Nitrogen-doped carbons derived from cotton pulp for improved supercapacitors.

Supercapacitors have a rapid charge/discharge rate, long lifespan, high stability, and relatively acceptable cost, showing great potential in energy storage and conversion applications. However, the current cost-effective carbon-based electrodes have limited application owing to their low specific capacitance and unsatisfactory stability. In this regard, we herein prepare nitrogen-doped carbons by carbonizing a mixture of cotton pulp (CCP) and melamine to improve the specific capacitance by integrating pore (mesopore) and surface (oxygen-containing groups) modification with defect engineering the carbonization process.

The complexation with proteins in extracellular polymeric substances alleviates the toxicity of Cd (II) to Chlorella vulgaris.

The complexation with extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) greatly reduces the toxicity of heavy metals towards organisms in the environment. However, the molecular mechanism of EPS-metal complexation remains unclear owing to the limitation of precise analysis for key fractions and functionalities in EPS that associate with metals. Herein, we explored the EPS-Cd (II) complexation by fluorescence excitation emission matrix coupled with parallel factor (EEM-PARAFAC), two-dimensional Fourier transform infrared correlation spectroscopy (2D-FTIR-COS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), attempting to explain the mechanisms of EPS in alleviating Cd (II) toxicity toward a green alga Chlorella vulgaris (C.

Reducing nitrous oxide emission in a sequencing batch reactor operated as static/aerobic/anoxic (SOA) process.

The static/aerobic/anoxic (SOA) activated sludge process was implemented to investigate the nitrous oxide (NO) emission characteristics with the conventional anaerobic/anoxic/oxic (A/O) process as a control group. Although the SOA process can achieve substantial biological nutrient removal (BNR), its NO emission was increased compared with the traditional A/O process. The improvement of the SOA process was carried out by shortening the static time from 60 min to 15 min.

Accelerated productions and physicochemical characterizations of different extracellular polymeric substances from Chlorella vulgaris with nano-ZnO.

Extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) play significant roles in protecting cells against environmental stresses. However, little information is known about the roles of different EPS in these processes. In this study, the productions and physicochemical characterizations of soluble-EPS (S-EPS) and bound-EPS (B-EPS), the two different fractions of EPS from a green alga Chlorella vulgaris under the stress of ZnO nanoparticle (nano-ZnO) were investigated.

Nutrient removal by Chlorella vulgaris F1068 under cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide induced hormesis.

Toxicants are generally harmful to biotechnology in wastewater treatment. However, trace toxicant can induce microbial hormesis, but to date, it is still unknown how this phenomenon affects nutrient removal during municipal wastewater treatment process. Therefore, this study focused on the effects of hormesis induced by cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB), a representative quaternary ammonium cationic surfactant, on nutrient removal by Chlorella vulgaris F1068.

Mechanisms of ammonium assimilation by Chlorella vulgaris F1068: Isotope fractionation and proteomic approaches.

Removal of ammonium (NH4(+)-N) by microalgae has evoked interest in wastewater treatment, however, the detailed mechanisms of ammonium assimilation remain mysterious. This study investigated the effects of NH4(+)-N concentration on the removal and biotransformation efficiency by Chlorella vulgaris F1068, and explored the mechanisms by (15)N isotope fractionation and proteome approaches. The results showed NH4(+)-N was efficiently removed (84.