Publications by authors named "Shaochong Liu"

Fibrous microplastics (FMPs), a unique class of microplastics, are increasingly recognized as a significant environmental threat due to their ubiquitous presence and potential risks to ecological and human health. This review provides a comprehensive overview of FMPs, including their sources, prevalence in various environmental media, and potential impacts. FMPs, which can be found in over 90 % of certain environmental samples, originate from a diverse range of sources, including synthetic textiles, landfill waste, industrial emissions, and atmospheric deposition.

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Despite increasing concerns regarding the interactions of microplastic and heavy metal pollution, there is limited knowledge on the molecular responses of marine organisms to these stressors. In this study, we used whole-transcriptome sequencing to investigate the molecular responses of the ecologically and economically important bivalve Mytilus galloprovincialis to individual and combined exposures of environmentally relevant concentrations of PVC microplastics and cadmium (Cd). Our results revealed distinct transcriptional changes in M.

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Low-light image enhancement (LLIE) investigates how to improve the brightness of an image captured in illumination-insufficient environments. The majority of existing methods enhance low-light images in a global and uniform manner, without taking into account the semantic information of different regions. Consequently, a network may easily deviate from the original color of local regions.

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Bisphenol A (BPA), an endocrine-disrupting contaminant, is ubiquitous in the environment due to its presence in plastics, wastewater, and agricultural runoff. This study investigated the photodegradation behavior of BPA in coastal aquaculture waters near Qingdao, China. Lower salinity promoted BPA photodegradation, while higher salinity has an inhibitory effect, suggesting slower degradation in seawater compared to ultrapure water.

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Microplastics (MPs) occurrence in marine ecosystems is well known, but their accumulation in seaweeds and subsequent human exposure remain understudied. This research quantifies MPs presence in two commonly consumed seaweeds, kelp (Saccharina japonica) and nori (Pyropia yezoensis), in East Asia, revealing widespread contamination dominated by microfibers (<500 μm). Based on dietary patterns, human uptake through seaweed consumption was estimated and quantified.

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The co-exposure of microplastics (MPs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in soil is inevitable, but their combined effect on cycles of typical biogenic elements (e.g. C, N, Fe, S) is still unclear.

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Article Synopsis
  • Activated carbon (AC) is effective in removing pollutants due to its ability to adsorb and catalyze reactions, but its role in transforming pollutants through redox activity is not well studied.
  • The research highlighted that AC facilitates the oxidation of arsenic (As(III)), with this process influenced by pH levels and oxygen availability; optimal oxidation occurs at pH 3.0-9.5.
  • At acidic pH, reactive species help oxidize As(III), while at alkaline pH, direct electron transfer from As(III) to oxygen is responsible; AC shows sustainable and recyclable properties for this oxidation process.
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The iron (Fe) phases have been widely proposed to preserve organic carbon (OC) via adsorption or coprecipitation pathways, however, such role of Fe phases might be largely reversed under redox-fluctuation conditions, especially for Fe(II) minerals-protected OC. In this study, we synthesized the Fe(II)-OC associations via adsorption and coprecipitation using FeCO and three types of low-molecular-weight organic compounds (LMWOCs) at different C/Fe molar ratios, and investigated the OC mineralization induced by hydroxyl radicals (OH) during oxygenation processes. Abundant OH can be produced upon oxygenation of FeCO-LMWOCs associations within 96 h, giving values of 28.

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In recent years, great efforts have been made to understand the capacity of microplastics to adsorb environmental pollutants; however, relatively little is known about the ability of microplastics to release inherent additives into peripheral environments. In this study, we investigated the leaching behavior of phthalate plasticizer from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) microplastics, in aqueous solutions relevant to aquatic and soil environments. It was found that plastic properties, such as particle size, plasticizer content and aging of plastics had a great effect on the leaching of dibutyl phthalate (DnBP).

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Sulfide is one of the most abundant reductants in the subsurface environment, while pyrogenic carbon is a redox medium that widely exists in sulfide environment. Previous studies have found pyrogenic carbon can mediate the reductive degradation of organic pollutants under anoxic sulfide conditions; however, the scenario under oxic sulfide conditions has rarely been reported. In this study, we found that pyrogenic carbon can mediate hydroxyl radicals (OH) generation from sulfide oxidation under dark oxic conditions.

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Straw return-to-field is a common agronomic practice that would affect the physicochemical characteristics of the paddy soil and overlying water, but few studies have focused on the possible impacts of straw return on the conversion of pollutants. In this study, the photooxidation of As(III) in aqueous solution by straw-derived dissolved organic matter (S-DOM) was investigated. The results showed that dissolved organic matter derived from wheat straw (DOMws) and rape straw (DOMrs) exhibited good spectroscopic features and could efficiently oxidize As(III) under irradiation at pH 5.

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Persulfate (PS)-based oxidation technologies have been extensively employed for contaminant remediation, but the mechanisms of PS-mediated pollutant removal in soil under anaerobic conditions have not been fully explored. In this study, the degradation of DDTs (DDT and DDE) by thermally activated PS in a real contaminated soil was investigated. It was found that DDTs degradation could be achieved under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions, and anaerobic conditions were comparatively more efficient.

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Straw return, as an important agricultural management measure, is receiving growing attention. Hydroxyl radical (OH) can be produced when subsurface soil interacts with oxygen, but the effects of straw incorporation on OH formation have rarely been evaluated. In this study, we found that straw return had a significant effect on soil properties.

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Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid modified attapulgite (EDTA-ATP) was developed as a novel and promising adsorbent for removal of aqueous Cr(Ш). The structure and surface properties of EDTA-ATP were characterized and the results indicated that EDTA moieties have been successfully anchored on the surface of ATP. Adsorption of Cr(III) on EDTA-ATP and aminopropyl-modified attapulgite (APTES-ATP) monotonously reduced with decreasing pH, and Cr(III) adsorption on EDTA-ATP is substantially higher than APTES-ATP in tested pH range, especially at lower pH.

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This paper studied the quantitative characteristics of main tree species along a forest gap gradient (gap center-near gap center-gap border) of mixed broadleaved Korean pine forest in Xiaoxing'an Mountains, as well as the effects of forest gap size on the regeneration of the tree species. In forest gap, the density of shrub species was obviously larger than that in non-gap, and the density ratio of the same shrub species in forest gap to in non-gap ranged from 1.08 to 18.

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