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The ability of indoor plants to purify benzene pollution is the basic basis for the selection of plants for ecological remediation of indoor benzene pollution. In this study, the purification rate and the purification amount per unit leaf area of 13 test plants at three benzene concentrations were determined by indoor fumigation experiments, and the benzene absorption and purification abilityability of indoor plants were comprehensively evaluated. The results showed that (1) there was a significant correlation between benzene concentration and purification rate and purification amount per unit leaf area. (2) At the three concentrations, Spathiphyllum floribundum showed the highest purification rate and Sansevieria trifasciata var. laurentii showed the highest purification per unit leaf area. (3) The combined results showed that Sansevieria trifasciata var. laurentii, Spathiphyllum floribundum and Aloe arborescens were the strongest absorbers and purifiers, while Podocarpus nagi and Anthurium andraeanum 'Pink champin' had the weakest absorption and purification capacity. The results of this study provide a theoretical basis and reference for the selection of plants with strong capacities to adsorb and purify benzene pollution in indoor air., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The cross-linked γ-cyclodextrin metal-organic framework (CL-CD-MOF) was synthesized by crosslinking γ-cyclodextrin metal-organic framework (γ-CD-MOF) with diphenyl carbonate to separate benzene series and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The separation ability of the CL-CD-MOF packed column was assessed in both reverse-phase (RP-) and normal-phase (NP-) modes. The retention mechanisms of these compounds were discussed and confirmed by combining molecular simulations in detail. It was found that baseline separation could be obtained in RP-HPLC mode and it was superior to commercial C18 column in separating xylene isomers. The interaction between CL-CD-MOF and analytes, such as dipole-dipole interaction, π-electron transfer interaction, hydrophobic interaction, and van der Waals force, may dominate the chromatographic separation, and CL-CD-MOF column had a certain shape recognition ability. In addition, the composition of the mobile phase also had a crucial effect. Moreover, the column demonstrated satisfactory stability and repeatability (the relative standard deviations of retention time, peak height, peak area, and half peak width for six replicate separations of the tested analytes were within the ranges 0.17-1.1%, 0.96-1.9%, 0.23-1.7%, and 0.32-1.9%, respectively) and there was no significant change in the separation efficiency for at least 3 years of use. Thermodynamic characteristics indicated that the process of separations on the CL-CD-MOF column was both negative enthalpy change (ΔH) and entropy change (ΔS) controlled. The excellent performance made CL-CD-MOF a promising HPLC stationary phase material for separation and determination of benzene series and PAHs.

Alkenylbenzenes are potentially toxic (genotoxic and carcinogenic) compounds present in plants such as basil, tarragon, anise star and lemongrass. These plants are found in various edible consumer products, e.g., popularly used to flavour food. Thus, there are concerns about the possible health consequences upon increased exposure to alkenylbenzenes especially due to food intake. It is therefore important to constantly monitor the amounts of alkenylbenzenes in our food chain. A major challenge in the determination of alkenylbenzenes in foods is the complexity of the sample matrices and the typically low amounts of alkenylbenzenes present. This review will therefore discuss the background and importance of analytical separation methods from papers reported from 2010 to 2020 for the determination of alkenylbenzenes in foods and related products. The separation techniques commonly used were gas and liquid chromatography (LC). The sample preparation techniques used in conjunction with the separation techniques were various variants of extraction (solvent extraction, liquid-liquid extraction, liquid-phase microextraction, solid phase extraction) and distillation (steam and hydro-). Detection was by flame ionisation and mass spectrometry (MS) in gas chromatography (GC) while in liquid chromatography was mainly by spectrophotometry.

A Poly (3,4-ethylenedioxothiophene) (PEDOT)/UiO-66 composite was electrodeposited on an etched stainless-steel wire as head-space solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) coating. A robust, well controlled thickness, and uniform coating of metal organic framework composites can be realized by the electrodeposited strategy. The incorporated UiO-66 not only enhanced the uniformity and stability of the composite coating, but also effectively decreased the stacking phenomenon of PEDOT and improved its extraction efficiency, which was over 100 times higher than that of the PEDOT coating without UiO-66. The composite coating was used to enrich seven types of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in ion-exchange resins, including methyl cyclohexane, benzene, toluene, ortho-xylene, styrene, para-xylene and divinyl-benzene. The results of adsorption isotherm analysis showed that π stacking effect played dominant role between the composite coating and VOCs in the extraction process. The composite coating was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared and thermogravimetric analysis, respectively. A determination method for seven kinds of VOCs was established by HS-SPME coupled with gas chromatography-flame ionization detection (GC-FID). Under the optimal experimental conditions, the detection linear range (LRs) was 0.09-100 ng mL -1 , and the detection limit (LODs) was 0.03-0.06 ng mL -1 (S/N = 3). The method was applied for the migration detection of VOCs in four types of ion-exchange resin, which showed satisfactory recovery (84.5-117.2%)., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Spray paint exhaust gas contains recalcitrant volatile organic compounds (VOCs), such as benzene, toluene and xylene (BTX). Treating BTX with a biofilter often achieves unsatisfactory results because the biofilter lacks efficient microbial community. In this work, three strains for BTX degradation were isolated and identified as Pseudomonas putida, Bacillus cereus and Bacillus subtilis by using 16S rRNA sequencing technology. A consortium of highly efficient microbial community was then constructed on a stable biofilm to treat BTX in a biofilter. A relatively suitable ratio of P. putida, B. cereus and B. subtilis was obtained. An efficiency of over 90% was achieved in the biofilter with VOC concentration of 1000 mg/m 3 through inoculation with the microbial community after only 10 days of operation. Thus, fast start-up of the biofilter was realised. Analysis of intermediate products by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry indicated that BTX was degraded into short-chain aldehydes or acids via ring opening reactions.

Particulate matter and volatile organic compounds have emerged as a prime environmental concern with increasing air pollution in metropolitan cities leading to lung and heart-related issues. This paper describes a facile and novel method for fabrication of polyester based air filter via surface coating with Sericin for imparting effective removal of particulate matter and volatile organic compounds. A simple dip-coating method followed by thermal fixation has been adopted to coat Sericin on the polyester fiber. The developed changes in surface functionality and morphology of the polyester fiber were confirmed by Attenuated total reflection Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and Field emission scanning electron microscopy analysis. The fabricated air filter was tested for removal of particulate matter (generated burning incense stick) and volatile organic compounds (generated vaporizing gasoline), in an indoor chamber. The Sericin coated filter was able to remove the PM 2.5 and PM 10 (from 1000 μg/m 3 level to 5 μg/m 3 in a 6.28 m 3 chamber) within 27 and 23 min of operation, respectively. The fabricated filter very effectively removed particulate matter for 2160 cycles with intermittent washing. The Sericin-coated air filter also proved very effective for removal of volatile organic compounds (Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene and Xylene) from an indoor chamber at a varying initial concentration of 100-1000 μg/m 3 . The adsorption behavior was described by Langmuir-Freundlich (sips) isotherm and pseudo-first order kinetics with minimal error. The maximum adsorption capacity (mg/g) obtained with Sips Isotherm fitting followed the order Xylene (6.97)>Ethyl Benzene (5.68)> Toluene (5.35) >Benzene (4.78)., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Removing benzene from indoor space plays an important role in indoor air purification. A novel filter with vegetal fiber paper (VFP) as matrix hosting silica gel is proposed in this paper for benzene removal. In order to investigate the feasibility and performance of this idea, firstly, three pieces of VFP samples impregnated with different amounts of silica gel are fabricated and their benzene adsorption quantities are tested. The results show that three times is recommended as the optimal number for impregnating. The VFP sample impregnated with silica gel after the third impregnating exhibits commendable coating stability and good benzene adsorption performance. Additionally, at low relative pressure (P b /P s  ≤ 0.05), the experimental data of benzene adsorption isotherms fit well with the Langmuir model with R 2 greater than 0.97. Then, two actual filters made of VFP impregnated with silica gel after the third impregnating were fabricated. It is found that the pressure drop of the actual filter is only 1200 Pa/m when the air velocity is 2 m/s. Besides, the one-pass efficiency of the filter can reach to 19.44%. It is expected that the silica gel coated on the filter can be modified to improve the purification performance of the filter., (© 2019 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The potential of biochar, produced from fibrous organic fractions of municipal solid waste (MSW), for remediation of benzene, one of the frequently found toxic volatile organic compounds in landfill leachate, was investigated in this study based on various environmental conditions such as varying pH, benzene concentration, temperature and time. At the same time, landfill leachate quality parameters were assessed at two different dump sites in Sri Lanka: Gohagoda and Kurunegala. MSW biochar (MSW-BC) was produced by slow temperature pyrolysis at 450 °C, and the physiochemical characteristics of the MSW-BC were characterized. All the leachate samples from the MSW dump sites exceeded the World Health Organization permissible level for benzene (5 µg/L) in water. Removal of benzene was increased with increasing pH, with the highest removal observed at ~pH 9. The maximum adsorption capacity of 576 µg/g was reported at room temperature (~25 °C). Both Freundlich and Langmuir models fitted best with the equilibrium isotherm data, suggesting the involvement of both physisorption and chemisorption mechanisms. Thermodynamic data indicated the feasibility of benzene adsorption and its high favorability at higher temperatures. The values of [Formula: see text] suggested physical interactions between sorbate and sorbent, whereas kinetic data implied a significant contribution of chemisorption. Results obtained from FTIR provided clear evidence of the involvement of functional groups in biochar for benzene adsorption. This study suggests that MSW biochar could be a possible remedy for benzene removal from landfill leachate and at the same time MSW can be a potential source to produce biochar which acts as a prospective material to remediate its pollutants while reducing the volume of waste.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are of public concern due to their adverse health effects. Botanical air filtration is a promising technology for reducing indoor air contaminants, but the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. This study assessed active botanical biofilters for their single-pass removal efficiency (SPRE) for benzene, ethyl acetate and ambient total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs), at concentrations of in situ relevance. Biofilters containing four plant species (Chlorophytum orchidastrum, Nematanthus glabra, Nephrolepis cordifolia 'duffii' and Schefflera arboricola) were compared to discern whether plant selection influenced VOC SPRE. Amongst all tested plant species, benzene SPREs were between 45.54 and 59.50%, with N. glabra the most efficient. The botanical biofilters removed 32.36-91.19% of ethyl acetate, with C. orchidastrum and S. arboricola recording significantly higher ethyl acetate SPREs than N. glabra and N. cordifolia. These findings thus indicate that plant type influences botanical biofilter VOC removal. It is proposed that ethyl acetate SPREs were dependent on hydrophilic adsorbent sites, with increasing root surface area, root diameter and root mass all associated with increasing ethyl acetate SPRE. The high benzene SPRE of N. glabra is likely due to the high wax content in its leaf cuticles. The SPREs for the relatively low levels of ambient TVOCs were consistent amongst plant species, providing no evidence to suggest that in situ TVOC removal is influenced by plant choice. Nonetheless, as inter-species differences do exist for some VOCs, botanical biofilters using a mixture of plants is proposed.

The photochemical removal of benzene was studied in air at atmospheric pressure using a side-on type 172 nm Xe 2 excimer lamp with a wide irradiation area. After 1.5 min photoirradiation, C 6 H 6 (1000 ppm) in air was completely converted to HCOOH, CO, and CO 2 at a total flow rate of 1000 mL/min. The initial decomposition rate of C 6 H 6 was determined to be 1.18 min -1 . By using a flow system, C 6 H 6 (200 ppm) was completely removed at a total flow rate of 250 mL/min. The conversion of C 6 H 6 and the energy efficiency in the removal of C 6 H 6 changed in the 31-100% and 0.48-1.2 g/kWh range, respectively, depending on the flow rate, the O 2 concentration, and the chamber volume. On the basis of kinetic model simulation, dominant reaction pathways were discussed. Results show that the O( 3 P) + C 6 H 6 reaction plays a significant role in the initial stage of the C 6 H 6 decomposition. Important experimental parameters required for further improvement of the C 6 H 6 removal apparatus using a 172 excimer lamp were discussed based on model calculations.

Cytostatic colchicine is widely used in the treatment of Familial Mediterranean fever, but it has several side effects. For finding new, more effective drugs with higher affinity and diminishside effects we carried out virtual screening of potential inhibitors of the main target of colchicine, the polymerization of tubulin by evaluating affinity 25745 compounds, structurally related to the colchicine. We have identified 11 commercially available compounds with higher affinity to tubulin. Compounds with highest binding scores include trimethoxybenzene and its derivatives; these compounds bind to the same site in similar orientation. Information provided can form the basis for design of new cytostatics.

Online coupling of Lab-In-Syringe automated headspace extraction to gas chromatography has been studied. The developed methodology was successfully applied to surface water analysis using benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes as model analytes. The extraction system consisted of an automatic syringe pump with a 5 mL syringe into which all solutions and air for headspace formation were aspirated. The syringe piston featured a longitudinal channel, which allowed connecting the syringe void directly to a gas chromatograph with flame ionization detector via a transfer capillary. Gas injection was achieved via opening a computer-controlled pinch valve and compressing the headspace, upon which separation was initialized. Extractions were performed at room temperature; yet sensitivity comparable to previous work was obtained by high headspace to sample ratio V HS /V Sample of 1.6:1 and injection of about 77% of the headspace. Assistance by in-syringe magnetic stirring yielded an about threefold increase in extraction efficiency. Interferences were compensated by using chlorobenzene as an internal standard. Syringe cleaning and extraction lasting over 10 min was carried out in parallel to the chromatographic run enabling a time of analysis of <19 min. Excellent peak area repeatabilities with RSD of <4% when omitting and <2% RSD when using internal standard corrections on 100 μg L -1 level were achieved. An average recovery of 97.7% and limit of detection of 1-2 μg L -1 were obtained in analyses of surface water., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

We report the electrochemical fabrication of a poly(2,2-bithiophene-co-3-methylthiophene)-graphene composite coating and its application in the headspace solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography determination of benzenes (i.e., bromobenzene, 4-bromotoluene, 2-nitrotoluene, 3-nitrotoluene and 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene). The coating was uniform and showed cauliflower-like microstructure. It had high thermal stability (up to 375°C) and could be used for at least 180 times of solid-phase microextraction without a decrease in extraction performance. Furthermore, it presented high extraction capacity for the benzenes due to the hydrophobic effect and π-π interaction between the analytes and the coating. Under optimized extraction conditions, good linearity (correlation coefficients higher than 0.9946), wide linear range (0.01-50 μg/L), and low limits of detection (5.25-12.5 ng/L) were achieved for these analytes. The relative standard deviation was lower than 5.7% for five successive measurements with one fiber, and the relative standard deviation for fiber-to-fiber was 4.9-6.8% (n = 5). The solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography method was successfully applied for the determination of three real samples, and the recoveries for standards added were 89.6-106% for nail polish, 85.8-110% for hair dye, and 90-106.2% for correction fluid, respectively., (© 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Water-insoluble β-cyclodextrin polymer was synthesized by chemical cross-linking using epichlorohydrin (EPI) as a cross-linker agent. The produced water-insoluble polymer was used as a sorbent for the micro-solid phase extraction (μ-SPE) of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes (BTEX) from water samples. The μ-SPE device consisted of a sealed tea bag envelope containing 15mg of sorbent. For the evaluation of the extraction efficiency, parameters such as extraction and desorption time, desorption solvent and salt concentration were investigated. At an extraction time of 30min in the course of the extraction process, analytes were extracted from a 10mL aqueous sample solution. The analytes were desorbed by ultrasonication in 200μL of acetonitrile for 20min. Analysis of the analytes was done by a gas chromatography-flame ionization detector (GC-FID) system. The enrichment factor (EF) was found to be in the range 23.0-45.4 (EF max =50.0). The method provided linearity ranges of between 0.5 and 500.0ng/mL (depending on the analytes), with good coefficients of determination (r 2 ) ranging between 0.997 and 0.999 under optimized conditions. Detection limits for BTEX were in the range of between 0.15 and 0.60ng/mL, while corresponding recoveries were in the range of 46.0-90.0%. The relative standard deviation of the method for the analytes at 100.0ng/mL concentration level ranged from 5.5 to 11.2% (n=5). The proposed method was concluded to be a cost effective and environmentally-friendly extraction technique with ease of operation and minimal usage of organic solvent., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

This study focused on a haloduric BTEX-degrading microbial consortium EC20 enriched from Bohai Sea sediment. EC20 degraded 87% of BTEX at 435 mg L -1 initial concentration (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes in equal proportions) in the presence of 3.4% NaCl. 16S rRNA gene-based PCR-DGGE profiles revealed that the dominant bacteria in EC20 were Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Firmicutes at the phylum level, and Pseudomonas, Mesorhizobium, Achromobacter, Stenotrophomonas, and Halomonas at the genus level. PCR detection of genes coding the key enzymes which participated in BTEX degradation pathways showed that the enriched consortium EC20 contained TOL pathway and TOD pathway to initiate biodegradation of BTEX.

There is tremendous interest in graphene-based membranes as protective molecular barriers or molecular sieves for separation technologies. Graphene oxide (GO) films in the dry state are known to be effective barriers for molecular transport and to expand in the presence of moisture to create enlarged intersheet gallery spaces that allow rapid water permeation. Here we explore an application for GO membranes as water-breathable barrier layers for personal protective equipment, which are designed to allow outward perspiration while protecting the wearer from chemical toxicants or biochemical agents in the local environment. A device was developed to measure permeation rates of small-molecular toxicants in the presence of counter-current water flow simulating active perspiration. The technique was applied to trichloroethylene (TCE) and benzene, which are important environmental toxicants, and ethanol as a limiting case to model very small, highly water-soluble organic molecules. Submicron GO membranes are shown to be effective TCE barriers, both in the presence and absence of simulated perspiration flux, and to outperform current barrier technologies. A molecular transport model is developed, which suggests the limited toxicant back-permeation observed occurs not by diffusion against the convective perspiration flow in hydrophobic channels, but rather through oxidized domains where hydrogen-bonding produces a near-stagnant water phase. Benzene and ethanol permeation fluxes are higher than those for TCE, likely reflecting the effects of higher water solubility and smaller minimum molecular dimension. Overall, GO films have high water breathability relative to competing technologies and are known to exclude most classes of target toxicants, including particles, bacteria, viruses, and macromolecules. The present results show good barrier performance for some very small-molecule species, but not others, with permeation being favored by high water solubility and small minimum molecular dimension.

A biofilter with fungus was developed for efficient degradation of benzene, which can overcome the potential risk of leakage commonly found in such services. Results indicated that the optimum parameter values were temperature 40 °C, pH 6, and 500 mg L -1 of the initial benzene concentration. Besides, the empty bed residence time and inlet load range of biofilter were set to 20 s and 21.23-169.84 g m -3  h -1 respectively. Under these conditions, this biofilter can obtain the maximum removal efficiency of more than 90%, the eliminating capacity could be up to 151.67 g m -3  h -1 . Furthermore, scanning electron microscopy was used to investigate three filler materials for packing fungus biofilm. This is the first study introducing an Aspergillus strain for benzene removal and these results highlight that the development of this biofilter has the potential scaling-up application as gas-processing of industrial wastes.

A new sample extraction procedure based on micro-solid-phase extraction (μSPE) using a mixture of sorbents of different polarities (polymeric reversed-phase sorbent HLB, silica-based sorbent C18, and multiwalled carbon nanotubes) was applied to extract benzene, toluene, butyraldehyde, benzaldehyde, and tolualdehyde present in saliva to avoid interference from moisture and matrix components and enhance sensitivity and selectivity of the ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) methodology proposed. The extraction of target analytes from saliva samples by using μSPE were followed by the desorption step carried out in the headspace vials placed in the autosampler of the IMS device. Then, 200 μL of headspace was injected into the GC column coupled to the IMS for its analysis. The method was fully validated in terms of sensitivity, precision, and recovery. The LODs and LOQs obtained, when analytes were dissolved in saliva samples to consider the matrix effect, were within the range of 0.38-0.49 and 1.26-1.66 μg mL(-1), respectively. The relative standard deviations were <3.5 % for retention time and drift time values, which indicate that the method proposed can be applied to determine toxic compounds in saliva samples. Graphical abstract Summary of steps followed in the experimental set up of this work.

An electronic nose (E-nose) is an intelligent system that we will use in this paper to distinguish three indoor pollutant gases (benzene (C₆H₆), toluene (C₇H₈), formaldehyde (CH₂O)) and carbon monoxide (CO). The algorithm is a key part of an E-nose system mainly composed of data processing and pattern recognition. In this paper, we employ support vector machine (SVM) to distinguish indoor pollutant gases and two of its parameters need to be optimized, so in order to improve the performance of SVM, in other words, to get a higher gas recognition rate, an effective enhanced krill herd algorithm (EKH) based on a novel decision weighting factor computing method is proposed to optimize the two SVM parameters. Krill herd (KH) is an effective method in practice, however, on occasion, it cannot avoid the influence of some local best solutions so it cannot always find the global optimization value. In addition its search ability relies fully on randomness, so it cannot always converge rapidly. To address these issues we propose an enhanced KH (EKH) to improve the global searching and convergence speed performance of KH. To obtain a more accurate model of the krill behavior, an updated crossover operator is added to the approach. We can guarantee the krill group are diversiform at the early stage of iterations, and have a good performance in local searching ability at the later stage of iterations. The recognition results of EKH are compared with those of other optimization algorithms (including KH, chaotic KH (CKH), quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization (QPSO), particle swarm optimization (PSO) and genetic algorithm (GA)), and we can find that EKH is better than the other considered methods. The research results verify that EKH not only significantly improves the performance of our E-nose system, but also provides a good beginning and theoretical basis for further study about other improved krill algorithms' applications in all E-nose application areas.

This study reports a new composite based on ZSM-5 zeolite decorated with iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles as a valuable sorbent for magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE). A proposal is made to determine benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes (BTEX) as model analytes in water samples using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. A two-step multivariate optimization strategy, using Plackett⬜Burman and circumscribed central composite designs, was employed to optimize experimental parameters affecting MSPE. The method was evaluated under optimized extraction conditions (i.e., amount of sorbent, 138mg; extraction time, 11min; sample pH, pH of water (i.e., 5.5⬜6.5); eluent solvent volume, 0.5mL; and elution time, 5min), obtaining a linear response from 1 to 100μgL(↙1) for benzene; from 10 to 100μgL(↙1) for toluene, ethylbenzene and o-xylene; and from 10 to 75μgL(↙1) for m,p-xylene. The repeatability of the proposed method was evaluated at a 40μgL(↙1) spiking level and coefficients of variation ranged between 8 and 11% (n=5). Limits of detection were found to be 0.3μgL(↙1) for benzene and 3μgL(↙1) for the other analytes. These values satisfy the current normative of the Environmental Protection Agency and European Union for BTEX content in waters for human consumption. Finally, drinking water, wastewater and river water were selected as real water samples to assess the applicability of the method. Relative recoveries varied between 85% and 114% showing negligible matrix effects., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Eight in situ solidification/stabilization (ISS) amendments were tested to promote in situ chemical oxidation (ISCO) with activated persulfate (PS) in a contaminated soil. A 3% (by weight) dose of all ISS amendments selected for this study completely activated a 1.5% dose of PS within 3 h by raising temperatures above 30 °C (heat activation) and/or increasing pH above 10.5 (alkaline activation). Heat is released by the reaction of CaO with water, and pH increases because this reaction produces Ca(OH)2. Heat activation is preferred because it generates 2 mol of oxidizing radicals per mole of PS, whereas alkaline activation releases only 1. The relative contribution of heat vs. alkaline activation increased with CaO content of the ISS amendment, which was reflected by enhanced contaminant oxidation with increasing CaO content, and was confirmed by comparing to controls promoting purely heat or alkaline (NaOH) activation. The test soil was contaminated with benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), particularly naphthalene (NAP). ISS-activated PS oxidized between 47% and 84% of the BTEX & NAP, and between 13% and 33% of the higher molecular weight PAH. ISS-activated PS reduced the leachability of BTEX & NAP by 76%-91% and of the 17 PAH by 83%-96%. Combined ISCO/ISS reduced contaminant leachability far than ISCO or ISS treatments alone, demonstrating the synergy that is possible with combined remedies., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

A novel solid-phase microextraction (SPME) fiber was fabricated by the construction of fluorous metal organic frameworks (FMOF) and a polyimide (PI) composite strategy. As an auxiliary material, PI was expected to help FMOF particles form well-knit film on the surface of stainless steel wire and reinforce the coating, and FMOF was expected to afford a special structure to absorb, extract and enrich. Furthermore, it was explored for the headspace SPME (HS-SPME) of six volatile aromatic compounds (VACs) from water samples followed by gas chromatographic (GC) separation with flame ionization detection. Under the optimized conditions, the fiber afforded wide linear ranges (1-1000 μgL(-1)), low detection limits (0.15-0.9 μgL(-1)) and acceptable repeatability (<4.6%) and reproducibility (<7.3%). The FMOF@PI coated fiber not only offered large enhancement factors for benzene (1227) but also exhibited high extraction selectivity for benzene to other benzene homologues, hydrocarbons and phenols; for example, the extraction ratio of benzene to toluene, n-hexane and phenol could be as high as 10.2, 64.1 and 32.3, respectively. Moreover, the FMOF@PI-coated fiber afforded good thermal, water and organic solvent stabilities, and a long lifetime (over 200 times). The developed method was successfully applied to the determination of VACs in wastewater samples., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The application of ostrich bone waste-loaded a cationic surfactant (OBW-OH-CTABr) bioadsorbent for benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and p-xylene (BTEX) removal from the synthetic and real waters have been studied, and the prepared biomaterials were studied by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), surface area measurements (BET), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and point of zero (pH(PZC)). The immobilization of CTABr molecules on the framework of modified OBW showed good tendency to adsorb BTEX from aqueous solution. The exposure time to obtain equilibrium for maximum removal of BTEX was observed to be 60 min. The removal kinetics of BTEX has been evaluated in terms of pseudo-first- and -second-order kinetics, and the Freundlich and Langmuir isotherm models have also been utilized to the equilibrium removal data. The removal process was spontaneous and endothermic in nature and followed pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The immobilized CTABr showed high reusability because of its high adsorption efficiency after 12th cycles. The proposed low-cost bioadsorbent could also be utilized to adsorb BTEX from the real water (Anzali lagoon water). The OBW-OH-CTABr composite is indeed an attractive biomaterial for drinking water-based pollutants and act as an adsorbent for BTEX and oil spills especially in third world due to its low-cost preparation and regeneration and clean processing of the biomaterial with no byproducts after utilize., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

When an electronic nose (E-nose) is used to distinguish different kinds of gases, the label information of the target gas could be lost due to some fault of the operators or some other reason, although this is not expected. Another fact is that the cost of getting the labeled samples is usually higher than for unlabeled ones. In most cases, the classification accuracy of an E-nose trained using labeled samples is higher than that of the E-nose trained by unlabeled ones, so gases without label information should not be used to train an E-nose, however, this wastes resources and can even delay the progress of research. In this work a novel multi-class semi-supervised learning technique called M-training is proposed to train E-noses with both labeled and unlabeled samples. We employ M-training to train the E-nose which is used to distinguish three indoor pollutant gases (benzene, toluene and formaldehyde). Data processing results prove that the classification accuracy of E-nose trained by semi-supervised techniques (tri-training and M-training) is higher than that of an E-nose trained only with labeled samples, and the performance of M-training is better than that of tri-training because more base classifiers can be employed by M-training.

In this paper, we reported the molecular entrapment performance of hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin (HPβCD) and hydroxypropyl-gamma-cyclodextrin (HPγCD) electrospun nanofibers (NF) for two common volatile organic compounds (VOCs); aniline and benzene. The encapsulation efficiency of CD samples were investigated depending on the various factors such as; CD form (NF and powder), electrospinning solvent (DMF and water), CD (HPβCD and HPγCD) and VOCs (aniline and benzene) types. BET analysis indicated that, electrospun CD NF have higher surface area compared to their powder form. In addition DMA measurement provided information about the mechanical properties of CD NF. The encapsulation capability of CD NF and CD powder was investigated by (1)H-NMR and HPLC techniques. The observed results suggested that, CD NF can entrap higher amount of VOCs from surroundings compared to their powder forms. Besides, molecular entrapment efficiency of CD NF also depends on CD, solvent and VOCs types. The inclusion complexation between CD and VOCs was determined by using TGA technique, from the higher decomposition temperature of VOCs. Finally, our results were fortified by the modeling studies which indicated the complexation efficiency variations between CD and VOC types. Here, the inclusion complexation ability of CD molecules was combined with very high surface area and versatile features of CD NF. So these findings revealed that, electrospun CD NF can serve as useful filtering material for air filtration purposes due to their molecular entrapment capability of VOCs., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The simultaneous aerobic removal of a mixture of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and o,m,p-xylene (BTEX); cis-dichloroethylene (cis-DCE); and trichloroethylene (TCE) from the artificially contaminated water using an indigenous bacterial isolate identified as Pseudomonas plecoglossicida immobilized on waste scrap tyres was investigated. Suspended and immobilized conditions were compared for the removal of these volatile organic compounds. For the immobilized system, toluene, benzene, and ethylbenzene were completely removed, while the highest removal efficiencies of 99.0 ± 0.1, 96.8 ± 0.3, 73.6 ± 2.5, and 61.6 ± 0.9% were obtained for o-xylene, m,p-xylene, TCE, and cis-DCE, respectively. The sorption kinetics of contaminants towards tyre surface was also evaluated, and the sorption capacity generally followed the order of toluene > benzene > m,p-xylene > o-xylene > ethylbenzene > TCE > cis-DCE. Scrap tyres showed a good capability for the simultaneous sorption and bioremoval of BTEX/cis-DCE/TCE mixture, implying a promising waste material for the removal of contaminant mixture from industrial wastewater or contaminated groundwater.

The present study focuses on the comparison of two materials, compost from municipal solid waste and natural zeolite for the simultaneous removal of petroleum hydrocarbons (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes - BTEX) and toxic metals from groundwater. First, batch experiments were conducted to identify the optimal removal conditions. All of the kinetic experiments were fitted to the pseudo-second-order kinetic model; equilibrium was reached within approximately 8 h for the zeolite and 12 h for the compost. An increase in the adsorbent dose and the pH value as well as a decrease in the initial concentration enhanced the pollutants' removal. The removal selectivity of both materials with slight differences follows the order Cd > Zn & toluene > ethylbenzene > m- & p-xylene > o-xylene > benzene. According, to the results derived from the continuous flow experiments the maximum adsorption capacity of the compost (90%) referred to Cd (0.88 mmol/g) whereas the minimum refers to benzene (65%) with a capacity up to 0.065 mmol/g. Zeolite had lower efficiencies for the studied pollutants with a higher performance corresponding to Cd (0.26 mmol/g), whereas the minimum zeolite capacity (63%) corresponds to toluene (0.045 mmol/g). Thus, this paper provides evidence that compost, a low cost material produced from waste, is capable for the simultaneous removal of both organic and inorganic pollutants from wastewater, and its performance is superior to zeolite., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The performance of a compost biofilter inoculated with mixed microbial consortium was optimized for treating a gas-phase mixture of benzene and toluene. The biofilter was acclimated to these VOCs for a period of ∼18d. The effects of concentration and flow rate on the removal efficiency (RE) and elimination capacity (EC) were investigated by varying the inlet concentration of benzene (0.12-0.95g/m(3)), toluene (0.14-1.48g/m(3)) and gas-flow rate (0.024-0.072m(3)/h). At comparable loading rates, benzene removal in the mixture was reduced in the range of 6.6-41% in comparison with the individual benzene degradation. Toluene removal in mixture was even more affected as observed from the reductions in REs, ranging from 18.4% to 76%. The results were statistically interpreted by performing an analysis of variance (ANOVA) to elucidate the main and interaction effects., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

A new and simple method for benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and o-xylene (BTEX) quantification in vehicle exhaust was developed based on diffusion-controlled extraction onto a retracted solid-phase microextraction (SPME) fiber coating. The rationale was to develop a method based on existing and proven SPME technology that is feasible for field adaptation in developing countries. Passive sampling with SPME fiber retracted into the needle extracted nearly two orders of magnitude less mass (n) compared with exposed fiber (outside of needle) and sampling was in a time weighted-averaging (TWA) mode. Both the sampling time (t) and fiber retraction depth (Z) were adjusted to quantify a wider range of Cgas. Extraction and quantification is conducted in a non-equilibrium mode. Effects of Cgas, t, Z and T were tested. In addition, contribution of n extracted by metallic surfaces of needle assembly without SPME coating was studied. Effects of sample storage time on n loss was studied. Retracted TWA-SPME extractions followed the theoretical model. Extracted n of BTEX was proportional to Cgas, t, Dg, T and inversely proportional to Z. Method detection limits were 1.8, 2.7, 2.1 and 5.2 mg m(-3) (0.51, 0.83, 0.66 and 1.62 ppm) for BTEX, respectively. The contribution of extraction onto metallic surfaces was reproducible and influenced by Cgas and t and less so by T and by the Z. The new method was applied to measure BTEX in the exhaust gas of a Ford Crown Victoria 1995 and compared with a whole gas and direct injection method., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The paper presents the results of a two-stage pilot plant for the removal of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX) from a waste air stream of a refinery wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). The pilot plant consisted of a water scrubber followed by a biotrickling filter (BTF). The exhausted air was drawn from the main works of the WWTP in order to prevent the free migration to the atmosphere of these volatile hazardous contaminants. Concentrations were detected at average values of 12.4 mg Nm(-3) for benzene, 11.1 mg Nm(-3) for toluene, 2.7 mg Nm(-3) for ethylbenzene and 9.5 mg Nm(-3) for xylene, with considerable fluctuation mainly for benzene and toluene (peak concentrations of 56.8 and 55.0 mg Nm(-3), respectively). The two treatment stages proved to play an effective complementary task: the water scrubber demonstrated the ability to remove the concentration peaks, whereas the BTF was effective as a polishing stage. The overall average removal efficiency achieved was 94.8% while the scrubber and BTF elimination capacity were 37.8 and 15.6 g BTEX d(-1) m(-3), respectively. This result has led to outlet average concentrations of 1.02, 0.25, 0.32 and 0.26 mg Nm(-3) for benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene, respectively. The paper also compares these final concentrations with toxic and odour threshold concentrations.

A stationary phase with a dipole interaction was synthesized by immobilizing the 2,4-dibromophenoxy (DBP) group onto a hydrophilic base resin. The chromatographic properties for halogenated benzenes were evaluated on the DBP-resin by reversed phase mode. The separation efficiency of the DBP-resin for p-xylene and 1,4-dihalogenated benzenes was better than that of the column packed with octadecylsilane (ODS). The results suggested that the retention of the solutes on the DBP-resin depends on the Debye interaction in addition to with the dispersion force caused by the DBP group.

Isobutanol is being considered as a fuel additive; however, the effect of this chemical on gasoline degradation (following a spill) has yet to be fully explored. To address this, the current study investigated the effect of isobutanol on benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and p-xylene (BTEX) degradation in 14 sets of experiments in saturated soils. This involved four hydrocarbons for three soils (12 experiments) and two extra experiments with a lower level of isobutanol (for toluene only). Each soil and hydrocarbon combination involved four abiotic control microcosms and 12 sample microcosms (six with and six without isobutanol). The time for complete degradation of each hydrocarbon varied between treatments. Both toluene and ethylbenzene were rapidly degraded (5-13 days for toluene and 3-13 days for ethylbenzene). In contrast, the time for complete degradation for benzene ranged from 5 to 47 days. The hydrocarbon p-xylene was the most recalcitrant chemical (time for removal ranged from 14 to 86 days) and, in several microcosms, no p-xylene degradation was observed. The effect of isobutanol on hydrocarbon degradation was determined by comparing degradation lag times with and without isobutanol addition. From the 14 treatments, isobutanol only affected degradation lag times in three cases. In two cases (benzene and p-xylene), an enhancement of degradation (reduced lag times) was observed in the presence of isobutanol. In contrast, toluene degradation in one soil was inhibited (increased lag time). These results indicate that co-contamination with isobutanol should not inhibit aerobic BTEX degradation rates.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have great potential for applications in chromatography due to their highly tailorable porous structures and unique properties. In this work, the stable MOF UiO-66 was evaluated as both a normal-phase (NP-) and a reverse-phase (RP-) stationary phase in the high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to separate substituted benzenes (SBs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). It was found that the mobile phase composition has a significant effect on the HPLC separation. Baseline RP-HPLC separations of xylene isomers; naphthalene and anthracene; naphthalene and chrysene; and naphthalene, fluorene, and chrysene were achieved using MeOH/H2O ratios of 80:20, 75:25, 85:15, and 75:25, respectively, on the UiO-66 column. Similarly, baseline NP-HPLC separations of xylene isomers and ethylbenzene; ethylbenzene, styrene, o-xylene, and m-xylene; and several PAHs were also obtained on the UiO-66 column with different mobile phase compositions. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) of retention time, peak height, peak area, and half peak width for five replicate separations of the tested analytes were within the ranges 0.2-0.4%, 0.2-1.6%, 0.7-3.9%, 0.4-1.1%, respectively. We also evaluated other critical HPLC parameters, including injected sample mass, column temperature, and the thermodynamic characters of both the RP-HPLC and the NP-HPLC separation processes. It was confirmed that the separation of SBs on a UiO-66 column was an exothermic process, controlled by both enthalpy change (ΔH) and entropy change (ΔS). The reverse shape selectivity, size selectivity, stacking effect, and electrostatic force played vital roles in the separations of these analytes. To the best of our knowledge, this method is one of the very few examples of using MOFs as the stationary phase in both NP-HPLC and RP-HPLC. MOF-based stationary phases may thus be applied in the separations and analyses of SBs and PAHs in environmental samples., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Numerous medical studies show that tumor growth is accompanied by protein changes that may lead to the peroxidation of the cell membrane with consequent emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by breath or intestinal gases that should be seen as biomarkers for colorectal cancer (CRC). The analysis of VOCs represents a non-invasive and potentially inexpensive preliminary screening technique. An array of chemoresistive gas sensors based on screen-printed metal oxide semiconducting films has been selected to discriminate gases of oncological interest, e.g., 1-iodononane and benzene, widely assumed to be biomarkers of colorectal cancer, from those of interference in the gut, such as methane and nitric oxide.

There are over 450 000 sites contaminated by chemicals in the US. This large number of contaminated sites and the speed of subsurface migration of chemicals pose considerable risk to nearby residences and commercial buildings. The high costs for monitoring around these sites stem from the labor involved in placing and replacing the passive sorbent vapor samplers and the resultant laboratory analysis. This monitoring produces sparse data sets that do not track temporal changes well. To substantially reduce costs and better track exposures, less costly, unattended systems for monitoring soil gases and vapor intrusion into homes and businesses are desirable to aid in the remediation of contaminated sites. This paper describes progress toward the development of an inexpensive system specifically for monitoring vapor intrusion; the system can operate repeatedly without user intervention with low detection limits (1 × 10(-9), or 1 part-per-billion). Targeted analytes include chlorinated hydrocarbons (dichloroethylene, trichloroethane, trichloroethylene, and perchloroethylene) and benzene. The system consists of a trap-and-purge preconcentrator for vapor collection in conjunction with a compact gas chromatography instrument to separate individual compounds. Chemical detection is accomplished with an array of chemicapacitors and a metal-oxide semiconductor combustibles sensor. Both the preconcentrator and the chromatography column are resistively heated. All components are compatible with ambient air, which serves as the carrier gas for the gas chromatography and detectors.

In this study, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) were employed to remove benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX) from low and high salinity water pre-equilibrated with crude oil. The treatment endpoint of crude oil-contaminated water is often controlled by BTEX compounds owing to their higher aqueous solubility and human-health toxicity compared to other hydrocarbons. The MWNT sorbent was extensively characterized and the depletion of the organic sorbate from the produced water was monitored by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and total organic carbon (TOC) analyses. The equilibrium sorptive removal of BTEX followed the order: ethylbenzene/o-xylene > m-xylene > toluene > benzene in the presence of other competing organics in produced water. Sorption mechanisms were explored through the application of a variety of kinetics and equilibrium models. Pseudo 2(nd) order kinetics and Freundlich equilibrium models were the best at describing BTEX removal from produced water. Hydrophobic interactions between the MWNTs and BTEX, as well as the physical characteristics of the sorbate molecules, were regarded as primary factors responsible for regulating competitive adsorption. Salinity played a critical role in limiting sorptive removal, with BTEX and total organic carbon (TOC) removal falling by 27% and 25%, respectively, upon the introduction of saline conditions. Results suggest that MWNTs are effective in removing risk-driving BTEX compounds from low-salinity oilfield produced water.

The application of compound-specific stable isotope analysis (CSIA) for evaluating degradation of organic pollutants in the field implies that other processes affecting pollutant concentration are minor with respect to isotope fractionation. Sorption is associated with minor isotope fractionation and pollutants may undergo successive sorption-desorption steps during their migration in aquifers. However, little is known about isotope fractionation of BTEX compounds after consecutive sorption steps. Here, we show that partitioning of benzene and toluene between water and organic sorbents (i.e. 1-octanol, dichloromethane, cyclohexane, hexanoic acid and Amberlite XAD-2) generally exhibits very small carbon and hydrogen isotope effects in multistep batch experiments. However, carbon and hydrogen isotope fractionation was observed for the benzene-octanol pair after several sorption steps (Δδ(13)C=1.6 ± 0.3‰ and Δδ(2)H=88 ± 3‰), yielding isotope fractionation factors of αC=1.0030 ± 0.0005 and αH=1.195 ± 0.026. Our results indicate that the cumulative effect of successive hydrophobic partitioning steps in an aquifer generally results in insignificant isotope fractionation for benzene and toluene. However, significant carbon and hydrogen isotope fractionation cannot be excluded for specific sorbate-sorbent pairs, such as sorbates with π-electrons and sorbents with OH-groups. Consequently, functional groups of sedimentary organic matter (SOM) may specifically interact with BTEX compounds migrating in an aquifer, thereby resulting in potentially relevant isotope fractionation., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

A polyvinylimidazole/sol-gel composite is proposed as a novel solid-phase microextraction fiber to extract five halobenzenes from the headspace of aqueous solutions in combination with gas chromatography with mass spectrometry. The prepared fiber was characterized by scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The obtained results showed that porous polyvinylimidazole/sol-gel composite was chemically deposited on fused silica fiber. The effect of important extraction parameters including extraction temperature, extraction time, and salt content were investigated. The optimum conditions were as follows: extraction temperature 25°C, extraction time 20 min, and salt concentration 30 w/v%. Detection limits and relative standard deviations of the developed method for halogenated benzenes were below 0.1 pg/mL and 15%, respectively. Repeatability of the proposed method, explained by relative standard deviation, varied between 5.48 and 9.15% (n = 5). The limits of detection (S/N = 3) ranged between 0.01 and 0.10 ng/L using gas chromatography with mass spectrometry with selected ion monitoring mode. For real sample analysis, three types of water samples with different matrices (ground, surface, and tap water) were studied. The optimized procedure was applied to extraction and method validation of halogenated benzenes in spiked water samples., (© 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

In this article, gas-phase advanced oxidation, a new method for pollution control building on the photo-oxidation and particle formation chemistry occurring in the atmosphere, is introduced and characterized. The process uses ozone and UV-C light to produce in situ radicals to oxidize pollution, generating particles that are removed by a filter; ozone is removed using a MnO2 honeycomb catalyst. This combination of in situ processes removes a wide range of pollutants with a comparatively low specific energy input. Two proof-of-concept devices were built to test and optimize the process. The laboratory prototype was built of standard ventilation duct and could treat up to 850 m(3)/h. A portable continuous-flow prototype built in an aluminum flight case was able to treat 46 m(3)/h. Removal efficiencies of >95% were observed for propane, cyclohexane, benzene, isoprene, aerosol particle mass, and ozone for concentrations in the range of 0.4-6 ppm and exposure times up to 0.5 min. The laboratory prototype generated a OH(•) concentration derived from propane reaction of (2.5 ± 0.3) × 10(10) cm(-3) at a specific energy input of 3 kJ/m(3), and the portable device generated (4.6 ± 0.4) × 10(9) cm(-3) at 10 kJ/m(3). Based on these results, in situ gas-phase advanced oxidation is a viable control strategy for most volatile organic compounds, specifically those with a OH(•) reaction rate higher than ca. 5 × 10(-13) cm(3)/s. Gas-phase advanced oxidation is able to remove compounds that react with OH and to control ozone and total particulate mass. Secondary pollution including formaldehyde and ultrafine particles might be generated, depending on the composition of the primary pollution.

Three crosslinking monomers, i.e., 1,6-hexanediol dimethacrylate (HDDMA), cyclohexanediol dimethacrylate (CHDDMA) and 1,4-phenylene diacrylate (PHDA), were used to synthesize highly cross-linked monolithic capillary columns for reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC) of small molecules. Selection of porogen type and concentration was investigated in detail. Isocratic elution of alkylbenzenes at a flow rate of 300nL/min was performed using HDDMA and CHDDMA monolithic columns. Gradient elution of alkylbenzenes using all three monolithic columns showed good separations. Optimized monoliths synthesized from all three crosslinking monomers possessed high permeabilities. Poly(HDDMA) monoliths demonstrated column efficiencies up to 86,000 plates/m. Column preparation of poly(HDDMA) monolithic columns was highly reproducible; the relative standard deviation (RSD) values (n=3) for run-to-run and column-to-column were less than 0.26% and 0.70%, respectively, based on retention times of alkylbenzenes., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

An extremely stable hydrogen-bonded organic framework, HOF-8, was fabricated. HOF-8 is not only thermally stable but also stable in water and common organic solvents. More interestingly, desolvated HOF-8 exhibits high CO2 adsorption as well as highly selective CO2 and C6H6 adsorption at ambient temperature.

An efficient, continuous flow electroreactor system comprising a scrubbing column (for absorption) and a biphasic electroreactor (for degradation) was developed to treat gas streams containing benzene. Initial benzene absorption studies using a continuous flow bubble column containing absorbents like 40% sulfuric acid, 10% silicone oil (3, 5, 10 cSt), or 100% silicone oil showed that 100% silicone oil is the most suitable. A biphasic batch electroreactor based on 50 mL of silicone oil and 100 mL of activated Co(III) (activated electrochemically) in 40% sulfuric acid demonstrated that indirect oxidation of benzene is possible by Co(III). Combined experiments on the wet scrubbing column and biphasic electroreactor (BP-ER) were performed to determine the feasibility of benzene removal, which is reside in the silicone oil medium. In semidynamic scrubbing with BP-ER experiments using an aqueous electroreactor volume of 2 L, and an inlet gas flow and a gaseous benzene concentration were 10 Lmin(-1) and 100 ppm, respectively, benzene removal efficiency is 75% in sustainable way. The trend of CO2 evolution is well correlated with benzene recovery in the BP-ER. The addition of sodiumdodecyl sulfate (SDS) enhanced the recovery of silicone oil without affecting benzene removal. This process is promising for the treatment of high concentrations of gaseous benzene.

In the present work, a laboratory scale corn-cob based biofilter inoculated with Bacillus sphaericus (MTCC 8103) was used for degradation of BTEX for a period of 86 days. The overall performance of a biofilter evaluated in terms of its elimination capacity by using 3-D mesh technique. Maximum removal efficiency was found more than 96.43% for all four compounds in each phase of experiments. A maximum elimination capacity (EC) of 60.89 gm(-3)h(-1) of the biofilter was obtained at inlet BTEX load of 63.14 gm(-3)h(-1). The follow-up of carbon dioxide concentration profile through the biofilter revealed that the mass ratio of carbon dioxide produced to the BTEX removed was approximately 2.2, which confirms complete degradation of BTEX. Moreover, BTEX concentration profile along the biofilter depth bed also determined by convection-diffusion reactor (CDR) model., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The pre-acclimated microbial consortium and the activated sludge were used as start inoculums of a bench-scale biotrickling filter (BTF). The performance of the biotrickling filter on the removal of BTEX mixture was evaluated, and the changes in the bacterial community structure of the BTF were analyzed by PCR-DGGE technique. The results showed that the BTF could be acclimated within a short time, the biomass that adhered to the surface of packing materials increased rapidly from 5.7 mg x g(-1) at 10th day to 112 mg x g(-1) at 30th day. BTF could simultaneously remove all components of the BTEX mixture efficiently. The maximum removal capacity of the BTF was 216.6 g x (m3 x h)(-1), which was achieved with an inlet loading rate of 269.7 g x (m3 x h)(-1) and an empty bed retention time (EBRT) of 39 s. DGGE analysis indicated that the dominant microorganisms may be derived from the pre-acclimated microbial consortiums rather than the activated sludge. Although the bacterial community changed with run time, the spatial distribution was very uniform.

A CdSnO3·3H2O hollow-nanocuboid photocatalyst was successfully synthesized via a facile template-free microwave hydrothermal method for the first time. The as-prepared samples were characterized by x-ray diffraction, UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area analysis and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Moreover, samples prepared under different reaction times were analyzed by transmission electron microscopy to investigate the formation process of the CdSnO3·3H2O hollow-nanocuboids. Based on this result, a possible mechanism for the formation process was proposed. The sample prepared at 160 °C for 2 h at pH 11 exhibited the best photocatalytic activity and stability for the degradation of gaseous benzene under UV irradiation (λ = 254 nm) as compared with the other samples. The conversion and mineralization rates of benzene were about 12.5% and 67%, respectively. The mineralization rate was twice as high as that of commercial TiO2 (Degussa Co.). Furthermore, the excellent stability for the benzene decomposition was attributed to the positive charge on the catalyst surface, which was analyzed both by electron spin resonance and Zeta-potentials.

A new polymeric chelating resin was prepared by growing third generation poly(amido)amine (PAMAMG3) dendron on the surface of styrene divinylbenzene (SDB) and characterized by FTIR, TGA and SEM. The ideal branching of dendron in the chelating resin was determined from potentiometric titration. Adsorption of uranium (VI) from aqueous solution using PAMAMG3-SDB chelating resin was studied in a series of batch experiments. Effect of contact time, pH, ionic strength, adsorbent dose, initial U(VI) concentration, dendron generation and temperature on adsorption of U(VI) were investigated. Kinetic experiments showed that U(VI) adsorption on PAMAMG3-SDB followed pseudo-second-order kinetics model appropriately and equilibrium data agreed well with the Langmuir isotherm model. Thermodynamic parameters (ΔH°, ΔS°, ΔG°) were evaluated from temperature dependent adsorption data and the uranium adsorption on PAMAMG3-SDB was found to be endothermic and spontaneous in nature. The sticking probability value (5.303 × 10(-9)), kinetic and isotherm data reveal the chemisorption of uranium on PAMAMG3-SDB and adsorption capacity of the chelating resin was estimated to be 130.25 mg g(-1) at 298 K. About 99% of adsorbed U(VI) can be desorbed from PAMAMG3-SDB by a simple acid treatment suggesting that the chelating resin is reusable., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Biofiltration of BTEX with corn-cob packing material have been performed for a period of 68 days in five distinct phases. The overall performance of a biofilter has been evaluated in terms of its elimination capacity by using 3-D mesh techniques. Maximum removal efficiency was found more than 99.85% of all four compounds at an EBRT of 3.06 min in phase I for an inlet BTEX concentration of 0.0970, 0.0978, 0.0971 and 0.0968 g m(-3), respectively. Nearly 100% removal achieved at average BTEX loadings of 20.257 g m(-3) h(-1) to biofilter. A maximum elimination capacity (EC) of 20.239 g m(-3) h(-1) of the biofilter was obtained at inlet BTEX load of 20.391 g m(-3) h(-1). Moreover, using convection-diffusion reaction (CDR) model for biofilter depth shows good agreement with the experimental values for benzene, toluene and ethyl benzene, but for o-xylene the model results deviated from the experimental., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Metal-organic framework MIL-100(Fe) was explored as a novel stationary phase for both normal-phase and reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography. Two groups of analytes (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, naphthalene and 1-chloronaphthalene; aniline, acetanilide, 2-nitroaniline and 1-naphthylamine) were used to test the separation performance of MIL-100(Fe) in the reverse-phase mode, while the isomers of chloroaniline or toluidine were employed to evaluate its performance in the normal-phase mode. The MIL-100(Fe) packed column gave a baseline separation of all the tested analytes with good precision. The separation was controlled by negative enthalpy change and entropy change in the reverse-phase mode, but positive enthalpy change and entropy change in the normal-phase mode. The relative standard deviations of retention time, peak area, peak height, and half peak width for eleven replicate separations of the tested analytes were 0.2-0.7%, 0.5-3.6%, 0.6-2.3% and 0.8-1.7%, respectively. The mesoporous cages, accessible windows, excellent chemical and solvent stability, metal active sites and aromatic pore walls make MIL-100(Fe) a good candidate as a novel stationary phase for both normal-phase and reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Benzene is one of the target compounds to be removed from air owing to its carcinogenicity. In this study, benzene oxidation with ozone over a MnOx/KIT-6 catalyst was carried out for the first time. MnOx/KIT-6 was synthesized using two different Mn precursors: Mn acetate and Mn nitrate. The characteristics of the synthesized catalysts were examined by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, temperature-programmed reduction, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area, and N2 adsorption-desorption. The catalytic activity was found to be dependent on the amount of ozone consumed and the dispersion and reducibility of MnOx on the catalyst surface.

Calcineurin (CN) is a Ca(2+)/calmodulin (CaM) dependent serine/threonine protein phosphatase and plays important role in several cellular functions in both higher and lower eukaryotes. Here we report inhibition of CN by linear alkylbenzene sulfonate. The clue to the finding was obtained while identifying the inhibitory material leaching from acrylonitrile butadiene rubber used for packing. Using standard dodecylbenzene sulfonate (C12-LAS), we obtained strong inhibition of CN with a half maximal inhibitory concentration of 9.3 µM, whereas analogs such as p-octylbenzene sulfonate and SDS hardly or only slightly affected CN activity. Three alkaline phosphatases, derived from shrimp, bacteria, and calf-intestine, which exhibit similar enzymatic activities to CN, were not inhibited by C12-LAS at concentrations of up to 100 µM. Furthermore, C12-LAS did not inhibit Ca(2+)/CaM-dependent myosin light chain kinase activity when tested at concentrations of up to 36 µM. The results indicate that C12-LAS is a potent selective inhibitor of CN activity.