Intensive electron transfer of a single-atom Fe-based catalytic ceramic membrane for municipal wastewater treatment: The synergistic effects of nitrogen vacancy defect and ultrathin nanostructure.

The integration of membrane separation with heterogeneous advanced oxidation processes is a prospective strategy for the elimination of contaminants during wastewater treatment. Fe-based catalysts and the green oxidant peracetic acid (PAA) are desirable candidates for the development of catalytic membranes because they are environmentally friendly. However, the construction of catalytic ceramic membranes (CMs) modified with efficient Fe-based catalysts that generate increased amounts of high-valent Fe-O species during PAA activation for the degradation of specific pollutants, especially during instantaneous membrane filtration, remains challenging.

Exploring a specific type of tissue-resident natural killer cell involved in the anti-tumor and immunotherapy response in human papillomavirus-positive head and neck squamous cell carcinoma using scRNA-seq.

Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is an increasingly common malignancy. We aimed to explore the immune heterogeneity of natural killer (NK) cells in HPV-positive HNSCC.

Methods: Single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) and bulk RNA-sequencing datasets of HPV-positive HNSCC data were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database.

Nano-confined catalysis with Co nanoparticles-encapsulated carbon nanotubes for enhanced peroxymonosulfate oxidation in secondary effluent treatment: Water quality improvement and membrane fouling alleviation.

Despite widespread deployment and investigation of ultrafiltration (UF) for secondary effluent purification, the challenge of membrane fouling due to effluent organic matter (EfOM) remains formidable. This study introduced a novel pretreatment method utilizing Co nanoparticles-encapsulated carbon nanotubes activated peroxymonosulfate (Co@CNT/PMS) to degrade EfOM and mitigate membrane fouling. Characterization of Co@CNT revealed the efficient encapsulation of Co nanoparticles within nanotubes, which notably enhanced the catalytic degradation of bisphenol A and typical organics.

Nanofiltration Membranes with Salt-Responsive Ion Valves for Enhanced Separation Performance in Brackish Water Treatment: A Battle against the Limitation of Salt Concentration.

Utilizing brackish water resources has imposed a high requirement on the design and construction of nanofiltration membranes. To overcome the limitation of high salt concentration on the nanofiltration separation performance resulting from the weakened Donnan effect, a nanofiltration membrane with the effect of salt-responsive ion valves was developed by incorporating zwitterionic nanospheres into the polyamide layer (PA-ZNs). The interaction between the nanospheres and membranes at high salinity was revealed through a combination analysis from the perspectives of water transport model, positron annihilation spectroscopy, and solute rejection, contributing to the formation of the valve effect.

A passive-active combined strategy for ultrafiltration membrane fouling control in continuous oily wastewater purification.

Membrane-based technology has been confirmed as an effective way to treat emulsified oily wastewater, however, membrane fouling is still one of practical challenges in long-term operation. Herein, a novel passive-active combined strategy was proposed to control membrane fouling in continuous oily wastewater purification, where the δ-MnO decoration layer helped to reduce the total fouling ratio (passive strategy for fouling mitigation) and the catalytic cleaning effectively removed the irreversible oil fouling (active strategy for fouling removal). The functional membrane was prepared via in-situ modification, referred to as δ-MnO@TA-PES.

Synergistic effects of prokaryotes and oxidants in rapid sand filters treatment of groundwater versus surface water: Purification efficacy, stability and associated mechanisms.

Effective elimination of manganese (Mn) and ammonium (NH-N) from drinking water is still challenging. Utilizing oxidants to improve the simultaneous removals of Mn and NH-N from rapid sand filter (RSF) systems has been extensively studied. However, the prokaryotes containing in the water geochemical properties greatly affected the RSF performance.

Nanofiltration Membranes with Octopus Arm-Sucker Surface Morphology: Filtration Performance and Mechanism Investigation.

Precisely tailoring the surface morphology characteristics of the active layers based on bionic inspirations can improve the performance of thin-film composite (TFC) membranes. The remarkable water adsorption and capture abilities of octopus tentacles inspired the construction of a novel TFC nanofiltration (NF) membrane with octopus arm-sucker morphology using carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and beta-cyclodextrin (β-CD) during interfacial polymerization (IP). The surface morphology, chemical elements, water contact angle (WCA), interfacial free energy (Δ), electronegativity, and pore size of the membranes were systematically investigated.

Toward Enhancing Desalination and Heavy Metal Removal of TFC Nanofiltration Membranes: A Cost-Effective Interface Temperature-Regulated Interfacial Polymerization.

Polyamide (PA) chemistry-based nanofiltration (NF) membranes have an important role in the field of seawater desalination and wastewater reclamation. Achieving an ultrathin and defect-free active layer via precisely controlled interfacial polymerization (IP) is an effective routine to improve the separation efficiencies of NF membranes. Herein, the morphologies and chemical structures of the thin-film composite (TFC) NF membranes were accurately regulated by tailoring the interfacial reaction temperature during the IP process.

High-performance nanofiltration membranes with a sandwiched layer and a surface layer for desalination and environmental pollutant removal.

To overcome the permeability-selectivity limitation and improve the performance of desalination membranes, novel methods and design strategies are needed to prepare new types of thin film composite (TFC) nanofiltration (NF) membranes. In this work, a modified TFC membrane with a sandwiched layer and a surface layer was fabricated through a facile additional two-step approach. The microfiltration (MF) substrate and TFC surface were modified by a cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) sandwiched layer and a polydopamine (PDA) layer, respectively.