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Environmental management of cellulose production waste and municipal sewage sludge appears to be substantiated due to various physicochemical properties of these wastes. The aim of the conducted research was to determine the effect of cellulose production waste and sewage sludge on yielding and heavy metal uptake by a plant mixture. The research was conducted under field experiment conditions, determining the fertilizer value of these wastes in the environmental aspect. The research was carried out in the years 2013-2016. Species composition of the plant mixture was adjusted to habitat conditions. It was established that, as compared with the cellulose production waste, the municipal sewage sludge used in the experiment had a higher content of macroelements. The content of heavy metals in the studied waste did not exceed the limits that condition their use in agriculture and reclamation. Applying only the cellulose production waste did not significantly decrease the yield of the plants. Municipal sewage sludge showed the highest yield-forming effect. Mixing the above-mentioned wastes and their application to soil had a significant effect on the increase in the plant mixture yield. The waste applied to soil also increased the content of Cr, Cd, Pb, Cu, and Zn in the plant mix. The level of heavy metal content in the plant mix did not exclude this biomass from being used for fodder or reclamation purposes. The cellulose production waste and municipal sewage sludge increased the heavy metal uptake by the plant mixture. The plant biomass extracted heavy metals from the sewage sludge more intensively than from the cellulose production waste. Among the analyzed heavy metals, the highest phytoremediation was recorded for Ni (30%), followed by Cd (20%), Cr (15%), Pb (10%), and the lowest for Cu (9%) and Zn (8%). Application of the cellulose production waste and sewage sludge to soil also increased the content of the studied heavy metals in soil. However, it did not cause deterioration of soil quality standards. Heterogeneity in the chemical composition of the wastes confirms that each batch intended to be used for environmental management should be subjected to chemical control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of two various forms of DOC on the Gonyostomum semen recruitment from sediments was conducted under experimental laboratory conditions. We tested the hypothesis that DOC is a factor enhancing spring recruitment of the species by exposing sediments from a humic lake with a 17-year bloom history, to three various DOC additions (two solutions of glucose and one solution of a peat extract). Sediments and lake water were incubated for 14 days at 16°C, in 14:10 h light:dark cycle, with germling and adult cell abundance ascertained in the water every third day, and water parameters every seventh day. Our important findings were that (1) Gonyostomum recruitment was uneven and the period of germination was relatively short; (2) all treatments significantly affected germling occurrence; however, sugar-derived DOC seemed to suppress the recruitment, whereas peat extract improved it. Due to the additional phosphorus load in peat treatment (against phosphorus-free sugar treatments), it is likely that it played a major role in the observed differences, however, our results did not exclude the potential role of peat-derived DOC forms. In conclusion, we proposed that Gonyostomum expansion is supported by enhanced recruitment from sediment seed banks related to water chemistry alterations, driven by the climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new family of fluorine-free solid-polymer electrolytes, for use in sodium-ion battery applications, is presented. Three novel sodium salts withdiffuse negative charges: sodium pentacyanopropenide (NaPCPI), sodium 2,3,4,5-tetracyanopirolate (NaTCP) and sodium 2,4,5-tricyanoimidazolate (NaTIM) were designed andtested in a poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) matrix as polymer electrolytes for anall-solid sodium-ion battery. Due to unique, non-covalent structural configurations of anions, improved ionic conductivities were observed. As an example, 'liquid-like' high conductivities (>1 mS cm−1) were obtained above 70 °C for solid-polymer electrolyte with a PEO to NaTCP molar ratio of 16:1. All presented salts showed high thermal stability and suitable windows of electrochemical stability between 3 and 5 V. These new anions open a new class of compounds with non-covalent structure for electrolytes system applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]