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Chitin is an abundant polysaccharide primarily produced as an industrial waste stream during the processing of crustaceans. Despite the limited applications of chitin, there is interest from the medical, agrochemical, food and cosmetic industries because it can be converted into chitosan and partially acetylated chitosan oligomers (COS). These molecules have various useful properties, including antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory activities. The chemical production of COS is environmentally hazardous and it is difficult to control the degree of polymerization and acetylation. These issues can be addressed by using specific enzymes, particularly chitinases, chitosanases and chitin deacetylases, which yield better-defined chitosan and COS mixtures. In this review, we summarize recent chemical and enzymatic approaches for the production of chitosan and COS. We also discuss a design-of-experiments approach for process optimization that could help to enhance enzymatic processes in terms of product yield and product characteristics. This may allow the production of novel COS structures with unique functional properties to further expand the applications of these diverse bioactive molecules.

Emerging global threats, such as biological invasions, climate change, land use intensification, and water depletion, endanger the sustainable future of lakes and reservoirs. To deal with these threats, a multidimensional view on the protection and exploitation of lakes and reservoirs is needed. The holistic approach needs to contain not just the development of economy and society but also take into account the negative impacts of this growth on the environment, from that, the balance between the three dimensions can be sustained to reach a sustainable future. As such, this paper provides a comprehensive review on future opportunities and challenges for the sustainable development of lakes and reservoirs via a critical analysis on their contribution to individual and subsets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Currently, lakes and reservoirs are key freshwater resources. They play crucial roles in human societies for drinking water provision, food production (via fisheries, aquaculture, and the irrigation of agricultural lands), recreation, energy provision (via hydropower dams), wastewater treatment, and flood and drought control. Because of the (mostly) recent intensive exploitations, many lakes and reservoirs are severely deteriorated. In recent years, physical (habitat) degradation has become very important while eutrophication remains the main issue for many lakes and ponds worldwide. Besides constant threats from anthropogenic activities, such as urbanization, industry, aquaculture, and watercourse alterations, climate change and emerging contaminants, such as microplastics and antimicrobial resistance, can generate a global problem for the sustainability of lakes and reservoirs. In relation to the SDGs, the actions for achieving the sustainability of lakes and reservoirs have positive links with the SDGs related to environmental dimensions (Goals 6, 13, 14, and 15) as they are mutually reinforcing each other. On the other hand, these actions have direct potential conflicts with the SDGs related to social and economic dimensions (Goals 1, 2, 3 and 8). From these interlinkages, we propose 22 indicators that can be used by decision makers for monitoring and assessing the sustainable development of lakes and reservoirs.

WOS: 000465645700013, Rivers are ecosystems affected first by environmental pollution. Pollutants originating from domestic, industrial and agricultural activities are firstly involved in rivers. At times when the human population was low, waste materials that had been mixed into rivers could be diluted in a short distance and disintegrated from natural routes. However, with the excessive population growth and industrialization that accompanied development, domestic and industrial wastes also multiplied and the rivers became unable to clean themselves.ln the Northeastern Mediterranean, where the freshwater is exposed to a wide variety of different wastewater, it is inevitable for the settlement centers in the vicinity to leave the Iskenderun Gulf, which is a commercially important region, irreversibly polluted.In this study, accumulation levels of 17a-ethinylestradiol (EE2) hormones were investigated in the chemicals that disturbed the endocrine system that caused the pollution of some freshwater sources pouring into Iskenderun Bay and started to worry scientists in the last decade.In our country, 17 alpha-ethinylestradiol (EE2) hormone levels were found to be high in all freshwater resources covered by the study, according to the Regulation on the Monitoring of Surface Waters and Underground Waters in which the Water Framework Directive was implemented at the national level., Mustafa Kemal University [BAP 2013/8981], The authors gratefully acknowledge thefinancial support of Mustafa Kemal University (BAP 2013/8981).

Synthetic fertilizer production is associated with a high environmental footprint, as compounds typically dissolve rapidly leaching emissions to the atmosphere or surface waters. We tested two recovered nutrients with slower release patterns, as promising alternatives for synthetic fertilizers: struvite and a commercially available organic fertilizer. Using these fertilizers as nitrogen source, we conducted a rhizotron experiment to test their effect on plant performance and nutrient recovery in juvenile tomato plants. Plant performance was significantly improved when organic fertilizer was provided, promoting higher shoot biomass. Since the microbial community influences plant nitrogen availability, we characterized the root-associated microbial community structure and functionality. Analyses revealed distinct root microbial community structure when different fertilizers were supplied. However, plant presence significantly increased the similarity of the microbial community over time, regardless of fertilization. Additionally, the presence of the plant significantly reduced the potential ammonia oxidation rates, implying a possible role of the rhizosheath microbiome or nitrification inhibition by the plant. Our results indicate that nitrifying community members are impacted by the type of fertilizer used, while tomato plants influenced the potential ammonia-oxidizing activity of nitrogen-related rhizospheric microbial communities. These novel insights on interactions between recovered fertilizers, plant and associated microbes can contribute to develop sustainable crop production systems. Synthetic fertilizer production is associated with a high environmental footprint, as compounds typically dissolve rapidly leaching emissions to the atmosphere or surface waters. We tested two recovered nutrients with slower release patterns, as promising alternatives for synthetic fertilizers: struvite and a commercially available organic fertilizer. Using these fertilizers as nitrogen source, we conducted a rhizotron experiment to test their effect on plant performance and nutrient recovery in juvenile tomato plants. Plant performance was significantly improved when organic fertilizer was provided, promoting higher shoot biomass. Since the microbial community influences plant nitrogen availability, we characterized the root-associated microbial community structure and functionality. Analyses revealed distinct root microbial community structure when different fertilizers were supplied. However, plant presence significantly increased the similarity of the microbial community over time, regardless of fertilization. Additionally, the presence of the plant significantly reduced the potential ammonia oxidation rates, implying a possible role of the rhizosheath microbiome or nitrification inhibition by the plant. Our results indicate that nitrifying community members are impacted by the type of fertilizer used, while tomato plants influenced the potential ammonia-oxidizing activity of nitrogen-related rhizospheric microbial communities. These novel insights on interactions between recovered fertilizers, plant and associated microbes can contribute to develop sustainable crop production systems.

The successful treatment of infectious diseases heavily relies on the therapeutic usage of antibiotics. However, the high use of antibiotics in humans and animals leads to increasing pressure on bacterial populations in favour of resistant phenotypes. Antibiotics reach the environment from a variety of emission sources and are being detected at relatively low concentrations. Given the possibility of selective pressure to occur at sub-inhibitory concentrations, the ecological impact of environmental antibiotic levels on microbial communities and resistance levels is vastly unknown. Quantification of antibiotic-resistance genes (ARG) and of antibiotic concentrations is becoming commonplace. Yet, these two parameters are often assessed separately and in a specific spatiotemporal context, thus missing the opportunity to investigate how antibiotics and ARGs relate. Furthermore, antibiotic (multi)resistance has been receiving ever growing attention from researchers, policy-makers, businesses and civil society. Our aim was to collect the limited data on antibiotic concentrations and ARG abundance currently available to explore if a relationship could be defined in surface waters, sediments and wastewaters. A metric of antibiotic selective pressure, i.e. the sum of concentrations corrected for microbial inhibition potency, was used to correlate the presence of antibiotics in the environment to total relative abundance of ARG while controlling for basic sources of non-independent variability, such as country, year, study, sample and antibiotic class. The results of this meta-analysis show a significant statistical effect of antibiotic pressure and type of environmental compartment on the increase of ARG abundance even at very low levels. If global environmental antibiotic pollution continues, ARG abundance is expected to continue as well. Moreover, our analysis emphasizes the importance of integrating existing information particularly when attempting to describe complex relationships with limited mechanistic understanding.

Heavy metal pollution is one of the most serious environmental issues of today. Removal of one common pollutant, copper, from synthetic wastewaters (containing copper, iron, sulfur and sodium) and complex authentic metallurgical plant wastewater (containing copper, iron, aluminum, zinc, nickel, arsenic, sulfur and lead among others) was studied by electrowinning. Due to the complexity and low concentration of these wastewater streams, energy efficient copper removal is challenging. The copper concentration in the investigated solutions varied from 100 to 428 ppm, while the iron concentration was an order of magnitude larger. Copper was recovered energy efficiently on glassy carbon from all investigated solutions that contained iron with a small specific energy consumption (1.5–2.5 kWh/kg Cu), depending on the solution composition and employed parameters. In the absence of iron, the specific energy consumption increased to ca. 3.5 kWh/kg Cu with the same parameters. The results indicate that the presence of iron in copper containing wastewater induces lower energy consumption during electrowinning, due to a decrease in cell voltage. Due to the low applied polarization the produced copper deposits from the authentic industrial wastewater were smooth and bright with no other metals as impurities, confirmed by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Electrowinning was also applied on a carbon nanotube film as the working electrode to create carbon nanotube-copper composite structures of high purity directly from the industrial wastewater. These results highlight the energy efficient recovery of high purity copper from complex industrial wastewaters by electrowinning and furthermore, that the method may be used in producing high added value materials.

© 2018, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature. The occurrence of phenazone-type analgesics, such as aminopyrine, metamizole, phenazone and propyphenazone, has been reported in the effluent of wastewater treatment plants in µg/L concentrations. The presence of the main metabolites of aminopyrine and metamizole—acetamido antipyrine and formyl aminoantipyrine—has even been detected in sub µg/L concentrations in surface water and water bodies used to produce drinking water. This points at their high persistence and the need for adequate removal strategies. The degradation of phenazone, propyphenazone, acetamido antipyrine and formyl aminoantipyrine by UV radiation was investigated under laboratory conditions. An elucidation approach based on high-resolution mass spectrometry resulted in the identification of 11 degradation products. A mechanism of ring opening via the oxidation of the N–N bond of the pyrazolone ring was observed as well as the more typical oxidation of carbon–carbon double bonds. Aside from the degradation products, the capacity of formyl aminoantipyrine to produce trimers and dimers was demonstrated. The dimers were shown to be persistent despite continuous UV radiation. The toxicity of the degradation products was assessed by quantitative structure–activity relationships. It was shown that when the carbon–carbon double bond is partially oxidized to an epoxy the toxicity towards fish and daphnid is increased with respect to the parent compound. ispartof: CHROMATOGRAPHIA vol:82 issue:1 pages:261-269 status: published

Chitosan is a biopolymer obtained from chitin, one of the most abundant and renewable material on Earth. Chitin is a primary component of cell walls in fungi, the exoskeletons of arthropods, such as crustaceans, e.g. crabs, lobsters and shrimps, and insects, the radulae of molluscs, cephalopod beaks, and the scales of fish and lissamphibians. The discovery of chitin in 1811 is attributed to Henri Braconnot while the history of chitosan dates back to 1859 with the work of Charles Rouget. The name of chitosan was, however, introduced in 1894 by Felix Hoppe-Seyler. Because of its particular macromolecular structure, biocompatibility, biodegradability and other intrinsic functional properties, chitosan has attracted major scientific and industrial interests from the late 1970s. Chitosan and its derivatives have practical applications in food industry, agriculture, pharmacy, medicine, cosmetology, textile and paper industries, and chemistry. In the last two decades, chitosan has also received much attention in numerous other fields such as dentistry, ophthalmology, biomedicine and bio-imaging, hygiene and personal care, veterinary medicine, packaging industry, agrochemistry, aquaculture, functional textiles and cosmetotextiles, catalysis, chromatography, beverage industry, photography, wastewater treatment and sludge dewatering, and biotechnology. Nutraceuticals and cosmeceuticals are actually growing markets, and therapeutic and biomedical products should be the next markets in the development of chitosan. Chitosan is also the object of numerous fundamental studies. An indication of the widespread exploitation and constantly growing importance of this biopolymer is the total of over 58,625 scientific articles published between 2000 and 2017. In this chapter, after a description of chitosan fundamentals, we highlight selected works on chitosan applications published over the last two decades.

The aim of this article was to clarify which type of dye chromophores could be decolorized efficiently with the use of laccase enzyme. For this purpose, enzymatic degradation of different type of dye classes (4 reactive, 2 acid and 1 basic dye) having various chromophore groups was investigated by using commercial laccase from Cerrena unicolor. It was observed that the chromophore structure of dye is very important on enzymatic color removal efficiency. According to the experimental results, it was found that color removal efficiencies (20 mg/L initial dye) were 98.7% for RB220 (0.1 g/L enzyme after 6 h), 95.1% for RB19 (0.1 g/L enzyme after 48 h), 90.8% for AR42 (0.1 g/L enzyme after 48 h) while they were 60.9% for AR114 (0.25 g/L enzyme), 58.6% for RB21 (0.5 g/L enzyme), 39.7% for RR239 (0.25 g/L enzyme) even after seven days. As a result, it can be said that the highest decolorization rate was achieved for the reactive dye having formazan copper complex (RB220) chromophore. On the other hand, the enzymatic degradation of basic dye (BB9) was found to be rather difficult compared to the acid and reactive dyes used in this study and the maximum color removal was 42.8% after seven days.

A gastrointestinal outbreak was reported among 154 diners who attended a Christmas buffet on the 9 and 10 December 2016. A retrospective cohort study was undertaken. Faecal samples, water, ice and an air ventilation device were tested for indicators and routine pathogens. Altogether 26% (24/91) fulfilled the case definition of having typical viral gastrointestinal symptoms. Norovirus genogroup I was detected in faecal samples from three cases. One of these cases tested positive also for sapovirus and had a family member testing positive for both norovirus and sapovirus. A diner who drank water or drinks with ice cubes (risk ratios (RR) 6.5, 95% confidence intervals (CI) 1.5–113.0) or both (RR 8.2, 95% CI 1.7–145.5) had an increased risk in a dose-response manner. Ice cubes from three vending machines had high levels of heterotrophic bacteria. A faulty air ventilation valve in the space where the ice cube machine was located was considered a likely cause of this outbreak. Leaking air ventilation valves may represent a neglected route of transmission in viral gastrointestinal outbreaks.

Mycotoxins cause adverse effects on human health. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance to confront them, particularly in agriculture and food systems. Non-thermal plasma, electron beam radiation, and pulsed light are possible novel non-thermal technologies offering promising results in degrading mycotoxins with potential for practical applications. In this paper, the available publications are reviewed—some of them report efficiency of more than 90%, sometimes almost 100%. The mechanisms of action, advantages, efficacy, limitations, and undesirable effects are reviewed and discussed. The first foretastes of plasma and electron beam application in the industry are in the developing stages, while pulsed light has not been employed in large-scale application yet.

With the number of easily accessible ores depleting, alternate primary and secondary sources are required to meet the increasing demand of economically important metals. Whilst highly abundant, these materials are of lower grade with respect to traditional ores, thus highly selective and sustainable metal extraction technologies are needed to reduce processing costs. Here, we investigated the metal leaching potential of biogenic ammonia produced by a ureolytic strain of Lysinibacillus sphaericus on eight primary and secondary materials, comprised of mining and metallurgical residues, sludges and automotive shredder residues (ASR). For the majority of materials, moderate to high yields (30–70%) and very high selectivity (>97% against iron) of copper and zinc were obtained with 1 mol L−1 total ammonia. Optimal leaching was achieved and further refined for the ASR in a two-step indirect leaching system with biogenic ammonia. Copper leaching was the result of local corrosion and differences in leaching against the synthetic (NH4)2CO3 control could be accounted for by pH shifts from microbial metabolism, subsequently altering free NH3 required for coordination. These results provide important findings for future sustainable metal recovery technologies from secondary materials. This work was conducted under the financial support of the Strategic Initiative Materials in Flanders (SIM) (SBO-SMART: Sustainable Metal Extraction from Tailings, grant no. HBC.2016.0456) and the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, Metal Re-covery from Low-Grade Ores and Wastes Plus (METGROW+, grant no. 690088) . FV acknowledges support by the Flemish Agency for Inno-vation and Entrepreneurship (Vlaio) via a Baekeland PhD fellowship (HBC.2017.0224) and by the Research & Development Umicore Group. We would like to thank Pieter Ostermeyer and Karel Folens for assis-tance with thermodynamic modelling and CMET and ECOCHEM group members and SMART/METGROW+partners for valuable discussions throughout the projec.

Considerable efforts have been made to develop effective and sustainable catalysts, e.g., carbon-/biochar-based catalyst, for the decontamination of organic pollutants in water/wastewater. Most of the published studies evaluated the catalytic performance mainly upon degradation efficiency of parent compounds; however, comprehensive and field-relevant performance assessment is still in need. This review critically analysed the performance indicators for carbon-/biochar-based catalytic degradation from the perspectives of: (1) degradation of parent compounds, i.e., concentrations, kinetics, reactive oxidative species (ROS) analysis, and residual oxidant concentration; (2) formation of intermediates and by-products, i.e., intermediates analysis, evolution of inorganic ions, and total organic carbon (TOC); and (3) impact assessment of treated samples, i.e., toxicity evolution, disinfection effect, and biodegradability test. Five most frequently detected pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) (sulfamethoxazole, carbamazepine, ibuprofen, diclofenac, and acetaminophen) were selected as a case study to articulate the performance indicators for a holistic evaluation of carbon-/biochar-based catalytic degradation. This review also encourages the development of alternative performance indicators to facilitate the rational design of catalysts in future studies.

In energy-efficient electrodialysis desalination processes, salt ions are transported from seawater (high salinity) to wastewater (low salinity) through ion-exchange membranes. Besides salt ions, also organic micropollutants can be transported from wastewater (high in organics) to seawater (low in organics). The transport mechanisms of organic micropollutants through ion-exchange membranes are complex phenomena, and pH has a tremendous impact on them. Since pH variations in electrodialysis operation are common, it is of crucial importance to investigate its influence on these mechanisms. Therefore, a large pool of nineteen organic micropollutants of various physicochemical characteristics was selected and added to artificial wastewater, at environmentally relevant concentrations. Approximately twenty of these physicochemical properties were statistically analyzed to elucidate the dominant mechanisms affecting adsorption and transport of organic micropollutants as a function of pH. Additionally, the influence of different current densities on the transport of organic micropollutants at different pH conditions was studied. This pH effect has now been investigated for the very first time, leading to essential conclusions on the practical applicability of electrodialysis for seawater desalination. The presented findings advance our understanding of the type of interactions between organic micropollutants and ion-exchange membranes.

Textile dyes and their residues gained growing attention worldwide. Textile industry is a strong water consumer potentially releasing xenobiotics from washing and rinsing procedures during finishing processes. On a decentralised basis, also final consumers generate textile waste streams. Thus, a procedure simulating home washing with tap water screened cotton textiles leachates (n = 28) considering physico-chemical (COD, BOD5, and UV absorbance) and ecotoxicological data (Daphnia magna, Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata and Lepidium sativum). Results evidenced that: (i) leachates presented low biodegradability levels; (ii) toxicity in more than half leachates presented slight acute or acute effects; (iii) the remaining leachates presented “no effect” suggesting the use of green dyes/additives, and/or well established finishing processes; (iv) no specific correlations were found between traditional physico-chemical and ecotoxicological data. Further investigations will be necessary to identify textile residues, and their potential interactions with simulated human sweat in order to evidence potential adverse effects on human health.

Although to date some technologies producing bio-based phosphorus (P) fertilizers have been proposed and implemented, the efficient use of the recovered products is still limited due to legislative constraints, lack of insights in their P release with time, and in the corresponding mechanisms. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the fertilizer performance in terms of P release and use efficiency of recovered struvite, iron phosphate (FePO4) sludge, digestate, and animal manure as compared to fossil reserve-based mineral triple superphosphate (TSP). First, product physicochemical characteristics and P fractionations in the context of European fertilizer legislation were assessed. Next, a controlled greenhouse experiment was set up to evaluate plant reactions as well as changes in P availability on sandy soils with both high and low P status. P soil fractions were determined in extracts with water (Pw), ammonium lactate (PAl), CaCl2 (P-PAE), and in soil solution sampled with Rhizon soil moisture samplers (Prhizon). Based on all results, long-term field trials evaluating the P release effect of struvite and digestate as compared to animal manure and TSP on different soil types with varying P status appear to be worthwhile. These products show promise as sustainable substitutes for conventional P fertilizers and could contribute to a more efficient use of P in agriculture. A refined classification of P application standards/recommendations in terms of soil P status, texture, and fertilizer characteristics, next to the crop P demand, is recommended. Moreover, the additional use of Rhizon samplers for determination of direct available P, including dissolved organic P, is proposed for better understanding and categorization of different P fertilizers in environmental and fertilizer legislations.

While deammonification of high-strength wastewater in the sludge line of sewage treatment plants has become well established, the potential cost savings spur the development of this technology for mainstream applications. This study aimed at identifying the effect of aeration and organic carbon on the deammonification process. Two 10 L sequencing bath reactors with different aeration frequencies were operated at 25 degrees C. Real wastewater effluents from chemically enhanced primary treatment and high-rate activated sludge process were fed into the reactors with biodegradable chemical oxygen demand/nitrogen (bCOD/N) of 2.0 and 0.6, respectively. It was found that shorter aerobic solids retention time (SRT) and higher aeration frequency gave more advantages for aerobic ammonium-oxidizing bacteria (AerAOB) than nitrite oxidizing bacteria (NOB) in the system. From the kinetics study, it is shown that the affinity for oxygen is higher for NOB than for AerAOB, and higher dissolved oxygen set-point could decrease the affinity of both AerAOB and NOB communities. After 514 days of operation, it was concluded that lower organic carbon levels enhanced the activity of anoxic ammonium-oxidizing bacteria (AnAOB) over denitrifiers. As a result, the contribution of AnAOB to nitrogen removal increased from 40 to 70%. Overall, a reasonably good total removal efficiency of 66% was reached under a low bCOD/N ratio of 2.0 after adaptation.

While composting is generally an effective way to minimize the adverse environmental impacts of manure prior to land application, some issues may also be introduced during compositing, such as the increased presence of recalcitrant antibiotic residues from feed additives. This study suggested that the addition of bamboo charcoal (BC) during pig manure composting was beneficial for the removal of three antibiotics (ciprofloxacin, chlorotetracycline, and norfloxacin). Addition of 9% (w/w) BC decreased the concentration of ciprofloxacin residues by 98.9% (from 1.85 to 0.02 mg kg(-1) dry weight) in 45 days, and decreased the content of norfloxacin and chlorotetracycline below detection limits in less than 5 and 10 days, respectively. In comparison, without added BC, ciprofloxacin levels were decreased by only 82.7% (from 1.85 to 0.32 mg kg(-1) dry weight) after 45 days of composting. This indicated that BC could enhance the removal of antibiotics during manure composting, thus reducing the risk of antibiotic residue runoff when composts are used in agriculture. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

In this study, a lab-scale CANON bioreactor was operated for 260 days, decreasing operational temperature from 35 °C to 15 °C and from 466 to 100 mg-N L−1 ammonium. This was done in order to check the feasibility of the acclimation of CANON biomass treating anaerobic digestion supernatant to B-stage influent wastewater operational conditions. Results showed that decrease in temperature posed an impact over the performance of the CANON bioreactor as well as over its bacterial assemblage. Nitrogen removal efficiency showed a moderate decrease when the system was acclimated from 35 °C to 25 °C, but it decreased dramatically in the acclimation from 25 °C to 15 °C. The decrease in temperature and influent ammonium concentration posed an impact over the bacterial community structure of the system. Ammonium oxidizing bacteria changed from Nitrosomonas, Nitrosospira or Nitrosovibrio genera at high temperature and influent ammonium to Prosthecobacter at low temperature and low ammonium. As well, dominant anammox bacteria genus changed from Candidatus Brocadia to Candidatus Anammoxoglobus during acclimation. Proliferation of nitrite oxidizing bacteria only occurred under low temperature and influent ammonium conditions with growth of Rhodanobacter genus.

Production and utilization of engineered nanoparticles (ENPs), which are smart materials with ability of sensing and destroying chemical contaminants, is growing rapidly. However, these materials seem to have some ecological and health adverse effects. Hence, the main goal of this review study is to give a brief description about the recent developments of the commercial available engineered nano particles in the environmental remediation and also to note the current state of findings about the toxic effects of such advanced materials. The key references revealed the potential in vitro and/or in vivo toxic effects of some ENPs which are commonly used in environmental remediation. However, with respect to highly potential physicochemical and biochemical properties of ENPs, the studies which have been carried out till now are not ample to obtain satisfactory exposure data for both human beings and the environment. Therefore, more surveys should be done in this field to fill the gap of high quality data and to develop new engineered nanoparticles with minimum toxicity.

Transport of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) was simulated in the beginning of River Kokemaenjoki in Finland using one-dimensional SOBEK river model. River Kokemaenjoki is used as a raw water source for an artificial groundwater recharge plant, and the raw water intake plant is located near the downstream end of the model application area. Measured surface water and wastewater concentrations were used to determine the PFOA input to the river and to evaluate the simulation results. The maximum computed PFOA concentrations in the river at the location of the raw water intake plant during the simulation period Dec. 1, 2011-Feb. 16, 2014 were 0.92 ng/l and 3.12 ng/l for two alternative modeling scenarios. These concentration values are 2.3% and 7.8%, respectively, of the 40 ng/l guideline threshold value for drinking water. The current annual median and maximum PFOA loads to the river were calculated to be 3.9 kg/year and 10 kg/year respectively. According to the simulation results, the PFOA load would need to rise to a level of 57 kg/year for the 40 ng/l guideline value to be exceeded in river water at the raw water intake plant during a dry season. It is thus unlikely that PFOA concentration in raw water would reach the guideline value without the appearance of new PFOA sources. The communal wastewater treatment plants in the study area caused on average 11% of the total PFOA load. This raises a concern about the origin of the remaining 89% of the PFOA load and the related risk factors.

Synthesis of hybrids of a porous host-material (with well-dispersed embedded nanoparticles inside the pore), wherein each nanoparticle has precisely controlled properties (size and composition) poses a generic challenge. To this end, a new strategy is proposed to form SnxTi1−xO2 solid-solution-nanoparticles inside the pores of sphere-like mesoporous silica (SBA-15), with different percentages of Sn in the nanoparticle (varying from 5 to 50 at%), for enhanced photocatalysis. X-ray diffraction confirms the formation of solid-solution nanoparticles in the porous silica hybrid, while the location of nanoparticles and elemental composition are identified using electron microscopy. The hybrid with 5 at% of Sn (Sn0.05Ti0.95O2-sphere-like SBA-15) shows the maximum photocatalytic activity for degradation of rhodamine-B dye (first order rate constant for degradation, k = 1.86 h−1), compared to both pure TiO2-sphere-like SBA-15 (k = 1.38 h−1) or pure SnO2-sphere-like SBA-15 (k = 0.14 h−1) or other hybrids in this series. XPS and PL spectra suggest the formation of more oxygen vacancies during the replacement of Ti4+ with Sn4+. Electrochemical studies reveal that there is a reduction of charge transfer resistance from 910 kΩ cm−2 for TiO2-sphere-like SBA-15, to 332 kΩ cm−2 for Sn0.05Ti0.95O2-sphere-like SBA-15. These results imply that the enhancement in photocatalytic performance is as a result of delay in recombination of charge carriers. Therefore, the approach followed in the present work to form solid-solution nanoparticles inside a porous host without causing pore blockage, would be a promising route towards increasing reaction rates in catalytic applications of hybrid materials.

A microbial electrolysis cell (MEC)-forward osmosis (FO) system was previously reported for recovering ammonium and water from synthetic solutions, and here it has been advanced with treating landfill leachate. In the MEC, 65.7±9.1% of ammonium could be recovered in the presence of cathode aeration. Without aeration, the MEC could remove 54.1±10.9% of ammonium from the leachate, but little ammonia was recovered. With 2M NH4HCO3 as the draw solution, the FO process achieved 51% water recovery from the MEC anode effluent in 3.5-h operation, higher than that from the raw leachate. The recovered ammonia was used as a draw solute in the FO for successful water recovery from the treated leachate. Despite the challenges with treating returning solution from the FO, this MEC-FO system has demonstrated the potential for resource recovery from wastes, and provide a new solution for sustainable leachate management.

An environmentally friendly, simple method was carried out with the help of an ultrasonic assisted solid-liquid microextraction technique using a new deep eutectic solvent (DES) for the extraction and determination of Sudan dyes (I-IV) in spice samples. In this method, parameters affecting the optimization were researched and optimized such as DES composition, DES volume, ultrasonic time, temperature and, centrifuge time. The analytical performance of the developed method was quite satisfactory, the R-2 values were higher than 0.9989, and the limits of quantification were

Several calibration approaches were evaluated for the quantitation of volatile organic compounds in air using miniaturized exhaustive and non-exhaustive sampling techniques, such as in-tube extraction (ITEX) and solid phase microextraction (SPME) Arrow. Eleven compounds, 2-ethyl-hexanol, hexanal, nonanal, toluene, ethyl-benzene, methyl isobutyl ketone, acetophenone, p-cymene, alpha-pinene, trimethylamine and triethylamine, all them found in the natural air samples, were selected as model analytes. Liquid injection, liquid standard addition to the sorbent bed and gas phase standards provided by an automatic permeation system, were evaluated in the case of ITEX packed with laboratory-made 10% polyacrylonitrile (PAN) material. Two different approaches, based on sampling of gas phase compounds from the permeation system and from sample vial containing gas phase standards, were evaluated for SPME Arrow with two different coatings, commercial divinylbenzene-poly(dimethylsiloxane) (DVB-PDMS) and laboratory-made mesoporous Mobil Composition of Matter No. 41 (MCM-41). In addition, interface model approach was used for the calculation of the real concentration of the target analytes in the sample from the total amount of analytes injected into the GC-MS in the case of SPME Arrow. Similar results were obtained with the different approaches used for the quantitation by ITEX and SPME Arrow. However, the use of gas phase standards with sample matrix similar to the natural samples, allowed the permeation system to provide the most reliable results for the quantitation of the target analytes. For this approach, linearity (expressed as r(2) values) ranged between 0.991 and 0.999. The limit of detection ranged from 0.5 mu g/m(3) (trimethylamine, MCM-41) to 2.2 x 10(-4) mu g/m(3) (methyl isobutyl ketone, MCM-41). In addition, the use of the fully automated permeation system provided good reproducibility values that were between 1.4% (acetophenone, MCM-41) and 7.8% (methyl isobutyl ketone, 10% PAN). The linear ranges were at least 3 order of magnitude for all the studied analytes with the exception of the calibration curve developed for trimethylamine with SPME Arrow (linear ranges between LOQ and 4.9 mu g/m(3) (DVB-PDMS) and LOQ and 9.8 mu g/m(3) (MCM-41)). (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

International audience; The purification of biofuels becomes a challenging issue because of the harmfulness of remaining phenolic molecules for human health and engines. To this end, protonic Y zeolites with different Si/Al ratios were explored as effective adsorbent materials to remove phenol from isooctane solution by using a dual experimental/computational strategy. Phenol was selectively removed from isooctane over HY and USY zeolites with a maximal adsorption capacity of 2.2 mmol·g–1, which corresponds to 3–4 phenol molecules per zeolitic supercage. The adsorption equilibrium was reached faster over dealuminated zeolites, due to the presence of large pores at the expense of microporosity as well as a low density of acidic sites. We further evidence that the presence of acid sites limits the regeneration capacity since phenol was strongly adsorbed on both Brønsted and Lewis acid sites. USY zeolite with the highest Si/Al ratio presents the best regeneration capacity since it has the lower aluminum loading. A fundamental understanding of these performances was obtained by coupling characterization (infrared spectroscopy, breakthrough curves, and desorption experiments) and modeling tools (Grand Canonical Monte Carlo and Density Functional Theory).

Use of membrane filtration is attracting increasing attention for nutrient recovery from anaerobically digested slurry. However, the challenge is to reduce membrane fouling by effective solids mitigation, while maintaining valuable nutrients. In this study, the effects of several flocculation pre-treatments using polyaluminium chloride, iron chloride, and flocculant aid at various dosages were investigated. The results showed significant improvement in membrane flux from 0.8 to 27.6 mL/m 2/s due to solid migration (up to 75% removal). Significant loss of PO 4 3−-P (99%) and humic acids (40–80%) was observed. However, the content of NH 4 +-N and indoleacetic acids was largely maintained in the treated slurry. Moreover, toxic metals were significantly removed through flocculation, making the final product risk-free of heavy metals for agricultural application.

Microalgae are a sustainable alternative for production of valuable omega -3 fatty acids (FAs), but high production costs limit commercialization. Utilization of waste as a nutrient source increases the economics of the cultivation process. Additionally, using mixed algal cultures instead of monocultures makes the cultivation process more flexible and can increase biomass and lipid production. Here, the growth and lipid production of microalgae Euglena gracilis, Selenastrum sp. and, Chlorella sorokiniana were studied in mono- and mixed cultures in small and pilot scale experiments in biowaste leachate. In pilot scale, also nutrient reduction and the number of bacteria were analyzed. Biomass production in the most productive mixed cultures was similar, but not higher than in most productive monocultures. The lipid production was highest in the small-scale monoculture of Selenastrum (10.4% DW) and in the pilot scale culture of Selenastrum with E. gracilis (11.1% DW). The content of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) increased and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) remained stable during the cultivation period in all pilot scale cultures. However, increases in biomass and lipid production toward the end of the cultivation resulted in higher EPA and DHA yields in the well growing monoculture of E. gracilis and in the mixed culture of E. gracilis with Selenastrum. Co-cultivation of E. gracilis and Selenastrum also had a positive influence on nutrient uptake and resistance against bacteria. This type of mixed culture may be a good option for commercialization. However, as shown here, minor changes in cultivation conditions can rapidly result in dominance of a subdominant strain, and thus the stability of strain performance and production of desired FAs needs further investigation.

New chemical vapor reaction (CVR) and atomic layer deposition (ALD)-conversion methods were utilized for preparation of metal organic frameworks (MOFs) coatings of solid phase microextraction (SPME) Arrow for the first time. With simple, easy and convenient one-step reaction or conversion, four MOF coatings were made by suspend ALD iron oxide (Fe2O3) film or aluminum oxide (Al2O3) film above terephthalic acid (H2BDC) or trimesic acid (H3BTC) vapor. UIO-66 coating was made by zirconium (Zr)-BDC film in acetic acid vapor. As the first documented instance of all-gas phase synthesis of SPME Arrow coatings, preparation parameters including CVR/conversion time and temperature, acetic acid volume, and metal oxide film/metal-ligand films thickness were investigated. The optimal coatings exhibited crystalline structures, excellent uniformity, satisfactory thickness (2-7.5 μm), and high robustness (>80 times usage). To study the practical usefulness of the coatings for the extraction, several analytes with different chemical properties were tested. The Fe-BDC coating was found to be the most selective and sensitive for the determination of benzene ring contained compounds due to its highly hydrophobic surface and unsaturated metal site. UIO-66 coating was best for small polar, aromatic, and long chain polar compounds owing to its high porosity. The usefulness of new coatings were evaluated for gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (GC-MS) determination of several analytes, present in wastewater samples at three levels of concentration, and satisfactory results were achieved.

Microalgae are a novel biomass feedstock for the production of biogas through anaerobic digestion. However, anaerobic digestion of microalgal biomass often suffers from low methane yields due to their rigid cell walls. In contrast to eukaryotic microalgae, prokaryotic cyanobacteria have a weaker cell wall and might be more attractive as feedstock for anaerobic digestion. Nevertheless, feedstock biomass composition influences the anaerobic digestion process. In cyanobacteria, nitrogen is a key nutrient for which availability induces changes in the biomass composition. In this study, the cyanobacterium Pseudanabaena sp. CY14-1 was cultivated at different nitrogen concentrations (14, 42 and 56 mg N L−1) to achieve biomass with a variable carbohydrate content (61, 38 and 23% dry weight, respectively). Anaerobic digestion of these three types of Pseudanabaena sp. CY14-1 biomass was performed in batch experiments to evaluate the effect of biomass composition on methane yields. During the first days of the experiment, the methane yield of the biomass was comparable irrespective of the carbohydrate content. The final methane yield, however, was higher for the biomass with 23% carbohydrate content (251 mL CH4 g-1 CODin) than for the biomass with 38 and 61% carbohydrates (226 and 215 mL CH4 g-1 CODin, respectively). In contrast, 61% carbohydrate-rich biomass showed the highest hydrolysis constant (0.21 day-1) among the three types of Pseudanabaena sp. CY14-1 biomass. Methane yields achieved with these three biomasses are higher than those reported for some eukaryotic microalgae species, highlighting the potential of cyanobacteria as biomass feedstock for anaerobic digestion.

As excessive foam formation is undesirable from an operational perspective in the ammonia stripping process of anaerobic digested slurry, the effect of alkaline agents on foam production was first evaluated by comparing two pH adjusters (NaOH and CaO). Results show that increased pH via CaO addition can significantly aggravate foam production and restrain defoaming ability during the stripping of anaerobic digestion effluent. The addition of 0.75% normal silicone oil (NSO) or 0.01% polyether-modified silicone oil (PMSO) as antifoam reduced foam capacity by 56.2 ± 2.5% and 75.2 ± 2.7%, respectively, but only works in a slurry with pH adjusted by NaOH, not by CaO. Moreover, the addition of these antifoams led to 4.31% (0.75% NSO) and 5.38% (0.01% PMSO) NH4+-N removal efficiency abatement during the stripping process. Finally, a new high-temperature, neutral (without pH adjustment) stripping strategy is proposed in this study, because it can effectively mitigate the formation of foam and maintain equalized ammonia removal. The effluent discharged via this stripping concept can be handled easily and does not cause heavy negative impacts from the residual alkaline content. Furthermore, the ammonia loss in the preparation phase before stripping was only 1/3 that in the traditionally high-pH stripping, indicating the potential of this new mitigation strategy in the frame of an environmentally friendly development.

We employed polymer functionalized silica gel as an adsorbent for the removal of Cr(vi) from water. The chains of 2-aminoethyl methacrylate hydrochloride (AEMA·HCl) polymer were grown from the surface of silica gel via surface-initiated conventional radical polymerization and the resulting hybrid material exhibited high affinity for chromium(vi). To investigate the adsorption behavior of Cr(vi) on diverse polymer based hybrid materials, the removal capacity of (SG-AEMH) was compared with our previously reported branched polyamine functionalized mesoporous silica (MS-PEI). The adsorption capacities of polymer based materials were also compared with their respective monolayer based platforms comprising a 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) functionalized silica gel (SG-APTES) and mesoporous silica (MS-APTES). The polymer based systems showed excellent Cr(vi) adsorption efficiencies compared to monolayer counterparts. The structural characteristics and surface modification of these adsorbents were examined by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The experimental data were analyzed using the Langmuir and Freundlich models. Correlation coefficients were determined by analyzing each isotherm. The kinetic data of adsorption reactions were described by pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order equations. Thermodynamic parameters, i.e., change in the free energy (?G°), the enthalpy (?H°), and the entropy (?S°), were also evaluated. The synthesized hybrid materials exhibited a high adsorption capacity for chromium ions. Furthermore, they could be regenerated and recycled effectively.

© 2018 Elsevier B.V. Integrally skinned asymmetric nanofiltration (NF) membranes are widely used for treating a variety of aqueous and solvent streams. Polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF), is an excellent film forming polymer with outstanding chemical, thermal and mechanical stability. However, additive-free PVDF membranes with pores small enough to apply them in NF do not currently exist. By accurately tuning the phase inversion parameters (i.e. polymer concentration, co-solvent concentration and evaporation time), a membrane was obtained that retains for 80% a 327 Da solute from an aqueous solution at a permeance of 1.8 LMH/bar when operated at 10 bar. The membranes were characterised by XRD and SEM, while the membrane formation process was characterised using viscosity measurements and cloud point determinations. ispartof: JOURNAL OF MEMBRANE SCIENCE vol:557 pages:24-29 status: published

Low amounts of human pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment can affect bacteria, animals and ultimately humans. Here, the environmental consequences of a shift in prescription behavior from prednisolone to berberine was modeled using an environmental decision support system based on four consecutive steps: emission, fate, exposure and effect. This model estimates the relative aquatic and human health impacts of alternative pharmaceutical prescriptions throughout Europe. Since a Defined Daily Dose (DDD) of berberine has yet to be formulated, the environmental impacts of berberine and prednisolone were compared under the assumption of equal DDDs. Subsequently, the relative impact ratio indicates the extent to which the actual DDD of berberine might be higher to still be environmentally preferable over prednisolone. In fact, berberine can be administered at a six times higher dose throughout Europe before its impact on the aquatic environment exceeds that of one prescription of prednisolone. On average, the results for impacts on human health are similar, with the median impact ratio ranging between 5.87 and 22.8 depending on the level of drinking water purification. However, for some regions in Spain, Austria, Baltic States and Finland, berberine can only be considered an environmentally better alternative if it is administered at a lower dose than prednisolone. We conclude that for most regions in Europe it is, up until a certain dose of berberine, beneficial for the aquatic environment and therefore human health to prefer prescription of berberine over prednisolone.

The application of new sorbent-film coated passive samplers for capture of bulk commercial and military explosives vapours in operationally relevant spaces such as luggage, rooms, vehicles and shipping containers is presented. Samplers were easily integrated with in-service detection technologies with little/no sample preparation required. Ethylene glycol dinitrate (EGDN) was detected within 4 h in a container holding a suitcase packed with 0.2 kg Perunit 28E. Within a 22,000 dm3 room, 1 kg of concealed Seguridad was detected within 24 h and in an adjoining room within 7 days. Exposed samplers also successfully captured components of 1 kg TNT after 72 h and 1 kg concealed Perunit 28E after 6 h in both a furnished room and a large, partially filled shipping container. For the latter, samplers captured detectable residues outside the container after 24 h and were stable during wet weather for 72 h. A one-week trial at three operationally relevant venues including a university, a theatre and a government building revealed a nuisance positive rate of

This paper describes the preparation of nano@lignocellulose (nano@LC) and a nano@lignocellulose/montmorillonite (nano@LC/MT) nanocomposite, as well as the capacity of the nano@LC/MT for adsorbing manganese ions from aqueous solution. The structure of nano@LC and nano@LC/MT was characterised by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Scanning electron microscopy, and Transmission electron microscopy, which revealed that the diffraction peak of montmorillonite almost disappeared, infrared bands of the functional groups shifted, and morphology of the material changed after the formation of the composite. The optimum conditions for the adsorption of Mn(II) on the nano@LC/MT nanocomposite were investigated in detail by changing the initial Mn(II) concentration, pH, adsorption temperature, and time. The results revealed that the adsorption capacity of the nano@LC/MT nanocomposite for Mn(II) reached 628.0503 mg/g at a Mn(II) initial concentration of 900 mg/L, solution pH 5.8, adsorption temperature 55 degrees C, and adsorption time 160 min. Adsorption kinetics experiments revealed good agreement between the experimental data and the pseudo-second order kinetic model. The experimental data was satisfactorily fitted to the Langmuir isotherm. Adsorption-desorption results showed that nano@LC/MT exhibited excellent reusability. The adsorption mechanism was investigated through FT-IR and EDX spectroscopic analyses. The results suggested that nano@LC/MT have great potential in removing Mn(II) from water. Inner Mongolia Science & Technology Plan [207-202053, 20140609, 201501041, 20131506]; Inner Mongolia Science & Technology Plan; National Natural Science Foundation of China [21467021] The project (207-202053) is supported by Inner Mongolia Science & Technology Plan; the project (20140609) is supported by Inner Mongolia Science & Technology Plan; the project (201501041) is supported by Inner Mongolia Science & Technology Plan; the project (20131506) is supported by Inner Mongolia Science & Technology Plan; the project of Grasslands Outstanding R&D Team Building of Inner Mongolia (2014) is supported by Inner Mongolia Science & Technology Plan; and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21467021).

A roundtable discussion held at the fourth International Symposium on the Environmental Dimension of Antibiotic Resistance (EDAR4) considered key issues concerning the impact on the environment of antibiotic use in agriculture and aquaculture, and emissions from antibiotic manufacturing. The critical control points for reducing emissions of antibiotics from agriculture are antibiotic stewardship and the pre-treatment of manure and sludge to abate antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Antibiotics are sometimes added to fish and shellfish production sites via the feed, representing a direct route of contamination of the aquatic environment. Vaccination reduces the need for antibiotic use in high value (e.g. salmon) production systems. Consumer and regulatory pressure will over time contribute to reducing the emission of very high concentrations of antibiotics from manufacturing. Research priorities include the development of technologies, practices and incentives that will allow effective reduction in antibiotic use, together with evidence-based standards for antibiotic residues in effluents. All relevant stakeholders need to be aware of the threat of antimicrobial resistance and apply best practice in agriculture, aquaculture and pharmaceutical manufacturing in order to mitigate antibiotic resistance development. Research and policy development on antimicrobial resistance mitigation must be cognizant of the varied challenges facing high and low income countries.

A growing emphasis on water recycling resulted in intense research activity, aiming to develop and validate reliable and high-quality water treatment processes at lowest cost. In parallel, significant advances in the field of osmotically driven processes have been obtained in the past decade. While the combination of membrane bioreactor (MBR) and reverse osmosis (RO) has become the preferred choice for water reuse, the osmotic membrane bioreactor (OMBR) has begun to be considered as a promising alternative. Based on the current state of knowledge, this paper critically asses the potential for OMBR to be implemented for water reuse application and highlights challenges to reach full scale operation. The initial vision of an energy-free osmotic gradient process is not realistic and its low fouling behaviour is still to be properly assessed. However, OMBR demonstrated unique features such as high rejection of contaminants and an absence of RO brine stream that can support its implementation, especially in the context of high end (potable, industrial) water reuse. However, to become a viable and effective technology for water reuse, significant research and development is still required. Tackling the salinity build-up, developing membranes and modules adapted to OMBR, evaluating long term performance and economics, validating removal of contaminants and developing design, maintenance and automatic control systems constitute critical topics to be considered in future research.

[EN] BACKGROUNDUltrafiltration is used as tertiary treatment in wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) for wastewater reclamation. However, membrane fouling is the main drawback of the process. In this work a new effluent organic matter fractionation procedure with adsorption resins (XAD-8, XAD4 and IRA-958) has been applied without recovering the adsorbed fractions. In this way, strong and weak hydrophobic and charged hydrophilic substances of the dissolved organic matter (DOM) were removed for further ultrafiltration, in order to know the most fouling fraction. For this, secondary effluents of two WWTP and two membranes with different molecular weight cut-offs (100 kDa and 3 kDa) were used in ultrafiltration experiments in a laboratory plant. RESULTSThe hydrophobic substances (especially the strong hydrophobics) predominated over the hydrophilic compounds. Membrane fouling was higher for the membrane with the highest molecular weight cut-off (100 kDa). Thus, flux decline was around 25-47% higher than that measured for the 3 kDa membrane. The charged hydrophilic substances (CHi) were identified as the most fouling compounds with 100 kDa membrane. Reversible fouling was predominant. CONCLUSIONSThe proposed fractionation system enabled determination of the contribution of the different fractions to the DOM. (c) 2017 Society of Chemical Industry, This work was supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (CTM2014-54546-P).

Determination of the sludge volume index is key to describing the settling characteristics of sludge in the aeration process of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The two core components of this calculation are the settled sludge volume (SSV) and suspended solids. While the measurement procedure for SSV is generally defined by national or international standards, in practice a wide variety of vessel sizes and shapes are used by operators to monitor WWTP performance. Furthermore, differences in how these tests are carried out can lead to poor data, inefficient WWTP operation and a lack of comparable metrics for WWTP operational monitoring. Thus, there is a requirement to improve operational performance of WWTPs to meet the increasingly stringent legislation regarding discharge limits. The aim of this study was to utilise a novel image-processing system (AutoSSV) to (i) determine its efficacy in describing SSV and (ii) measure and compare different methodologies for measurement of SSV. The AutoSSV system was tested using samples from various WWTPs and the results compared to those determined by standard manual measurement. Both standard and modified settlement tests were conducted on 30 mixed liquor samples, with modified settlement tests consistently resulting in lower SSV measurements. Results from the study showed a strong correlation between the SSV measurements provided by the AutoSSV system and results obtained from current manual measurement methods. The proposed technique would help to standardise the measurement in practice and increase the frequency of monitoring, particularly in small-scale rural WWTPs where there may not be permanent operators on site, and thus provide sufficient performance monitoring for efficient and effective operation. The authors would like to acknowledge the funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme under grant number 689817 (INNOQUA), the Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation Fund (Grant Number: CF2332) and the College of Engineering and Informatics PhD scholarship peer-reviewed

Tissue vasculature efficiently distributes nutrients, removes metabolites, and possesses selective cellular permeability for tissue growth and function. Engineered tissue models have been limited by small volumes, low cell densities, and invasive cell extraction due to ineffective nutrient diffusion and cell-biomaterial attachment. Herein, we describe the fabrication and testing of ceramic hollow fibre membranes (HFs) able to separate red blood cells (RBCs) and mononuclear cells (MNCs) and be incorporated into 3D tissue models to improve nutrient and metabolite exchange. These HFs filtered RBCs from human umbilical cord blood (CB) suspensions of 20% RBCs to produce 90% RBC filtrate suspensions. When incorporated within 5 mL of 3D collagen-coated polyurethane porous scaffold, medium-perfused HFs maintained nontoxic glucose, lactate, pH levels, and higher cell densities over 21 days of culture in comparison to nonperfused 0.125 mL scaffolds. This hollow fibre bioreactor (HFBR) required a smaller per-cell medium requirement and operated at cell densities > 10-fold higher than current 2D methods whilst allowing for continuous cell harvest through HFs. Herein, we propose HFs to improve 3D cell culture nutrient and metabolite diffusion, increase culture volume and cell density, and continuously harvest products for translational cell therapy biomanufacturing protocols.

On-site biological hand washing water treatment can improve global access to safe hand washing water, but requires a thorough understanding of the chemical composition of the water to be treated, and an effective treatment strategy. This study first presents a detailed characterization of the individual inputs to hand washing water. We demonstrate (i) that soap is likely the most significant input in hand washing water, representing ∼90% of mass loading, and (ii) that inputs to hand washing water have low concentrations of biologically-essential macro- and micro-nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, copper, zinc, molybdenum and cobalt) with respect to carbon, which may impair biological carbon removal. This study next formulates a recipe that recreates a representative composition of hand washing water and develops a procedure to identify and supplement nutrients in which this recipe is estimated to be deficient. Batch testing of the nutrient-supplemented hand washing water with an inoculum of planktonic bacteria demonstrated improved assimilable organic carbon removal (99% vs. 86% removal) and produced lower final dissolved organic carbon concentrations (1.7 mgC/L vs. 3.5 mgC/L) compared to realistic (nutrient-deficient) washing water. Supplementing nutrients did promote cell growth (50x higher final total cell count). Full-scale testing in a biologically activated membrane bioreactor (BAMBi) system treating 75 L/day of nutrient-supplemented hand washing water showed that long-term operation (100 days) can deliver effective carbon removal (95%) without detrimental fouling or other disruptions caused by cell growth. This work demonstrates that biological treatment in a BAMBi system, operated with appropriate nutrient-balancing offers an effective solution for decentralized treatment of light greywater., Water Research, 144, ISSN:0043-1354, ISSN:1879-2448

In this work, p-Co3O4/n-ZnO heterostructures were fabricated on Ni substrate by hydrothermal-decomposition method using cobaltous nitrate hexahydrate (Co(NO3)2·6H2O) and zinc acetate dihydrate (Zn(CH3COO)2·2H2O) as precursors with zinc acetate concentration varying from 5.0 to 55.0 mM. Structure and morphology of the developed samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Effect of zinc acetate concentration on the photocatalytic activity of p-Co3O4/n-ZnO heterostructures was investigated by degradation of methyl orange (MO) under the UV light irradiation. The fabricated p-Co3O4/n-ZnO heterostructures exhibited higher photocatalytic activity than pure Co3O4 particles. In order to obtain the maximum photocatalytic activity, zinc acetate concentration was optimized. Specifically, at 35 mM of zinc acetate, the p-Co3O4/n-ZnO showed the highest photocatalytic activity with the degradation efficiency of MO reaching 89.38% after 72 h irradiation. The improvement of photocatalytic performance of p-Co3O4/n-ZnO heterostructures is due to the increased concentration of photo-generated holes on Co3O4 surface and the higher surface-to-volume ratio in the hierarchical structure formed by nano-lamellas. Graphical abstract

Raw metals are fundamental to the global economy as they are essential to maintain the quality of our life as well as industrial performance. A number of metal-bearing aqueous matrices are appealing as alternative supplies to conventional mining, like solid industrial and urban waste leachates, wastewaters and even some natural extreme environments (e.g. deep marine sediments, geothermal brines). Some of these sources are already managed for recovery, while others are not suitable either because they are too low in content of recoverable metals or they contain too many impurities that would interfere with classical recovery processes or would be cost-prohibitive. Microbial electro-metallurgy, which results from the interactions between microorganisms, metals and electrodes, in which the electron transfer chain associated with microbial respiration plays a key role, can contribute to overcome these challenges. This review provides the state of the art on this subject, and summarizes the general routes through which microbes can catalyse or support metal recovery, leading to nano- and macro-scale materials. Competing sorption and electrochemical technologies are briefly revisited. The relevant sources of metals are highlighted as well as the challenges and opportunities to turn microbial electro-metallurgy into a sustainable industrial technology in the near future. Finally, an outlook to pursue functional materials through microbial electrometallurgy is provided.

The sludge digester effluent taken from a full scale municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in Istanbul, Turkey, was successfully deammonified using a laboratory scale two-stage partial nitritation (PN)/Anammox (A) process and a maximum nitrogen removal rate of 1.02 kg N/m3/d was achieved. In the PN reactor, 56.8 ± 4% of the influent NH4-N was oxidized to NO2-N and the effluent nitrate concentration was kept below 1 mg/L with 0.5–0.7 mg/L of dissolved oxygen and pH of 7.12 ± 12 at 24 ± 4°C. The effluent of the PN reactor was fed to an upflow packed bed Anammox reactor where high removal efficiency was achieved with NO2-N:NH4-N and NO3-N:NH4-N ratios of 1.32 ± 0.19:1 and 0.22 ± 0.10:1, respectively. The results show that NH4-N removal efficiency up to 98.7 ± 2.4% and total nitrogen removal of 87.7 ± 6.5% were achieved.