Search

The quest for a good life, urbanization, and industrialization have led to the widespread distribution of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in water bodies through anthropogenic activities. This poses an imminent threat to both human and environmental health. In recent years, the utilization of advance materials for the removal of EDCs from wastewater has attracted a lot of attention. Metal-oxide nanocatalysts have emerged as promising candidates due to their high surface area, reactivity, and tunable properties, as well as enhanced surface properties such as mesoporous structures and hierarchical morphologies that allow for increased adsorption capacity, improved photocatalytic activity, and enhanced selectivity towards specific EDCs. As a result, they have shown extraordinary efficacy in removing a wide range of EDCs from aqueous solutions, including pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, personal care items, and industrial chemicals. This study give insight into the unique physicochemical characteristics of metal-oxide nanocatalysts to effectively and efficiently remove harmful EDCs from wastewater. It also discussed the advances in the synthesis, and properties of metal-oxide nanocatalysts, and insight into understanding the fundamental mechanisms underlying the adsorption and degradation of EDCs on metal-oxide nanocatalysts using advanced characterization techniques such as spectroscopic analysis and electron microscopy. The findings of the study present metal-oxide nanocatalysts as a good candidate for the spontaneous sequestration of EDCs from wastewater is an intriguing approach to mitigating water pollution and safeguarding public health and the environment., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Developing a high-performance activator is crucial for the practical application of peroxymonosulfate-based advanced oxidation processes (PMS-AOPs). High-entropy oxides (HEOs) have attracted increasing attention due to their stable crystal structure, flexible composition and unique functionality. However, research into the mechanisms by which HEOs function as PMS activators for degrading organic pollutants remains insufficient, and the relationship between entropy and the catalytic performance of HEOs has yet to be clarified. In this study, we synthesized NiMgZnCuCoO x with different levels of entropy as PMS activators for acetaminophen (APAP) degradation, and observed a significant effect for entropy on the catalytic performance. Sulfate radicals (SO 4 • ‒ ) were identified as the primary reactive oxygen species (ROS), while hydroxyl radicals (•OH) and singlet oxygen ( 1 O 2 ) act as secondary ROS during APAP degradation. Both the Co 2+ contents and the oxygen vacancy concentration in NiMgZnCuCoO x are found to increase with the entropy. An increase in the Co 2+ sites leads to more activation sites for PMS activation, while excessive oxygen vacancies consume PMS, producing weak oxidation species, and affect the electron-donating ability of Co 2+ . Consequently, the NiMgZnCuCoO x with middle level of entropy exhibits the optimal performance with APAP degradation rate and mineralization rate reaching 100% and 74.22%, respectively. Furthermore, the degradation intermediates and their toxicities were assessed through liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and quantitative structure-activity relationship analysis. This work is expected to provide critical insight into the impact of the HEOs entropy on the PMS activation and guide the rational design of highly efficient peroxymonosulfate activators for environmental applications., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Microplastics (MPs), as emerging pollutants, have attracted the attention of environmentalists, statespersons, and the scientific community over the last few decades. To address the spread of MPs in the environment, it is imperative to develop various removal techniques and materials that are effective, scalable, and ecologically benign. However, to the best of our knowledge, no review has systematically examined the removal of MPs using adsorption or provided an in-depth discussion on various adsorbents. Adsorption is an inexpensive and effective technology for wastewater treatment. Recently, many researchers have conducted studies on MP remediation using diverse adsorbent materials, such as biochar, activated carbon, sponges, carbon nanotubes, metal-layered oxides, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), and zeolites. Each adsorbent has advantages and disadvantages. To overcome their disadvantages, researchers have been designing and developing hybrid adsorbents for MP remediation. This review provides insights into these individual adsorbents and also discusses hybrid adsorbents for MP removal. Finally, the review elaborates on future possibilities and ways to enable more efficient, scalable, and environmentally friendly MP cleanup. Overall, this review bridges the gap between contemporary MP remediation using adsorption techniques and adsorbent development., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Recycled PET (rPET) is gaining popularity for use in the production of new food contact materials (FCMs) under the context of circular economy. However, the limited information on contaminants in rPET from China and concerns about their potential risk are major obstacles to their use in FCM in China. Fifty-five non-volatile compounds were tentatively identified in 126 batches of hot-washed rPET flakes aimed for food packaging applications in China. Although the 55 substances are not necessarily migratable and may not end up in the contacting media, their presence indicates a need for proper management and control across the value chain. For this reason, the 55 substances prioritized on the basis of level of concerns and in-silico genotoxicity profiler. Among them, dimethoxyethyl phthalate, dibutyl phthalate, bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate were classified as level V substances, and Michler's ketone and 4-nitrophenol were both categorized as level V substances and had the genotoxic structure alert, while 2,4,5-trimethylaniline was specified with genotoxic structure alert. The above substances have high priority and may pose a potential risk to human health, therefore special attention should be paid to their migration from rPET. Aside from providing valuable information on non-volatile contaminants present in hot-washed rPET flakes coming from China, this article proposed a prioritization workflow that can be of great help to identify priority substances deserving special attention across the value chain., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

In modern times, wastewater treatment is vital due to increased water contamination arising from pollutants such as nutrients, pathogens, heavy metals, and pharmaceutical residues. Polysaccharides (PSAs) are natural, renewable, and non-toxic biopolymers used in wastewater treatment in the field of gas separation, liquid filtration, adsorption processes, pervaporation, and proton exchange membranes. Since addition of nanoparticles to PSAs improves their sustainability and strength, nanocomposite PSAs has gained significant attention for wastewater treatment in the past decade. This review presents a comprehensive analysis of PSA-based nanocomposites used for efficient wastewater treatment, focusing on adsorption, photocatalysis, and membrane-based methods. It also discusses potential future applications, challenges, and opportunities in adsorption, filtration, and photocatalysis. Recently, PSAs have shown promise as adsorbents in biological-based systems, effectively removing heavy metals that could hinder microbial activity. Cellulose-mediated adsorbents have successfully removed various pollutants from wastewater, including heavy metals, dyes, oil, organic solvents, pesticides, and pharmaceutical residues. Thus, PSA nanocomposites would support biological processes in wastewater treatment plants. A major concern is the discharge of antibiotic wastes from pharmaceutical industries, posing significant environmental and health risks. PSA-mediated bio-adsorbents, like clay polymeric nanocomposite hydrogel beads, efficiently remove antibiotics from wastewater, ensuring water quality and ecosystem balance. The successful use of PSA-mediated bio-adsorbents in wastewater treatment depends on ongoing research to optimize their application and evaluate their potential environmental impacts. Implementing these eco-friendly adsorbents on a large scale holds great promise in significantly reducing water pollution, safeguarding ecosystems, and protecting human health., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Single-atom catalysts have been proved to be an effective material for the removal of organic pollutants from water and wastewater, and yet, the relationship between their internal structures and their roles still remains elusive. In this work, a catalyst Fe (MIL)-SAC with single-atom Fe-N 4 active site was prepared. Fe (MIL)-SAC/Peroxydisulfate (PDS) system was able to achieve complete degrade of the Sulfamethoxazole (SMX) with k obs at 0.466 min -1 , which was faster than the Fenton system under the same conditions (k obs  = 0.422 min -1 ) and 16 times faster than Fe (MIL) (k obs  = 0.029 min -1 ). Density functional calculations reveal that the Fe-N 4 structure will affect the electron transport path and lead to selective generation of 1 O 2 by triggering S-O breakage and O-O polarization in PDS. Furthermore, Fe (MIL)-SAC/PDS system exhibits strong resistance to common influencing factors and has good application prospects. This work provides a new approach for the selectively generation of 1 O 2 for the efficient treatment of organic pollutants in aqueous environment., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Conductive materials have been demonstrated to enhance sludge methanogenesis, but few researches have concentrated on the interaction among conductive materials, microorganisms and their immediate living environment. In this study, Fenton iron mud with a high abundance of Fe(III) was recycled and applied in anaerobic reactors to promote anaerobic digestion (AD) process. The results show that the primary content of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) such as polysaccharides and proteins increased significantly, possibly promoting microbial aggregation. Furthermore, with the increment of redox mediators including humic substances in EPS and Fe(III) introduced by Fenton iron mud, the direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET) between methanogens and interacting bacteria could be accelerated, which enhanced the rate of methanogenesis in anaerobic digestion (35.21 ± 4.53% increase compared to the control). The further analysis of the anaerobic microbial community confirmed the fact that Fenton iron mud enriched functional microorganisms, such as the abundance of CO 2 -reducing (e.g. Chloroflexi) and Fe(III)-reducing bacteria (e.g., Tepidimicrobium), thereby expediting the electron transfer reaction in the AD process via microbial DIET and dissimilatory iron reduction (DIR). This work will make it possible for using the recycled hazardous material - Fenton iron mud to improve the performance of anaerobic granular sludge during methanogenesis., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper, (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The landfilling of paper mill sludge (PMS) has been restricted or even banned in many countries due to the raised concern about greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and contamination of the soil and water, calling for a sustainable PMS management approach. The potential valorization of PMS to nanomaterials combined with traditional biorefinery was examined in this work. Three types of PMS-derived cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) were prepared and evaluated: enzymatically assisted CNF (AU: with in-house produced enzyme and CT: with commercial enzyme), mechanically pretreated CNF (BT), and chemically pretreated CNF by TEMPO oxidation (TEMPO). It was found that enzyme-assisted mechanical fibrillation-derived CNFs had a comparable average diameter (27.9 nm for AU and 22.7 nm for CT) with that produced from mechanical pretreatment (26.5 nm for BT) and TEMPO oxidation pretreatment (20.0 nm for TEMPO), and they showed the best drainage properties among the three types of CNF. The CNFs resulting from enzymatic pretreatment reduced 15% of energy consumption compared to the mechanical method and had better thermostability than TEMPO oxidation method. In addition, the on-site produced enzyme showed similar performance to the commercial enzymes towards the CNF properties. These findings provide new insights into a promising integrated strategy in engineering CNF from PMS with on-site enzyme production as a novel and sustainable approach for PMS management and valorization., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Efficient biocoagulants/bioflocculants are desired for removal of Microcystis aeruginosa, the dominant harmful bloom-forming cyanobacterium. Herein, we reported cationic hydroxyethyl cellulose (CHEC) inactivated M. aeruginosa cells after forming coagulates and floating-flocculated them with aid of Agrobacterium mucopolysaccharides (AMP) and surfactant. CHEC exhibited cyanocidal activity at 20 mg/L, coagulating 85% of M. aeruginosa biomass within 9 h and decreasing 41% of chlorophyll a after 72 h. AMP acted as an adhesive flocculation aid that accelerated and strengthened the formation of flocs, approaching a maximum in 10 min. Flocs of M. aeruginosa were floated after foaming with cocoamidopropyl betaine (CAB), which facilitated the subsequent filter harvest. 82% of M. aeruginosa biomass was suspended on water surface after treated with the coagulation/flocculation-flotation (CFF) agents containing CHEC (25 mg/L), AMP (177 mg/L) and CAB (0.1 mg/L). All components in CFF agents at the applied concentrations did not inhibit acetylcholinesterase or Vibrio fischeri. Our findings provide new insights in developing bio-based materials for sustainable control of cyanobacterial blooms., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

As a typical advanced oxidation process, Fe 2+ -persulfate (PDS) oxidation technology has been widely and efficiently reported for enhancing sludge dewaterability. However, higher dosage of Fe 2+ must be added, which will restrain the oxidation efficiency of Fe 2+ -PDS process. In this work, the oxalic acid (OA)/Fe 2+ -PDS process was studied to improve paper sludge dewatering. With the OA dosage of 6 μmol (g total solid (TS)) -1 , Fe 2+ dosage of 0.3 mmol (g TS) -1 , and PDS dosage of 0.6 mmol (g TS) -1 , sludge dewaterability was improved more efficiently. The specific resistance to filtration and water content of sludge cake were decreased by 70.7% and 8.0%, respectively. In comparison with Fe 2+ -PDS process, the viscosities of sludge suspension and supernatant were further reduced by 3.73% and 51.77%, respectively, and the contents of extracellular polymeric substances fractions were increased. The improved sludge dewaterability in OA/Fe 2+ -PDS process was mainly contributed by the synergistic effect of oxidative disintegration by free radicals and flocs re-flocculation, the contributions of which were the orders: metal cations > sulfate radical > hydroxyl radical. OA enhanced the efficient disintegration of sludge flocs, released more bound water, generated more Fe 3+ -oxalate complexes, and finally increased the sludge particle size significantly, forming a larger aggregation and obvious cracks. Additionally, the stabilization of several heavy metals was improved due to the chelating capacity of OA. These works will provide a novel approach for sludge dewatering in the PDS oxidation process., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This study aimed to determine the efficacy of novel ultrafiltration and mixed matrix membrane (MMM) composed of hydrous manganese oxide (HMO) and silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) for the removal of biological oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD). In the polycarbonate (PC) MMM, the weight percent of HMO and Ag-NP has been increased from 5% to 10%. A neural network (ANN) was used in this study to compare PC-HMO and Ag-NP. MMM was evaluated in combination with HMO and Ag-NP loadings in order to assess their effects on pure water flux, mean pore size, porosity, and efficacy in removing BOD and COD. HMO and Ag-NPs can decrease membrane porosity in the casting solution while increasing mean pore size. According to the study's findings, the artificial neural network model appears to be highly appropriate for predicting the removal of BOD and COD. To develop a successful model, a suitable input dataset was selected, which consisted of BOD and COD. An ideal model architecture for MMM was proposed based on an optimal number of hidden layers (2 layers) and neurons (5-8 neurons). Experiments and predicted data show a strong correlation between the developed models. BOD was predicted with an excellent R2 and a low root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.99 and 0.05%, respectively, while COD was predicted with an excellent R2 and a low RMSE of 0.99 and 0.09%, respectively. Based on the results, Ag-NP was found to be an excellent candidate for the preparation of MMMs as well as convenient for the removal of BOD and COD from polluted water sources., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In this work, the method of in-situ co-precipitation was used to prepare PVA/CNF/Fe 3 O 4 hybrid hydrogel, and the relationship between its structure and performance was explored. The Fe 3 O 4 NPs prepared by this method were dispersed on the carrier PVA/CNF hydrogel and were easy to recover. The catalytic degradation of tetracycline was investigated using PVA/CNF/Fe 3 O 4 hybrid hydrogel as photo-Fenton catalysts. The results showed that light and hydrogel carriers were pivotal factors in promoting Fe 2+ and Fe 3+ cycling and that the PVA/CNF/Fe 3 O 4 hybrid hydrogel as catalysts were able to activate H 2 O 2 to generate a large amount of oxygen radical •OH, resulting in efficient removal of tetracycline. The tetracycline degradation followed a proposed first-order kinetic model and achieved a removal rate of about 98% in 120 min at an optimum pH of 3, H 2 O 2 100 mM, catalyst 0.3 g/L, and a temperature of 25 °C., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

A modified biological-integrated electrocoagulation method was explored to treat municipal wastewater (MWW) for irrigation purposes. To use treated wastewater for irrigation purposes a wide range of contaminants removal was focused on in this study (turbidity, hardness, conductivity, TDS, TSS, chloride, Ammonia nitrogen, BOD, COD, and total coliform). Raw municipal wastewater (RMWW) was treated in a modified Bio-Electrocoagulation (BEC) cell. The cell was operated in a continuous flow mode and consisted of an electrocoagulation stage using aluminum (Al) electrodes followed by a bioremediation stage using a fixed bio-filter (BF), the design of the cell was further modified by the addition of a sand filter (SF). The effect of several parameters such as applied voltage (22, 26, and 30 V), inlet flow rate (1, 3, and 5 Lh -1 ), and initial pH (pH 3, 5, 7, 7.4, and 9) was investigated to determine the optimum operating conditions for selected responses. The most effective operating conditions for the BEC were investigated for the different irrigation water quality (WQ) indicators. It was observed that pH 7.4 and 26 V provide maximum removal efficiency of contaminants at the flow rate of 1 Lh -1 . A fixed film BF plays a positive role to improve the degradation of contaminants after the EC unit up to 4% of NH 3 -N, 9.3% of BOD, and 7.8% of COD. In addition, using the SF improved the turbidity removal to 42.6%. The WQ specifications of the treated MWW using the BEC cell were compared with the standard specifications for restricted and unrestricted agricultural irrigation water. The overall operating cost of MWW treatment for irrigation purposes by using a modified bio-integrated electrocoagulation method was 0.76 $m -3 ., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Crown Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The narrow light-response range and high electron/hole recombination rate greatly restrict the widespread use of photocatalytic technology. The integration of exposing dominant facet of semiconductor and Z-scheme heterostructures designing is expected to break those barriers. Herein，In this work, hydrothermal and ultrasonic stirring methods were used to selectively exposed the (001) and (110) facet of BiOI to construct the BiOI/CdS heterostructures. The obtained BiOI(001)/CdS material shown the maximum degradation for tetracycline-based antibiotics (Oxytetracycline, Tetracycline and Doxycycline), and excellent reduction of hexavalent chromium. Combining the electron spin resonance and scavenger experiments, the superior photocatalytic capacity was attributed to the generation of superoxide and hydroxyl radicals. DFT calculation results shown BiOI(001)/CdS performed high binding energy and adsorption energy for hexavalent chromium, and the different work function between BiOI(001) and CdS confirmed the building of internal electric field, thereby increased the charge separation. Finally, the Gaussian 09 and HPLC-MS program investigated the attack sites of free radicals and degradation pathways in the degradation of antibiotics. This study not only provides a potential photocatalyst, also gives an in-depth understanding of the photocatalytic properties of heterojunctions constructed by different exposed crystal facets., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Developing new and efficient technologies for environmental remediation is becoming significant due to the increase in global concerns such as climate change, severe epidemics, and energy crises. Air pollution, primarily due to increased levels of H 2 S, SO x , NH 3 , NO x , CO, volatile organic compounds (VOC), and particulate matter (PM) in the atmosphere, has a significant impact on public health, and exhaust gases harm the natural sulfur, nitrogen, and carbon cycles. Similarly, wastewater discharged to the environment with metal ions, herbicides, pharmaceuticals, personal care products, dyes, and aromatics/organic compounds is a risk for health since it may lead to an outbreak of waterborne pathogens and increase the exposure to endocrine-disrupting agents. Therefore, developing new and efficient air and water quality management systems is critical. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are novel materials for which the main application areas include gas storage and separation, water harvesting from the atmosphere, chemical sensing, power storage, drug delivery, and food preservation. Due to their versatile structural motifs that can be modified during synthesis, MOFs also have a great promise for green applications including air and water pollution remediation. The motivation to use MOFs for environmental applications prompted the modification of their structures via the addition of metal and functional groups, as well as the creation of heterostructures by mixing MOFs with other nanomaterials, to effectively remove hazardous contaminants from wastewater and the atmosphere. In this review, we focus on the state-of-the-art environmental applications of MOFs, particularly for water treatment and air pollution, by highlighting the groundbreaking studies in which MOFs have been used as adsorbents, membranes, and photocatalysts for the abatement of air and water pollution. We finally address the opportunities and challenges for the environmental applications of MOFs., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Water is a valuable natural resource, which plays a crucial role in ecological survival as well as economic progress. However, the water quality has deteriorated in recent years as a result of urbanization, industrialization and human activities due to the uncontrolled release of industrial wastes, which can be extremely carcinogenic and non-degradable, in air, water and soil bodies. Such wastes showed the presence of organic and inorganic pollutants in high dosages. Heavy metals are the most obstinate contaminants, and they can be harmful because of having a variety of detrimental consequences to the ecosystem. The existing water treatment methods in many situations may not be sustainable or effective because of their high energy requirements and ecological impacts. In this review, state-of-the-art water treatment methods for the elimination of heavy metals with the help of protein nanofibrils are covered featuring a discussion on the strategies and possibilities of developing protein nanofibrils for the active elimination of heavy metals using kitchen waste as well as residues from the cattle, agriculture, and dairy industries. Further, the emphasis has been given to their environmental sustainability and economical aspects are also discussed., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Over the previous three decades, the worldwide use of pharmaceuticals has surged by more than 2.5 times. Although being considered essential to save many lives, pharmaceuticals have also emerged as a large source of complex environmental contaminants in recent decades. Consequently, the pharmaceuticals and their breakdown products are ending up into the water bodies thus progressively contaminating them and the surrounding environments. Based on recent studies concentrations in water sources are typically >0.1 μg/l and the concentration in treated water is typically >0.05 μg/l. These pharma drugs are removed from aquatic systems by processes such as oxidation, Ultraviolet degradation, reverse osmosis and nano-filtration. However, hazardous sludge creation, incomplete removal, expensive capital and operating costs, and the need for professional operating and maintenance personnel have all limited the economic sustainability of these systems. As a result, the presence of pharmaceuticals in water necessitates even more advanced technologies of purification to harvest clean water, yet present approaches are constrained by their high costs, low reusability, and disposal issues. Here, we review sustainable adsorbents for the removal of pharmaceuticals from wastewater. In this comprehensive review, an evaluation of water contamination caused by pharmaceutical compounds is discussed. An overview of current research on the employment of sustainable adsorbents for the removal of the major pharmaceuticals prevalent in water sources. Numerous aspects of high adsorption efficiencies of these pharmaceutical compounds with such sustainable adsorbents were observed; however, other factors, such as adsorbent regeneration and cost evaluation, must be taken into account in order to assess the true applicability of adsorbents., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Biochar (C) applied in synthesizing photocatalysts to eliminate water pollution has been intensively investigated. Herein we report the first use of biochar pyrolyzed from food wastes at 400  ° C (400C) and 700  ° C to construct C/BiOBr composites via a facile hydrolysis approach. Photocatalytic performances could be significantly improved by choosing the appropriate carbonization temperature and adjusting the content of C in C/BiOBr composites. The prepared 1%400C/BiOBr exhibited the best photodegradation capacity towards methylene orange (20 mg/L) and tetracycline (50 mg/L). A series of characterization results illustrated that smooth structure and surface properties (oxygen functional groups and persistent free radicals) of 400C played an important role in enhancing the photocatalytic activities. Mechanism exploration suggested that h + and ˙O 2 - were the main active species thus contributing to photodegradation. This study provided a new insight into utilization of biochar derived from food wastes in photocatalysis and environmental remediation., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Research on low-cost bio-adsorbents for the removal of harmful substances from effluents has recently attracted significant attention. In this study, three types of amino-silane-modified lignins (ASLs) with primary, secondary, and tertiary amine groups were prepared, and their adsorption behavior toward cationic and anionic dyes was investigated. Chemical structural analyses indicated that the three amino-silane reagents resulted in different molecular self-assembly structures on the lignin surface. The ASLs exhibited enhanced thermal stabilities and increased surface areas with different surface charges in different pH ranges. Owing to the high density of primary, secondary, and tertiary amine groups, the ASLs exhibited excellent adsorption capacities for cationic and anionic dyes. Additionally, they selectively adsorb anionic and cationic dyes according to the pH conditions. The ASL with primary amine had the highest adsorption capacity for Methylene blue and Congo red, reaching 187.27 and 293.26 mg·g -1 , respectively, followed by ASLs with the secondary amine and tertiary amine. All adsorption processes followed the Langmuir and Temkin isotherms and had pseudo-second-order kinetics. The hypothesized adsorption mechanism mainly involves electrostatic interaction, NH-π interaction, hydrogen bonding interaction and π-π interaction., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Heavy metal ions (HMI) have attracted worldwide concern due to their serious environmental pollution which led to the risk of health conditions. From Red Malus floribunda fruits, nitrogen-doped carbon dots (N-CDs) were prepared, followed by hybrid-spherical shaped hydrogel particles (CGCDs) were prepared. The prepared CGCDs were utilized as adsorbents for HMI-(Hg(II), Cd(II), Pb(II), and Cr(III)) from water. N-CDs with about 4.0 nm in diameter were characterized by various techniques such as field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and attenuated total reflection-fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) that confirm the presence of nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon functionalities. The prepared spherical CGCDs were characterized very well before it was used as HMI adsorbents. The sizes of the CGCDs were ranges between 20 and 300 μm and the degree of swelling was calculated as 1320 %. ATR-FTIR and X-ray diffraction analyses reveal the presence of N-CDs in CGCDs. Further, FE-SEM confirms the spherical shape morphology of CGCDs. Three different concentrations of HMI solutions were 500 mg/L, 1000 mg/L, and 1500 mg/L. Hg(II) adsorbed proficiently by CGCDs in single metal ion systems with ~72 % and almost complete removal of Hg(II) ions (99 %) in multiple metal ion systems was observed. Moreover, all metal ions Hg(II), Cd(II), Pb(II), and Cr(III) were efficiently (>70 %) removed in multiple systems by CGCDs. After HMI adsorption experiments, the elemental mapping from FE-SEM and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies conveys the presence of HMI on CGCDs. This suggests that CGCDs would be a suitable adsorbent for the simultaneous removal of multiple HMI from wastewater., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The aim of the study was to use black liquor produced during the soda pulping process in a pulp and paper mill to increase methane production during pulp and paper industry sludge treatment and decrease the treatment cost. The effects of black liquor on sludge solubilization and methane production were assessed and the economic feasibility of the process was evaluated. Black liquor and NaOH were found to be equivalent in the thermochemical pretreatment process to solubilize sludge and disintegrate flocs. However, adding black liquor increased the background chemical oxygen demand and volatile fatty acid concentration and increased the amount of methane produced by approximately 7-30%. A start-up delay was emphasized by first-order kinetics model due to black liquor addition while methane production remained stable. Economic assessments of five scenarios were performed. It was found to be economically feasible to use black liquor to replace NaOH for the thermal pretreatment process. The surplus methane generated suggested that co-digestion of sludge and black liquor allows surplus bioenergy to be produced during the thermochemical pretreatment anaerobic digestion process., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) based on persulfate (PS) has attracted great attention due to its high efficiency for degradation of organic pollutants. Manganese-based materials have been considered as the desirable catalysts for in-situ chemical oxidation since they are abundant in the earth's crust and environment-friendly. In this study, manganese oxyhydroxide (MnOOH) was used as an activator for PS to degrade p-chloroaniline (PCA) from wastewater. The effects of MnOOH dosage, PS dosage and initial pH on PCA degradation performance were studied. Experimental results showed that PCA degradation efficiency was enhanced by higher MnOOH and PS addition, and the degradation efficiency was slightly inhibited as the initial pH increased from 3 to 9. MnOOH showed excellent stability and reusability when used as the activator of PS. In addition, a comprehensive study was conducted to determine the PS activation mechanism. The results revealed that PS activation by MnOOH followed a nonradical mechanism. No 1 O 2 was generated, and the main active substance in the reaction was the activated PS molecule on the surface of MnOOH. The hydroxyl group on the catalyst surface acted as a bridge connecting PS and the catalyst, leading to the activation of PS. The intermediates during PCA degradation were also analyzed, and three possible degradation pathways of PCA were proposed. This study expects to deepen the understanding of the PS activation mechanism by manganese oxide, and provides technical support for the practical application of AOPs of manganese-based materials for wastewater treatment., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

By exploiting the hydrophilicity of cellulose filter paper (FP) and the excellent chelating property of chitosan (CH) for Mn 2+ , we have designed an efficient and retrievable dip catalyst MnO 2 /CH-FP for Fenton-like degradation of methylene blue (MB) over a wide pH range from 2.8 to 11.2. The MnO 2 nanoparticles were uniformly immobilized in the CH-FP matrix by in-situ redox precipitation method where Mn(NO 3 ) 2 was treated with KMnO 4 at mild conditions. A series of MnO 2 /CH-FP hybrids with different MnO 2 loading were fabricated via varying concentration of Mn(NO 3 ) 2 solution, and their structure-function relationships were discussed based on detailed characterization. The optimal catalyst 1.0MnO 2 /CH-FP could cooperate with multiple low-concentration dosages of H 2 O 2 to efficiently degrade 95.6% MB in 90 min (50 mg L -1 MB, 1 g L -1 catalyst, 30 mg L -1 H 2 O 2 , pH 7). It is also shown that 1.0MnO 2 /CH-FP could still keep 83.3% degradation efficiency of MB after six cycles. Moreover, the activity of this composite greatly surpassed that of bare MnO 2 for nearly 50%, owing to its larger surface area and more accessible active sites. This method for preparing MnO 2 /CH-FP could effectively avoid the agglomeration of MnO 2 nanoparticles and make the reaction turn on/off almost instantaneously by mere insertion/removal., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Pursuing a low-cost yet sustainable material with a high performance of removing boron is necessary for replacement of the synthetic adsorbents, but remains challengeable. Herein, we fabricated an mesopore-dominated bio-based material (LS-CPAM-TA) with abundant catechol groups by the electrostatic-interaction-driven self-assembly of lignosulfonate (LS), tannic acid (TA) and cationic polyacrylamide (CPAM) for efficient removal of boron. LS-CPAM-TA presented a mesopore area of 53.9 m 2 /g with a mesoporous distribution of 2-25 nm, as well as a mesopore/micropore volume ratio of 129.7. Such a mesopore-rich feature not only promoted the exposure of catechol groups in TA, which served as the adsorption sites, but also contributed to enhance the fast mass transport of boron. Consequently, a maximum adsorption capacity of 119.05 mg/g was observed for LS-CPAM-TA, surpassing some reported adsorbents. Even for the low concentration boron, LS-CPAM-TA also displayd the high adsorption efficiency. Moreover, LS-CPAM-TA followed the Langmuir isotherm adsorption model, and presented the excellent regeneration performance due to its robust self-assembled structure driven by the electrostatic interaction among LS, CPAM and TA. This work would provide guidelines for target design of bio-based materials with tunable porous structure and versatile adsorption or catalytic sites for various applications., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

To elucidate the effects of extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) on the sludge dewaterability, this study comparatively investigated the changes in EPS composition and spatial distribution, together with the sludge dewaterability after lysozyme (LZM) conditioning. The protein concentration in the tightly bound EPS (TB-EPS) increased from 3.47 mg g -1 DS to 4.99 mg g -1 DS within the first 2 min, then gradually decreased, which could be described by a piecewise linear function. Unlike TB-EPS, the protein content variation trend in both soluble EPS (S-EPS) and loosely bound EPS (LB-EPS) followed the typical first-order kinetics. Additionally, the extended DLVO theory was employed in combination with viscoelastic acoustic response analysis to further explore the impact of EPS composition on water adhesion and microbial cell. After the extraction of S-EPS from the conditioned sludge, the adsorption free energy (ΔG adh ) of EPS ascended to -61.05 mJ m -2 , indicating the weakened microbial hydrophobicity. By contrast, the ΔG adh value declined after the subsequent extraction of LB-EPS and TB-EPS. Meanwhile, the adsorption potential energy between S-EPS and microbial cells showed an increasing trend, whereas the repulsion potential energy between TB-EPS and microbial cells fell to 1.40 × 10 4  kT, signifying a weakened adsorption capacity to water. Accordingly, the viscosity and shear modulus of each EPS layer were reduced after conditioning, which contributed to the transformation of bound water into free water. These changes reasonably explained the results that the water content in the dewatered sludge after conditioning was reduced to 58.54%, and the bound water content decreased by 15.06%., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Immobilized microalgae have great potential on the nutrient removal during wastewater treatment. However, their applications are challenged by how to cost-effectively maintain and preserve large number of viable and active microalgal cells. In this study, the cells of Chlorella sacchrarophila were immobilized in the agar containing with algal nutrient, encapsulated in a transparent package and preserved at room temperature. After the preservation for 200 days, microalgal cells with viability of 47-52% were maintained and could be quickly revived after the cultivation in fresh algal medium. Based on the agar-immobilized microalgae, the NH 4 + -N and PO 4 3- -P were efficiently removed from batch and continuous cultures, with the highest removal efficiencies ranging from 96% to 99% were observed. Even being recycled for eight times, the agar-immobilized microalgae were still able to remove 94% of NH 4 + -N and 66% of PO 4 3- -P. Moreover, more than 60% of the nutrient removal efficiency was determined even the agar-immobilized microalgae being preserved for 120 days at room temperature. This work provides a simple, cost-effective and practicable method for the long-term preservation of microalgae at room temperature, which makes the application of microalgal species on the nutrient removal during wastewater treatment more convenient and useful., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest No interest conflict to declare., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In this study, the effect of ball milling on pyrite (FeS 2 ) promoting arsenic (As) removal by zero-valent iron (Fe 0 ) was investigated. The influences of different mass ratios of ball-milled FeS 2 /Fe 0 , the dosage of ball-milled FeS 2 /Fe 0 used and initial pH value were evaluated by batch experiments. The results showed that the ball-milled FeS 2 /Fe 0 system had a higher total As removal efficiency than the mixed FeS 2 -Fe 0 system, ball-milled FeS 2 and ball-milled Fe 0 systems in equal mass. Higher As removal efficiency in ball-milled FeS 2 /Fe 0 system was primarily related to the accelerated corrosion of Fe 0 , which was supported by the determination of total Fe 2+ release and electrochemical experiments. SEM-EDS and XPS characterizations revealed that there were iron sulfides (Fe(II)-S and Fe(III)-S) produced on the surface of Fe 0 in ball-milled FeS 2 /Fe 0 , which could facilitate the electron transfer of Fe 0 and enhanced the corrosion of it. BET test also indicated that ball-milled FeS 2 /Fe 0 possessed a higher specific surface area than ball-milled Fe 0 . In addition, the results also showed the optimum mass ratio of FeS 2 and Fe 0 in ball-milled FeS 2 /Fe 0 to remove As ([As(III)] = 2 mg/L) was 1:1, and the optimum dosage was 0.5 g/L, thereby indicating the optimal As:Fe 0 molar ratio was about 1:168. And the removal rate of As by ball-milled FeS 2 /Fe 0 was faster in acidic condition than that in alkaline condition. These findings suggest that Fe 0 -based arsenic removal efficiency can be enhanced by ball-milling with FeS 2 , making it more feasible for remediation of arsenic-polluted water., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The theory of "proton-assisted process" can well explain the catalytic mechanism of homoprotocatechuate 2,3-dioxygenase (2,3-HPCD) with a monoanionic substrate (homoprotocatechuate, HPCA). Here a "non-proton-assisted process" is presented to interpret catalytic mechanism of 2,3-HPCD with a dianionic substrate (4-nitrocatechol, 4NC). The ONIOM calculation is performed to investigate the reaction pathway of a wild-type 2,3-HPCD with 4NC (H200H-4NC system). The catalytic reaction is comprised of four steps: (1) A dioxygen attacks the aromatic ring to produce an alkylperoxo species. (2) O-O bond cleavage and the formation of an epoxide species occur. (3) A seven-membered O-heterocyclic compound is generated by the extinction of the epoxy structure. (4) The seven-membered ring undergoes ring opening to form the final product (C2-C3 cleavage product). The effective free energy barrier of the catalytic reaction of the H200H-4NC system is 26.2 kcal mol -1 , which is much higher than that of the H200H-HPCA system. Furthermore, two calculated electronic configurations (Fe(III)-O 2 •- and Fe(III)-SQ • ) have a high similarity to previously detected ones, which demonstrates that the Asn200 variant (H200N-4NC variant system) employs a C4 (para-carbon) pathway to produce a C4-C5 cleavage product. Our findings provide an in-depth understanding of the catalytic mechanisms of dianionic catechol and its derivatives., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In this work, reduced graphene oxide/metal organic framework composites (RGO/MOF) have been fabricated for the purpose of activating persulfate (PS) successfully first time. Benefiting from the abundant active sites of composites and the excellent electron conductivity arising from repaired large π conjugate plane structure, RGO/MIL-101(Fe) performed better than RGO and MIL-101(Fe) for PS activation and organic compounds degradation from aqueous. The physical-chemical properties of composite catalysts were fully characterized and the applications to the catalytic degradation of trichlorophenol (TCP) were evaluated. The results showed that RGO/MIL-101(Fe) could effectively degrade TCP, under the reaction conditions of pH 3.0, 20 mg/L TCP, 20 mM PS, 0.5 g/L catalyst, and the removal efficiency is 92% in 180 min. Furthermore, chemical reduction and thermal process played key role in regulating defect levels and electron transfer channels. The obtained adsorptive and conductive graphene allow rapid electron transport between free radicals and enriched contaminants. These advancements of the structure and chemical properties were beneficial to improve the catalytic activity in the activation of PS. Finally, a possible activation mechanism was also investigated, which involved the prevailing free radical pathway and recessive non-radical pathway., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Nitroimidazoles are found in pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) and, when discharged into the environment, have adverse effects on human health and survival. Advanced oxidation technologies (AOTs) based on persulfate (PS) can rapidly and efficiently degrade organic pollutants via strong oxidizing radicals under activation conditions. This study investigated the degradation of ronidazole (RNZ) by indirect electrolytic generation of PS and its activator, ferrous ion (Fe 2+ ). An electrochemical system was developed, with a high concentration of PS generated at the anode while the activator Fe 2+ was produced at the cathode. It showed that ammonium polyphosphate (APP) could effectively promote the electrolysis of PS. A high current efficiency (88%) at the anode could be obtained after 180 min at a high current density (300 mA cm -2 ). However, Fe 2+ was inhibited at the cathode due to material control. The degradation of RNZ in the Fe 2+ /PS system generated from the electrochemical system was also explored. Increasing PS concentration and Fe 2+ /PS ratio were beneficial to the RNZ degradation. In homogeneous reactions, the degradation efficiency of RNZ could be improved by decreasing the Fe 2+ addition rate through a peristaltic pump. Five intermediates were also detected and the degradation pathways were proposed. These findings provide a new method and mechanism for rapid and efficient degradation of RNZ., (Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

We successfully absorbed the copper ion (Cu 2+ ) and cadmium ion (Cd 2+ ) from alkaline aqueous solutions using the prepared chitosan-tannin (CTS/TA) functional paper as absorbent materials. The kinetics of the adsorption, the adsorption isotherms, and the influence of the solution flow rate and pH were investigated detailly. The adsorption data were described well by Langmuir isotherms, with maximum copper (Cu 2+ ) and cadmium (Cd 2+ ) adsorption capacities of 684.93 and 813.01 mg/m 2 , respectively. The experimental results also showed that the adsorption of these heavy metals was selective in the order of Cu 2+  > Cd 2+ , as Cu 2+ competed with Cd 2+ for bonding sites at solution concentrations greater than or equal to 200 mg/L. The results of this study illustrated that the chitosan-tannin functional paper materials mainly followed a complexation-adsorption model, and the best adsorption capacity was achieved at pH = 9. The desorption of heavy ions from this adsorbent and its reusability of functional paper was also involved. Therefore, this novel, environment-friendly functional paper can surely act as an effective adsorbent for the removal and recovery of heavy metals in alkaline aqueous solutions., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) and the water within it account for about 80% of the total sludge mass, significantly correlated with sludge charge properties, particle size, and dewaterability, while their relation is still ambiguous. To clarify the effect of EPS characteristics on the activated sludge dewaterability, the sludge conditioned by cationic polyacrylamide (CPAM) and lysozyme alone or in combination was comparatively investigated by the means of the SPSS17 software incorporation with chemical analysis. According to the results, the combined conditioning increased both dewatering extent and dewatering rate with the water content as low as 57.79%. It was mainly attributed to the destruction of microbial cell wall and EPS structure by enzymatic conditioning, beneficial for the release of protein (PN) and polysaccharide (PS), as well as the conversion of intracellular water and some bound water into free water. Additionally, Pearson's correlation and factor analysis confirmed the significant influence of EPS properties on sludge dewaterability and explored their detailed relationship. It was indicated the most crucial factors consisted of PNS (PN in S-EPS), PNL (PN in LB-EPS), PNT (PN in TB-EPS), and PST (PS in TB-EPS) accounted for 72.83% in all of the total variance for the contribution to the dewatered water content. Moreover, the high concentration of PNS and PNL led to the zeta potential rising to -9.74 mV, and the destruction of EPS structure was favorable for sludge to form smaller particle size and compact floc structure. All the results were confirmed by the microstructure changes of the sludge flocs., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In this study, the enhanced effect of pyrite (FeS 2 ) on zero-valent iron (Fe 0 ) corrosion for arsenic (As) removal was investigated in a combined-Fe 0 /FeS 2 system. The effects of different Fe 0 /FeS 2 composition, dosage and initial pH were evaluated by batch experiments. Results showed that the best combination ratio of Fe 0 :FeS 2 (w/w) was 1:1 and the optimal dosage of mixture was 2.0 g/L. The combination of Fe 0 and FeS 2 in a system significantly enhanced the reactivity of Fe 0 for effective As removal within a broad pH range (3.0-9.0). The effective As removal in the combined-Fe 0 /FeS 2 system was primarily ascribed to being enhanced corrosion of Fe 0 by addition of FeS 2 . SEM and XRD characterizations strongly verified this point. Specifically, the mechanism study (the releases of Fe 2+ and total Fe ion, variations of pH values as well as XPS characterization) suggested that FeS 2 in the combined-Fe 0 /FeS 2 system could alleviate the passivation of Fe 0 (pH ini 3.0-5.0) and accelerate the dissolution of pristine oxide film that coated on Fe 0 surface (pH ini 6.8-9.0). Besides, FeS 2 in combined-Fe 0 /FeS 2 system could also accelerate the reactions between Fe 0 to O 2 at pH ini 3.0-9.0. These phenomena were well explained by a galvanic couple between Fe 0 and FeS 2 , where FeS 2 was a cathode and Fe 0 was an anode. Consequently, electrons released from Fe 0 that mediated by FeS 2 to oxide film, passivation layer and O 2 were accelerated in combined-Fe 0 /FeS 2 system and thereby enhanced the corrosion of Fe 0 for efficient As removal. Our findings suggest that utilizing FeS 2 to enhance the corrosion of Fe 0 would be a promising technology for remediation of As-contaminated water., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Sequential batch reactor (SBR) is a simple and flexible activated sludge process for industrial wastewater treatment. Also, biomass-based fly ash is a fairly plentiful and low-cost waste available in the pulp and paper industry. For treating wastewater of the pulping industry through a more efficient and economic approach, the integration of fly ash in the SBR process was investigated in this work. In this study, fly ash dosages of 0.2 wt% and 0.6 wt% were maintained in SBR1 and SBR2 systems, respectively, for treating the wastewater of the pulping industry. The findings indicated that adding fly ash to the bioreactors improved the settling and flocculation affinity of activated sludge without having any significant effect on the performance and the stability of the biological process. Lignin and color removals were 90.9% and 95% in SBR1 and 92.9% and 97.5% in SBR2, while the removals in the control reactor were 85.3% and 91.5%, respectively. The alkaline ions, such as Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ , leached out from fly ash, which improved the sludge's properties, and this leaching reduced 22.1% and 40.5% of alkali consumptions in SBR1 and SBR2, respectively. The structure of sludge flocs in the reactors with and without fly ash was also studied. This technology is environmental friendly, cost-effective and suitable for a full-scale implementation in existing aerobic biological processes., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Iron-copper bimetal supported on mesoporous γ-Al 2 O 3 with different Fe/Cu ratios was prepared via a modified evaporation-induced self-assembly method and employed to degrade 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) in a Fenton-like process. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction spectrum and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy results confirmed the co-doping of Fe 2+ /Fe 3+ and Cu + /Cu 2+ into the lattice of γ-Al 2 O 3 through the bonds of AlOFe and AlOCu. With the iron and copper co-doped in γ-Al 2 O 3 , three-fold oxygen vacancies (V 0 ) could be achieved compared with that of non-metal catalysts, which was favorable for the reduction of iron and copper species. The 1Fe3Cu-γ-Al 2 O 3 with a Fe/Cu mass ratio of 1:3 exhibited the highest activity on Fenton-like degradation of 4-CP due to the synergistic effects of Fe and Cu by facilitating the electron transfer in the recycles of Cu + /Cu 2+ and Fe 2+ /Fe 3+ based on the results of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry and electro paramagnetic resonance analysis. The utilization efficiency of H 2 O 2 was as high as 86.0% when 4-CP almost disappeared (i.e., 99.7 percent of 0.78 mM 4-CP) at 240 min and pH 7.0, additionally, their dechlorination and TOC removal efficiencies were 92.0% and 81.6%, respectively. The catalyst also displayed a good performance after 5th cycles. Furthermore, a possible mechanism for activation of OH on the catalyst surface was also proposed., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In this study, we reported on the nano-scale nickel/iron particles loaded in carboxymethyl/nanofibrillated cellulose (CMC/NFC) hydrogel for the dechlorination of o-dichlorobenzene (DCB) in aqueous solution. The biodegradable hydrogel may provide an ideal supporting material for fastening the bimetallic nano-scale particles, which was examined and characterized by TEM, SEM-EDX, FT-IR and BET. The performance of the selected bimetallic particles was evaluated by conducting the dechlorination of DCB in the solution under different reaction conditions (e.g., pH, dosage of nickel/iron nanoparticles and temperature). The results showed that about 70% of DCB could be dechlorinated at 20 °C in 8 h, which indicated that the immobilized reactive material had a high reduction activity when Ni/Fe loading dosage in the hydrogel (18 wt%) was considered. Moreover, the reduction behavior agreed to the pseudo-first order reaction, in which the dechlorination rate was irrelative to the pH aqueous solution. A kinetic model for predicting the concentration of DCB during the reduction reaction was established based on the experimental data., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are an important class of water pollutants because of their known ecological and human toxicity. Electrocoagulation (EC) is a promising technology for mitigating industrial wastewater pollution, but the removal and transformation of PAHs during EC treatment has not yet been understood. Therefore, a paper-making wastewater effluent (PMWW) was employed in this study to investigate the relationship between PAHs' removal and transformation during EC treatment. The results show that 86% of PAHs were effectively removed not only by the electro-oxidation reactions, but also by adsorption onto Fe hydroxide flocs. The removal and transformation of PAHs were related to the number of rings in their structures. Some PAHs composed of two aromatic rings (e.g., naphthaline and dimethylnaphthalene) were produced from humic acid-like and fulvic acid-like organics in PMWW, while PAHs with three to four rings were degraded, thus being removed efficiently. Therefore, PAH transformation during EC treatment exerted double-sided effects on the removal of PAHs; the net effect appeared to be positive. Overall, this study revealed the existence and importance of PAH transformation during EC treatment and provided useful guidance for pulp and paper mills to improve the design and operation of wastewater treatment facilities., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The unique electrocoagulator proposed in this study is highly efficient at removing Ni-EDTA, providing a potential remediation option for wastewater containing lower concentrations of Ni-EDTA (Ni ≤ 10 mg L -1 ). In the electrocoagulation (EC) system, cylindrical graphite was used as a cathode, and a packed-bed formed from iron scraps was used as an anode. The results showed that the removal of Ni-EDTA increased with the application of current and favoured acidic conditions. We also found that the iron scrap packed-bed anode was superior in its treatment ability and specific energy consumption (SECS) compared with the iron rod anode. In addition, the packed density and temperature had a large influence on the energy consumption (ECS). Over 94.3% of Ni and 95.8% of TOC were removed when conducting the EC treatment at an applied current of 0.5 A, initial pH of 3, air-purged rate 0.2 L min -1 , anode packed density of 400 kg m -3 temperature of 313 K and time of 30 min. SEM analysis of the iron scraps indicated that the specific area of the anode increased after the EC. The XRD analysis of flocs produced during EC revealed that hematite (α-Fe 2 O 3 ) and magnetite (Fe 3 O 4 ) were the main by-products under aerobic and anoxic conditions, respectively. A kinetic study demonstrated that the removal of Ni-EDTA followed a first-order model with the current parameters. Moreover, the removal efficiency of real wastewater was essentially consistent with that of synthetic wastewater., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Sulfate, a major component of acid mine drainage (AMD), its migration in an AMD-affected river which located at the Dabaoshan mine area of South China was investigated to pursue the remediation strategy. The existing factors of relatively low pH values of 2.8-3.9, high concentrations of SO4(2-) (∼1940 mg L(-1)) and Fe(3+) (∼112 mg L(-1)) facilitated the precipitation of schwertmannite (Fe8O8(OH)6SO4·nH2O) in the upstream river. Geochemical model calculations implied the river waters were supersaturated, creating the potential for precipitation of iron oxyhydroxides. These minerals evolved from schwertmannite to goethite with the increasing pH from 2.8 to 5.8 along the river. The concentration of heavy metals in river waters was great reduced as a result of precipitation effects. The large size of the exchangeable sulfate pool suggested that the sediments had a strong capacity to bind SO4(2-). The XRD results indicated that schwertmannite was the predominant form of sulfate-bearing mineral phases, which was likely to act as a major sulfate sink by incorporating water-borne sulfate into its internal structure and adsorbing it onto its surface. The small size of reduced sulfur pools and strong oxidative status in the surface sediments further showed that SO4(2-) shifting from water to sediment in form of sulfate reduction was not activated. In short, precipitation of sulfate-rich iron oxyhydroxides and subsequent SO4(2-) adsorption on these minerals as well as water dilution contributed to the attenuation of SO4(2-) along the river waters., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In this work, a laboratory experiment was performed to investigate the influences of inoculation with the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus (AMF) Glomus caledoniun L. and/or epigeic earthworms (Eisenia foetida) on phytoremediation of a PCB-contaminated soil by ryegrass grown for 180d. Planting ryegrass, ryegrass inoculated with earthworms, ryegrass inoculated with AMF, and ryegrass co-inoculated with AMF and earthworms decreased significantly initial soil PCB contents by 58.4%, 62.6%, 74.3%, and 79.5%, respectively. Inoculation with AMF and/or earthworms increased the yield of plants, and the accumulation of PCBs in ryegrass. However, PCB uptake by ryegrass accounted for a negligible portion of soil PCB removal. The number of soil PCB-degrading populations increased when ryegrass was inoculated with AMF and/or earthworms. The data show that fungal inoculation may significantly increase the remedial potential of ryegrass for soil contaminated with PCBs., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Both organic chlorine (e.g. PVC) and inorganic chlorides (e.g. NaCl) can be significant chlorine sources for dioxin and furan (PCDD/F) formation in combustion processes. This paper presents a thermodynamic analysis of high temperature salt chemistry. Its influence on PCDD/F formation in power boilers burning salt-laden wood waste is examined through the relationships between Cl2, HCl, NaCl(g) and NaCl(c). These analyses show that while HCl is a product of combustion of PVC-laden municipal solid waste, NaCl can be converted to HCl in hog fuel boilers by reactions with SO2 or alumino-silicate materials. Cl2 is a strong chlorinating agent for PCDD/F formation. HCl can be oxidized to Cl2 by O2, and Cl2 can be reduced back to HCl by SO2. The presence of sulphur at low concentrations thus enhances PCDD/F formation by increasing HCl concentrations. At high concentrations, sulphur inhibits de novo formation of PCDD/Fs through Cl2 reduction by excess SO2. The effect of NH3, CO and NOx on PCDD/F formation is also discussed. A semi-empirical kinetic model is proposed. This model considers both precursor and de novo formation mechanisms. A simplified version is used as a stack emission model. The kinetic model indicates that stack dioxin emissions will increase linearly with decreasing electrostatic precipitator (ESP) efficiency and exponentially with increasing ESP temperature.

The environmental transport of pulp mill effluent compounds and the exposure of two fish species has been monitored by parallel analyses of effluent, water column and suspended sediment samples, and fish bile and muscle. Compounds analyzed included over 20 chlorophenolic compounds and 12 fatty and resin acids. The concentration of chlorophenols varied with seasonal river flows and mill process changes such as the substitution of chlorine dioxide (ClO2) for chlorine gas (Cl2) in the bleach plant. At 100% (ClO2) substitution, the effluent and the water column concentrations of most chlorophenolics approached the analytical detection limits of 0.1-1 parts per billion. Chlorophenolic and fatty/resin acid compounds were detected in the bile of both mountain whitefish (Prosopium williamsoni) and longnose sucker (Catostomus catostomus), but were rarely detected in fillets. Fish bile concentrations were observed in an apparent spatial gradient as far as 230 km downstream of the mill. A depuration experiment with fish held in uncontaminated water for eight days indicated a rapid decrease in chlorophenol levels. These observations corroborate previous investigations that chlorophenolic compounds are rapidly excreted and can be used as sensitive markers for recent exposure to mill effluents.