealed that the operating temperature, the humidity of the feed gas, and the gas velocity were key factors affecting the discharge performance. The discharge power was inversely proportional to the temperature. On the other hand, the use of a high-velocity feed gas with high water vapor content was found to be particularly advantageous for obtaining high discharge power.Sulfonamides, such as sulfadiazine (SDZ), are frequently detected in water and wastewater with their toxic and persistent nature arousing much concern. In this work, a novel electrochemical membrane biofilm reactor (EMBfR) was constructed for the removal of SDZ whilst suppressing the development of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Results showed that the EMBfR achieved 94.9% removal of SDZ, significantly higher than that of a control membrane biofilm reactor (MBfR) without electric field applied (44.3%) or an electrolytic reactor without biofilm (77.3%). Moreover, the relative abundance of ARGs in the EMBfR was only 32.0% of that in MBfR, suggesting that the production of ARGs was significantly suppressed in the EMBfR. The underlying mechanisms relate to (i) the change of the microbial community structure in the presence of the electric field, leading to the enrichment of potential aromatic-degrading microorganisms (e.g., Rhodococcus accounting for 51.0% of the total in the EMBfR compared to 10.0% in the MBfR) and (ii) the unique degradation pathway of SDZ in the EMBfR attributed to the synergistic effect between the electrochemical and biological processes. Our study highlights the benefits of EMBfR in removing pharmaceuticals from contaminated waters and suppressing the development (and transfer) of ARGs in the environment.The CR-(RC)n filter is used for Semi-Gaussian pulse shaping in analog spectroscopy. A new digital CR-(RC)n filter is presented based on the recursive models of the CR filter and RC filter. The spectroscopic signal reconstruction technique is proposed. This technique is applied to digital exponential decay signals obtained by the digitization of analog signals that represent the combined response of a FAST-SDD detector and the associated front-end circuit. Compared with the direct application of the digital CR-(RC)n filter, the technique eliminates the undershoot of the Semi-Gaussian pulse which is the primary cause of the low-energy peak tailing. And, the digital pole-zero cancellation filter follows digital CR-(RC)n filter to reduce the long tail of the shaped Semi-Gaussian pulse which leads to the high-energy peak tailing. Experimental results based on XRF signals of manganese sample show that the proposed techniques can cancel peak tailing due to the shaped Semi-Gaussian pulse improving FWTM/FWHM ratio and throughput capability.Borates are appropriate TL materials for radiation dosimetry, because of their equivalence with tissue. Magnesium borate is a tissue equivalent material and its most important advantage over lithium borate, is that this material is insoluble in water. In this work the effect of sintering temperature on the sensitivity of magnesium borate obtained by the solution combustion technique is presented. The results showed that the material doped with Tm and Ag, subjected to 1223 K, for 3 h, had a sensitivity between two and four times higher than that of the commercial dosimeter TLD-100 making it highly appropriate for applications in clinical dosimetry.Trichloroethylene (TCE), an important volatile organic solvent, causes a series of toxic damage to human. Conventional genetic mechanisms cannot fully explain its toxicity and carcinogenicity, indicative of the possible involvement of epigenetic mechanisms. Our study was intended to investigate the epigenetic toxicity and underlying mechanisms of TCE. Data showed that 0.3 mM TCE treatment for 24 h increased the growth of L-02 cells transiently. In contrast, subacute exposure to TCE inhibited cell growth and induced the genomic DNA hypomethylation and histone hyperacetylation. Further studies have revealed the TCE-induced DNA hypomethylation in the promoter regions of tumor-related genes, N-Ras, c-Jun, c-Myc, c-Fos and IGF-II, promoting their protein levels in a time-dependent manner. These results reveal there is a negative relationship existing between DNA hypomethylation and protein expression in tumor-related gene after TCE exposure under specific epigenetic microenvironment, serving as early biomarkers for TCE-associated diseases.Arsenic (As) occurs naturally and concentrations in water bodies can reach high levels, leading to accumulation in vital organs like the spleen. Being an important organ in immune response and blood development processes, toxic effects of As on the spleen could compromise immunity and cause associated disorders in affected individuals. Splenic detoxification is key to improving the chances of survival but relatively little is known about the mechanisms involved. Essential trace elements like zinc have shown immune-modulatory effects humans and livestock. This study aimed to investigate the mechanisms involved in As-induced splenic toxicity in the common carp (Cyprinus carpio), and the protective effects of zinc (Zn). Our findings suggest that environmental exposure to As caused severe histological injuries and Ca2+ accumulation in the spleen of common carp. Additionally, transcriptional and translational profiles of endoplasmic reticulum stress, apoptosis and autophagy-related genes of the spleen showed upward trends under As toxicity.
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