Regulating pH distribution of soda saline-alkali soil during electrochemical treatment by conditioning catholyte pH coupled with approaching anodes.

Soda saline-alkali soils pose significant challenges to agricultural productivity due to high pH and excessive sodium content. This study investigated the removal of excess salts in soda saline-alkali soil through electrochemical treatment (ECT). Traditional ECT often led to uneven soil pH distribution, with acidic conditions near the anode and alkaline conditions near the cathode, which limited its effectiveness for soil improvement.

Removal of Pb from Contaminated Kaolin by Pulsed Electrochemical Treatment Coupled with a Permeable Reactive Barrier: Tuning Removal Efficiency and Energy Consumption.

Lead contamination in soil has emerged as a significant environmental concern. Recently, pulse electrochemical treatment (PECT) has garnered substantial attention as an effective method for mitigating lead ions in low-permeability soils. However, the impact of varying pulse time gradients, ranging from seconds to hours, under the same pulse duty cycle on lead removal efficiency (LRE) and energy consumption in PECT has not been thoroughly investigated.

Environmental contamination and health risk assessment of potentially toxic trace metal elements in soils near gold mines - A global meta-analysis.

Gold mining is the most important anthropogenic source of heavy metal emissions into the environment. Researchers have been aware of the environmental impacts of gold mining activities and have conducted studies in recent years, but they have only selected one gold mining site and collected soil samples in its vicinity for analysis, which does not reflect the combined impact of all gold mining activities on the concentration of potentially toxic trace elements (PTES) in nearby soils at a global scale. In this study, 77 research papers from 24 countries were collected from 2001 to 2022, and a new dataset was developed to provide a comprehensive study of the distribution characteristics, contamination characteristics, and risk assessment of 10 PTEs (As, Cd, Cr, Co, Cu, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn) in soils near the deposits.

Process design and validation of a new mixed eluent for leaching Cd, Cr, Pb, Cu, Ni, and Zn from heavy metal-polluted soil.

Chemical leaching, an emerging technology for treating heavy metal-polluted soils, requires a design for reasonable and new eluent and an evaluation of its efficiency on the simultaneous removal of different elements. In this study, the leaching effect and biodegradability of chelating agents were compared, and ethylenediamine disuccinic acid (EDDS) was selected to combine with ferric chloride (FeCl) for the design of a mixed eluent (EDDS + FeCl). Through batch experiments, the influences of the eluent concentration and solution pH on leaching were revealed, and leaching efficiencies of EDDS, FeCl, and EDDS + FeCl on six heavy metals Cd, Cr, Pb, Cu, Ni, and Zn in the soil were separately analyzed.

Direct Dynamic Evidence of Charge Separation in a Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell Obtained under Operando Conditions by Raman Spectroscopy.

Interfaces play an important role in enhancing the energy conversion performance of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). The interface effects have been studied by many techniques, but most of the studies only focused on one part of a DSC, rather than on a complete solar cell. Hence, monitoring the interface evolution of a DSC is still very challenging.

Flexible and Reusable Ag Coated TiO Nanotube Arrays for Highly Sensitive SERS Detection of Formaldehyde.

Quantitative analysis of formaldehyde (HCHO, FA), especially at low levels, in various environmental media is of great importance for assessing related environmental and human health risks. A highly efficient and convenient FA detection method based on surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) technology has been developed. This SERS-based method employs a reusable and soft silver-coated TiO nanotube array (TNA) material, such as an SERS substrate, which can be used as both a sensing platform and a degradation platform.

A highly selective fluorescent probe for Al based on bis(2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde) oxaloyldihydrazone with aggregation-induced emission enhancement and gel properties.

An efficient fluorescent probe, bis(2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde) oxaloyldihydrazone (1), has been prepared for the selective sensing of Al over other common metal ions in water-containing media. The 1:1 stoichiometry of 1 and Al was determined from Job's plot and Benesti-Hildebrand plot. The binding constant was observed as 1.

Microstructure and Corrosion Behavior of Friction Stir-Welded 6061 Al/AZ31 Mg Joints with a Zr Interlayer.

Friction stir welding (FSW) with a Zr interlayer was employed to join dissimilar alloys of 6061 Al and AZ31 Mg. The microstructures of Al/Mg and Al/Zr/Mg joints were investigated by optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDS). The results showed that the central part of the Zr interlayer was smashed and intermixed with the base materials in the stir zone, whereas the undamaged part remained stable at the Al/Mg interface.

Substituent effects on anion sensing of salicylidene Schiff base derivatives: Tuning sensitivity and selectivity.

A series of colorimetric anion sensors using the salicylidene Schiff bases with different substituents, including electron donating group (tert-butyl, in sensor 2), conjugated group (naphthyl, in sensor 3) and electron withdrawing group (chlorine, in sensor 4), respectively, have been developed. The substituents can not only impact chromogenic signal output, but also tune the sensitivity and selectivity of the anion sensing by their specific electron push-pull features. In particular, both 1 (without substituent) and 2 show high selectivity for F(-) over Cl(-), Br(-), I(-), AcO(-) and H2PO4(-), but the sensitivity of 2 is poorer than 1 due to the effect of electron donating groups.

A molecular half-subtractor with Zn2+ and UV-light as inputs.

The salen-type Schiff base (2,2'-bis(2-hydroxybenzylideneamino)-1,1'-binaphthyl (BHB)) has been synthesized and characterized. Exhibiting absorption and fluorescence changes in the presence of Zn(2+) in chloroform and ethanol mixed solution, BHB could be used as a fluorescent chemosensor for the detection of Zn(2+). Furthermore, by monitoring the fluorescence and absorbance as output signals, BHB can function as a combinatorial logic circuit for a molecular half-subtractor with Zn(2+) and UV irradiation as input variables.

Hydrogen-bonding A(LS)2-type low-molecular-mass gelator and its thermotropic mesomorphic behavior.

A unique cholesterol-based A(LS)2-type gelator, which is a hydrogen-bonding complex based on an ALS-type non-gelator molecule 3-cholesteryl 4-(trans-2-(4-pyridinyl)vinyl)phenyl succinate and a counterpart 3-cholesteryloxycarbonylpropanoic acid, shows strong gelation ability in alcohol and aromatic solvents. The formed gel has a high Tg at low gelation concentration, and its xerogel shows fibrillar microstructure revealed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). FTIR confirms the existence of intermolecular hydrogen bond in the gelator, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis reveals that the gelator possesses a folded conformation in gel and self-assembles into the fibrillar structure mainly by van der Waals interaction between cholesteryl moieties of the gelator.