Assessing the photochemical mineralisation of dissolved organic carbon in lakes.

Photochemical mineralisation is an abiotic process by which the organic matter in natural waters, which is mostly dissolved, is eventually transformed into CO by the action of sunlight. The process has important implications for global C cycling, the penetration of sunlight into the water column, photochemical reactions, and microbial processes. Here we applied an approximated photochemical model to assess the extent of CO photogeneration by mineralisation of dissolved organic matter in lakes located between 60°S and 60°N latitude.

Porous Carbon Fabricated by Microbial Pretreatment of Brewer's Grain for the Improvement of Toluene Adsorption Performance.

Porous activated carbons (AC-AN and AC-AO) for toluene adsorption were prepared starting from brewer's grain biomass pretreated with microorganisms ( van Tieghem for AC-AN and RIB40 for AC-AO). The structures and chemical properties of the three activated carbon materials (AC-AN, AC-AO, and AC that was not pretreated with microorganisms) were characterized by N adsorption-desorption isotherms, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The adsorption behavior of the three activated carbons for toluene was studied and correlated with the physical and chemical properties of these materials.

Reaction kinetics and molecular characterization of the compounds formed by photosensitized degradation of the plastic additive bisphenol A in the atmospheric aqueous phase.

Bisphenol A (BPA, 4,4'-(propane-2,2-diyl)diphenol) is a common plasticizer that is very widespread in the environment and is also found at significant concentrations in the global oceans, due to contamination by plastics. Here we show that triplet sensitization is an important degradation pathway for BPA in natural surface waters, which could prevail if the water dissolved organic carbon is above 2-3 mg L. Bromide levels as per seawater conditions have the potential to slow down BPA photodegradation, a phenomenon that could not be offset by reaction of BPA with Br (second-order reaction rate constant of (2.