Constructed wetlands using recycled aggregates for the improved treatment of tailwater.

Recycled aggregates from the construction industry could be effective materials for constructed wetland (CW) wastewater treatment systems. However, whether the plants or which kinds of plants can survive in CWs with recycled aggregates or not is still scarce and urgent to study. The effects of different plant species, and several operation parameters on tailwater treatment from the sewage plants by CWs with different substrates (mixed construction recycled aggregate [MCRA], red brick [RB], and gravel) are systemically studied.

Experimental observation of exceptional bound states in a classical circuit network.

Exceptional bound (EB) states represent a unique new class of robust bound states protected by the defectiveness of non-Hermitian exceptional points. Conceptually distinct from the more well-known topological states and non-Hermitian skin states, they were recently discovered as a novel source of negative entanglement entropy in the quantum entanglement context. Yet, EB states have been physically elusive, being originally interpreted as negative probability eigenstates of the propagator of non-Hermitian Fermi gases.

Dual-mode tunable absorber based on quasi-bound states in the continuum.

In this Letter, we propose a novel, to the best of our knowledge, dual-mode tunable absorber that utilizes quasi-bound states in the continuum (q-BIC) based on the periodically arranged silicon cylinders tetramer. By introducing asymmetry perturbation through manipulating the diameters of diagonal cylinders in the all-dielectric structure, the symmetry-protected BIC (SP-BIC) transforms into q-BIC, leading to the emergence of one transmission and one reflection Fano-like resonant mode. The relationship between the quality factor of each mode and the asymmetry parameter α is analyzed, revealing an exponential dependence with an exponent of -1.

Building up a view and understanding of the multifunctional activity of black phosphorous nanosheet modified with the metal atom.

Constructing metal-semiconductor interfaces by loading metal atoms onto two-dimensional material to build atomically dispersed single-atom catalysts (SACs) has emerged as a new frontier for improving atom utilization and designing multifunctional electrocatalysts. Nowadays, studies on black phosphorus nanosheets in electrocatalysis have received much attention and the successful preparation of metal nanoparticle/black phosphorus (BP) hybrid electrocatalysts indicates BP nanosheets can serve as a potential support platform for SACs. Herein, by using large-scale ab initio calculations, we explored a large composition space of SACs with transition metal atoms supported on BP monolayer (M-BP) and built a comprehensive picture of activity trend, stability, and electronic origin towards oxygen reduction and evolution reaction (ORR and OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER).

Understanding the Activity and Design Principle of Dual-Atom Catalysts Supported on CN for Oxygen Reduction and Evolution Reactions: From Homonuclear to Heteronuclear.

Using large-scale calculations and taking the two-dimensional CN monolayer as a substrate, we sampled a large combinatorial space of CN-supported homonuclear and heteronuclear dual-atom catalysts and built a detailed view of catalytic activity and stability toward the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The results indicate that regulating combinations of metal pairs could widely tune the catalytic performance. Pd-, Pt-, and PdPt-CN could effectively balance the adsorption strength of intermediates and achieve optimal bifunctional activity.

Stimulation of atrazine degradation by activated carbon and cathodic effect in soil microbial fuel cell.

Soil microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have been increasingly studied in recent years and have attracted significant attention as an environmentally sustainable bioelectrochemical technology. However, the poor conductivity of the soil matrix and the neglect of the cathodic function have limited its application. In this study, quartz sand and activated carbon were subjected to investigation on their influence on atrazine degradation.

Effects of organic substrates on sulfate-reducing microcosms treating acid mine drainage: Performance dynamics and microbial community comparison.

Bioremediation techniques utilizing sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) for acid mine drainage (AMD) treatment have attracted growing attention in recent years, yet substrate bioavailability for SRB is a key factor influencing treatment effectiveness and long-term stability. This study investigated the effects of external organic substrates, including four complex organic wastes (i.e.

Physico-Chemical Structure and Gasification Performance of Co-Pyrolytic Char Produced by the Pyrolysis of Polyvinyl Chloride Blends with Two Rank Coals.

Co-pyrolysis of waste plastics and coal has been considered to be an environmentally friendly and scalable waste treatment technology. This study investigated the influence of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) on the physico-chemical structure and gasification performance of co-pyrolytic char with lignite (PZ) and bituminous (SM) coal. The structure characteristics were explored by applying an X-ray diffractometer and a specific surface area analyzer.

Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy applied to microbial fuel cells: A review.

Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) is an efficient and non-destructive test for analyzing the bioelectrochemical processes of microbial fuel cells (MFCs). The key factors limiting the output performance of an MFC can be identified by quantifying the contribution of its various internal parts to the total impedance. However, little attention has been paid to the measurement conditions and diagrammatic processes of the EIS for MFC.

Accumulation of high-molecular-weight polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon impacted the performance and microbial ecology of bioretention systems.

Bioretention has been considered as an effective management practice for urban stormwater in the removal of pollutants including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). However, the accumulation of high-molecular-weight (HMW) PAHs in bioretention systems and their potential impact on the pollutants removal performance and microbial ecology are still not fully understood. In this study, comparisons of treatment effectiveness, enzyme activity and microbial community in bioretention systems with different types of media amendments were carried out at different spiking levels of pyrene (PYR).

Biodegradation performance and diversity of enriched bacterial consortia capable of degrading high-molecular-weight polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are key organic pollutants in the environment that pose threats to the ecosystem and human health. The degradation of high molecular weight (HMW) PAHs by enriched bacterial consortia has been previously studied, while the involved metabolisms and microbial communities are still unclear and warrant further investigations. In this study, five bacterial consortia capable of utilizing different PAHs (naphthalene, anthracene, and pyrene) as the sole carbon and energy sources were enriched from PAH-contaminated soil samples.

Correction to: Two Switchable Plasmonically Induced Transparency Effects in a System with Distinct Graphene Resonators.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

Ultrathin multi-band coherent perfect absorber in graphene with high-contrast gratings.

High-contrast gratings (HCGs) can be designed as a resonator with high-quality factor and surface-normal emission, which are excellent characters for designing optical devices. In this work, we combine HCGs with plasmonic graphene structure to achieve an ultrathin five-band coherent perfect absorber (CPA). The presented CPA can achieve multi- and narrow-band absorption with high intensity under a relatively large incident angle.

Two Switchable Plasmonically Induced Transparency Effects in a System with Distinct Graphene Resonators.

General plasmonic systems to realize plasmonically induced transparency (PIT) effect only exist one single PIT mainly because they only allow one single coupling pathway. In this study, we propose a distinct graphene resonator-based system, which is composed of graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) coupled with dielectric grating-loaded graphene layer resonators, to achieve two switchable PIT effects. By designing crossed directions of the resonators, the proposed system exists two different PIT effects characterized by different resonant positions and linewidths.

Bidirectional and dynamically tunable THz absorber with Dirac semimetal.

Traditional absorbers are usually sandwich structures in which a metallic ground plane is employed to prevent the transmission. Such absorbers suffer from a major drawback that incident light can only irradiate from the front of the absorbers. In this paper, a novel absorber with bulk Dirac semimetal (BDS)-AlCuFe quasicrystals is proposed to realize bidirectional and dynamically tunable terahertz (THz) perfect absorption.

Ultrasensitive tunable terahertz sensor based on five-band perfect absorber with Dirac semimetal.

For non-invasive detection, terahertz (THz) sensing shows more promising performance compared to visible and infrared regions. But so far, figure of merit (FOM) of THz sensor has been exceeding low due to weak radiation and absorption loss. Here, we propose an easily implemented THz sensor based on bulk Dirac semimetal (BDS).

Dirac semimetals based tunable narrowband absorber at terahertz frequencies.

In this paper, a bulk Dirac semimetals (BDSs) based tunable narrowband absorber at terahertz frequencies is proposed and it has the attractive property of being polarization-independent at normal incidence because of its 90° rotational symmetry. Numerical results show that the absorption bandwidth is about 1.469e-2 THz and the total quality factor Q, defined as Q = f/Δf, reaches about 94.

Tunable plasmon-induced absorption in an integrated graphene nanoribbon side-coupled waveguide.

By designing a novel graphene plasmonic band-pass filter with two gold ribbons, we have numerically and analytically investigated the transmission properties of plasmon-induced absorption (PIA) in a compact graphene nanoribbon side-coupled waveguide. The formation and evolution of the PIA window are dependent on the superposition of super resonances and the near-field coupling intensity between the designed two resonators. Interestingly, the induced absorption window not only can be engineered longitudinally in intensity, but also dynamically tuned horizontally in the resonant wavelength by changing the Fermi energy of the graphene layers.

Tunable graphene-based plasmonic multispectral and narrowband perfect metamaterial absorbers at the mid-infrared region.

We numerically investigate the optical performance of a periodically patterned H-shaped graphene array by the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) in the mid-infrared region. The simulated results reveal that absorption spectra of the proposed structure consist of two dramatic narrowband perfect absorption peaks located at 6.3 μm (Mode 1) and 8.

Physico-chemical properties and gasification reactivity of co-pyrolysis char from different rank of coal blended with lignocellulosic biomass: Effects of the cellulose.

In this paper, the influence of cellulose on the physicochemical properties and the gasification reactivity of co-pyrolysis char was investigated. A specific surface area analyzer and an X-ray diffraction system were used to characterize the pore structure and the micro-crystalline structure of char. Fractal theory and deconvolution method were applied to quantitatively investigate the influence of cellulose on the structure of co-pyrolysis char.

Study on product distributions and char morphology during rapid co-pyrolysis of platanus wood and lignite in a drop tube fixed-bed reactor.

The rapid co-pyrolytic behavior of platanus wood and Pingzhuang lignite was explored in a drop tube fixed-bed reactor under nitrogen atmosphere. Synergistic effects were evaluated using the deviations between experimental and predicted values of product yields and gas components. Surface morphology of residual chars were also investigated applying the scanning electron microscopy technique (SEM).

Synergistic effect on thermal behavior during co-pyrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass model components blend with bituminous coal.

Co-thermochemical conversion of lignocellulosic biomass and coal has been investigated as an effective way to reduce the carbon footprint. Successful evaluating on thermal behavior of the co-pyrolysis is prerequisite for predicting performance and optimizing efficiency of this process. In this paper, pyrolysis and kinetics characteristics of three kinds of lignocellulosic biomass model components (cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin) blended with a kind of Chinese bituminous coal were explored by thermogravimetric analyzer and Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose method.