Aqueous amine enables sustainable monosaccharide, monophenol, and pyridine base coproduction in lignocellulosic biorefineries.

Thought-out utilization of entire lignocellulose is of great importance to achieving sustainable and cost-effective biorefineries. However, there is a trade-off between efficient carbohydrate utilization and lignin-to-chemical conversion yield. Here, we fractionate corn stover into a carbohydrate fraction with high enzymatic digestibility and reactive lignin with satisfactory catalytic depolymerization activity using a mild high-solid process with aqueous diethylamine (DEA).

Effects of macrophytes on micro - And nanoplastic retention and cycling in constructed wetlands.

Macrophytes play the important roles in purifying pollutants of constructed wetlands (CWs), while their effects on CWs exposed to micro/nano plastics are not clear. Therefore, planted and unplanted CWs were established to reveal the impacts of macrophytes (Iris pseudacorus) on the overall performance of CWs under polystyrene micro/nano plastics (PS MPs/NPs) exposure. Results showed that macrophytes effectively enhanced the interception capacities of CWs to PS NPs, and significantly promoted the removal of nitrogen and phosphorus after exposed to PS MPs/NPs.

Evaluation of the ecological impacts of short- and long-chain perfluoroalkyl acids on constructed wetland systems: Perfluorobutyric acid and perfluorooctanoic acid.

Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) contamination of aquatic system has attracted widespread attention in recent years. From both plant and microbial perspectives, the ecological risk of CWs by comparing PFASs with different chain lengths have not been fully understood. In this study, the influences of perfluorobutyric acid (PFBA) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) as typical of short- and long-chains on the ecological effect of CWs have been specifically studied.

Comprehensive metagenomic and enzyme activity analysis reveals the negatively influential and potentially toxic mechanism of polystyrene nanoparticles on nitrogen transformation in constructed wetlands.

The widespread use of nanoplastics inevitably leads to their increasing emission into constructed wetlands (CWs). However, little is known about the impacts of nanoplastics on nitrogen transformation in CWs. In this study, the influence of polystyrene nanoparticles (PS NPs), one of the most widely used plastics, on the nitrogen transformation in CWs was comprehensively investigated, and the influential and toxic mechanism was evaluated through metagenomic analysis (DNA level) and key enzyme activities (protein level) related to N-transformation metabolism and antioxidant systems.

Effect of dual modification with ultrasonic and electric field on potato starch.

Applying high voltage electric fields to starch is a novel method. Very limited studies were done on high ultrasonic power. Native potato starch (NPS) was modified by ultrasonic (US), electric field (ES) and a combination of the two treatments: ultrasonic prior to the electric field (UES), electric field prior to the ultrasonic (EUS) and ultrasonic and electric field at the same time (UAES).

Internal structure of high degree substitution acetylated potato starch by chemical surface gelatinization.

To understand the contribution of granule inner portion to the pasting property of acetylated potato starch under the electric field and ultrasonic treatment, these starches were subjected to chemical surface gelatinization by 4.0 mol/L CaCl to obtain remaining granules with pasting time 0, 6, 12, 18, 24, 30 min, respectively. The structure of remaining granule was studied by the fitted distribution curve.