Delving into South China Sea microplastic pollution: Abundance, composition, and environmental risk.

Understanding marine pollution in the South China Sea is crucial for preserving marine ecosystems and biodiversity. Despite extensive research on pollutants, there is a significant gap in knowledge about microplastics (MPs) in the archipelago region. This study focused on four typical islands, examining MPs in seawater and sediments, their distribution, and environmental risks.

Hydrophilic Fraction of Dissolved Organic Matter Largely Facilitated Microplastics Photoaging: Insights from Redox Properties and Reactive Oxygen Species.

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) exists widely in natural water, which inevitably influences microplastic (MP) photoaging. Nevertheless, the impacts of DOM fractions with diverse molecular structures on MP photoaging remain to be elucidated. This study explored the photoaging mechanisms of polylactic acid (PLA)-MPs and polystyrene (PS)-MPs in the presence of DOM and its subfractions (hydrophobic acid (HPOA), hydrophobic neutral (HPON), and hydrophilic (HPI)).

Mechanism insight into the facet-dependent photoaging of polystyrene microplastics on hematite in freshwater.

Hematite, as an extensive natural mineral with multiple crystal facets, profoundly affects the migration and transformation of pollutants in the natural environment. However, little is known about the photochemical behavior of microplastics on different facets of hematite in the aquatic environment. In this work, the photoaging of polystyrene microplastics (PS-MPs) on different crystal planes ({001}, {100}, and {012} facets) and related mechanisms were studied.

Correction: Selective CO reduction to HCOOH on a Pt/InO/g-CN multifunctional visible-photocatalyst.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1039/D0RA03959D.].

Single/co-adsorption and mechanism of methylene blue and lead by β-cyclodextrin modified magnetic alginate/biochar.

Due to the high biological toxicity, the concurrent elimination of lead (Pb (II)) and methylene blue (MB) has become a challenging problem. Therefore, a newly β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) modified magnetic alginate/biochar (β-CD@MBC) material was developed. Comprehensive characterizations proved the successful coating of β-CD onto MBC surface by microwave-aided fabrication.

Soil structures and immobilization of typical contaminants in soils in response to diverse microplastics.

Microplastics (MPs) accumulation in soil ecosystems has become a worldwide issue. The influence of MPs on soil structures and contaminant transport has not been clearly unraveled. This study conducted soil column experiments covering four different treatments: soil without MPs (CK), soil with 0.

Loading with micro-nanosized α-MnO efficiently promotes the removal of arsenite and arsenate by biochar derived from maize straw waste: Dual role of deep oxidation and adsorption.

The function of biochar (BC) as an eco-friendly adsorbent for environmental remediation is gaining much attention. However, the pristine BC had limited abilities for the removal of As (III, V). Towards this issue, this study synthesized biochar/micro-nanosized α-MnO (BM) composites with different mass ratios of biochar to MnO.

Bio-alcohol induced self-assembly of heterojunctioned TiO/WO composites into a hierarchical yolk-shell structure for photocatalysis.

In the fabrication of efficient multicomponent semiconductors for photocatalysis, well-defined hierarchical structures and high-quality heterojunctions are still highly desired. A general preparation method was developed for a series of hierarchical TiO2-based heterojunctions with tailored interior space from solid, core-shell and yolk-shell to fully hollow structures.

Self-Driven Reactive Oxygen Species Generation via Interfacial Oxygen Vacancies on Carbon-Coated TiO with Versatile Applications.

The effective activation and utilization of O have always been the focus of scientists because of its wide applications in catalysis, organic synthesis, life and medical science. Here, a novel method for activating O spontaneously via interfacial oxygen vacancies on carbon-coated TiO to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) with versatile applications is reported. The interfacial oxygen vacancies can be stabilized by the carbon layer and hold its intrinsic properties for spontaneous oxygen activation without light irradiation, while common surface oxygen vacancies on TiO are always consumed by the capture of HO to form the surface hydroxyls.

Selective CO reduction to HCOOH on a Pt/InO/g-CN multifunctional visible-photocatalyst.

Selective photocatalytic reduction of CO has been regarded as one of the most amazing ways for re-using CO. However, its application is still limited by the low CO conversion efficiency. This work developed a novel Pt/InO/g-CN multifunctional catalyst, which exhibited high activity and selectivity to HCOOH during photocatalytic CO reduction under visible light irradiation owing to the synergistic effect between photocatalyst, thermocatalyst, and heterojunctions.