Promoting defect formation and inhibiting hydrogen evolution by S-doping NiFe layered double hydroxide for electrocatalytic reduction of nitrate to ammonia.

Activation of HO cleavage for H* production by defect engineering eliminates the insufficient supply of protons in the NORR process under neutral conditions. However, it remains challenging to precisely control the defect formation for optimizing the equilibrium between H* production and H* binding. Here, we propose a strategy to boost defect generation through S-doping induced NiFe-LDH lattice distortion, and successfully optimize the balance of H* production and binding.

Sustainable and ultrafast antibiotics removal, self-cleaning and disinfection with electroactive metal-organic frameworks/carbon nanotubes membrane.

Although conventional nanofiltration (NF) membrane is widely applied in water treatment, it faces the challenges of insufficient selectivity toward emerging contaminants, low permeability and non-sustainable fouling control. Herein, a novel electroactive metal-organic frameworks/carbon nanotubes membrane was constructed by facile and green nanobubbles-mediated non-solvent-induced phase separation (NIPS) strategy for ultrafast antibiotics removal. It presented 3-fold to 100-fold higher permeability (101.

Enhanced Selective Electrosorption of Nitrate from Wastewater by Controllably Doping Nitrogen into Porous Carbon with Micropores.

The biological NO removal process might be accompanied by high CO emissions and operation costs. Capacitive deionization (CDI) has been widely studied as a very efficient method to purify water. Here, a porous carbon material with a tunable nitrogen configuration was developed.

MOF-Derived Ni/ZIF-8/ZnO Arrays on Carbon Fiber Cloth for Efficient Adsorption-Catalytic Oxidation.

The catalytic oxidation of toxic organic pollutants in water requires enhanced efficiency for commercial applications. A ZnO nanorod array grown on a carbon fiber cloth (CFC) serves as the zinc source to ensure that the Ni/ZIF-8/ZnO nanoreactor is constructed. The Ni/ZIF-8/ZnO/CFC nanoreactor efficiently activates peroxymonosulfate (PMS) for bisphenol A (BPA) degradation owing to its high density of active sites, high adsorbability, and dispersibility structure, which concentrates catalytic and adsorptive sites within a confined space.

Renewable Adsorbents for Selective Phosphorus Removal: Co(OH)-Derived ZIF-67 on Anion Exchange Resin.

Metal organic framework (MOF)-based adsorbents are appealing for removing low-concentration phosphates with interfering ions in wastewater purification, a new strategy developed to maintain the good activity of metal sites. Here, ZIF-67 was immobilized onto the porous surface of anion exchange resin (D-201) with a high loading amount of 22.0 wt % by a modifiable Co(OH) template.

Heterogeneous Fe-Co dual-atom catalyst outdistances the homogeneous counterpart for peroxymonosulfate-assisted water decontamination: New surface collision oxidation path and diatomic synergy.

Heterogeneous catalysts lag far behind their homogeneous counterparts in activating peroxymonosulfate (PMS) for water decontamination due to the low site intrinsic activity and sluggish mass transfer. The single-atom catalyst can bridge the gap between heterogeneous and homogeneous catalysts, but the difficulty to break scaling relations originating from the site monotony restricts further efficiency upgradation. Herein through modulating the crystallinity of NH-UIO-66, a porous carbon support with ultrahigh surface area (1721.

Protein-folding-inspired approach for UF fouling mitigation using elevated membrane cleaning temperature and residual hydrophobic-modified flocculant after flocculation-sedimentation pre-treatment.

Hydrophobic-modified flocculants have demonstrated considerable promise in the removal of emerging contaminants by flocculation. However, there is a lack of information about the impacts of dosing such flocculants on the performance of subsequent treatment unit(s) in the overall water treatment process. In this work, inspired by the ubiquitous protein folding phenomenon, an innovative approach using an elevated membrane cleaning temperature as the means to induce residual hydrophobic-modified chitosan flocculant (TRC), after flocculation-sedimentation, to reduce membrane fouling in a subsequent ultrafiltration was proposed; this was evaluated in a continuous flocculation-sedimentation-ultrafiltration (FSUF) process treating samples of the Yangtze River.

Enhanced removal of trace pesticides and alleviation of membrane fouling using hydrophobic-modified inorganic-organic hybrid flocculants in the flocculation-sedimentation-ultrafiltration process for surface water treatment.

Pesticide concentrations in surface water occasionally exceed regulated values due to seasonal events (rainy season in high intensity agricultural areas) or intermittent discharges (leakage, spillage, or other emergency events). The need to remove pesticide compounds in these situations poses a challenge for drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs). In this work, the performance of dosing hydrophobic-modified inorganic-organic hybrid flocculants (HOC-M; lower acute toxicity than corresponding metal salt coagulants; acceptable economic costs when M=Al or Fe; prepared in large-scale quantities), for the removal of four different pesticides (each initial concentration: 0.

Defective MOFs-based electrocatalytic self-cleaning membrane for wastewater reclamation: Enhanced antibiotics removal, membrane fouling control and mechanisms.

In order to resolve the poor antibiotics rejection and serious fouling of ultrafiltration (UF) membrane during municipal wastewater reclamation, a novel anodic membrane (defective UiO-66 (D-UiO-66)/Graphite/Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)) with high pure water flux (596.1 L•h  •m  •bar) was fabricated by incorporating defective zirconium based metal-organic framework (D-UiO-66) and conductive graphite particles into PVDF matrix and applied in the coupling of electro-oxidation and membrane filtration process. Compared to the other anodic membranes (i.

Influence of DOM characteristics on the flocculation removal of trace pharmaceuticals in surface water by the successive dosing of alum and moderately hydrophobic chitosan.

Hydrophobically-modified chitosan (HC) has emerged as a promising flocculant for trace pharmaceutical removal from surface water. However, the variation in the characteristics of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in different water sources influences the efficacy of HC in removing pharmaceutical compounds. In this work, the flocculation performance of sequentially dosing alum and HC (alum+HC) for the treatment of five water types (three synthetic waters, and samples of two real waters collected from the Yangtze River and the Thames River), having different DOM and five representative pharmaceuticals (initial concentration: 100 ng/L), was assessed by bench-scale jar tests.

Improved utilization of active sites for phosphorus adsorption in FeOOH/anion exchanger nanocomposites via a glycol-solvothermal synthesis strategy.

Metal oxide/hydroxide-based nanocomposite adsorbents with porous supporting matrices have been recognized as efficient adsorbents for phosphorus recovery. Aiming at satisfying increasingly restrictive environmental requirements involving improving metal site utilization and lowering metal leakage risk, a glycol-solvothermal confined-space synthesis strategy was proposed for the fabrication of FeOOH/anion exchanger nanocomposites (Fe/900s) with enhanced metal site utilization and reduced metal leakage risk. Compared to composites prepared using alkaline precipitation methods, Fe/900s performed comparably, with a high adsorption capacity of 19.

Up-regulation of ribosomal and carbon metabolism proteins enhanced pyrene biodegradation in fulvic acid-induced biofilm system.

The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) that enter the aqueous phase usually coexist with fulvic acid (FA). Therefore, we initiated this investigation to explore the influences of FA on bacterial biofilm formation and its potential to biodegrade pyrene (PYR), using electron microscopic techniques and isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification (iTRAQ). Our results revealed that FA stimulated biofilm formation and enhanced the biodegradation of PYR.

Effect of γ-FeO nanoparticles on the composition of montmorillonite and its sorption capacity for pyrene.

Fe content and distribution on montmorillonite would probably enhance its sorption capacity for hydrophobic organic pollutants. Thus, Fe modified montmorillonites with different ratios of FeSO·7HO and Ca-montmorillonite were prepared. The results indicated that γ-FeO nanoparticles were not only generated at the montmorillonite surfaces, but that the γ-FeO also extended the edges of montmorillonite surfaces.

Humic acid enhanced pyrene degradation by Mycobacterium sp. NJS-1.

The search for nature-based tools to enhance bioremediation is essential for the sustainable restoration of contaminated ecosystems. Humic acid (HA) is an important component of organic matter in soil and water, but its effect on the microbial degradation of organic pollutants remains unclear. In this study, the biodegradation of pyrene by Mycobacterium sp.

Co-utilization of lake sediment and blue-green algae for porous lightweight aggregate (ceramsite) production.

Lake sediment and algal sludge with large output posed significant environmental risks. In this work, an idea of co-utilization of both solid wastes for the production of ceramsite (a sort of porous lightweight aggregates as building materials) was proposed and validated for the first time. The treatment process contained a dewatering step by a flocculation-pressure filtration method, and a sintered ceramsite preparation step.

Hydrophobic-modified metal-hydroxide nanoflocculants enable one-step removal of multi-contaminants for drinking water production.

Flocculation is a mainstream technology for the provision of safe drinking water but is limited due to the ineffectiveness of conventional flocculants in removing trace low-molecular-weight emerging contaminants. We described a synthesis strategy for the development of high-performance nanoflocculants (hydrophobic-organic-chain-modified metal hydroxides [HOC-M]), imitating surfactant-assembling nano-micelles, by integration of long hydrophobic chains with traditional inorganic metal (Fe/Al/Ti)-based flocculants. The core-shell nanostructure was highly stable in acidic stock solution and transformed to meso-scale coagulation nuclei in real surface water.

Full-scale thermophilic aerobic co-composting of blue-green algae sludge with livestock faeces and straw.

A high incidence of harmful algal bloom in eutrophic surface waters causes many environmental problems. Thermophilic aerobic composting enables effective treatment and disposal of algal sludge that remains after the dewatering of algae slurries, and provides a value-added organic fertiliser. Previous studies have either only dealt with the composting of a single waste component or were conducted at a lab-/pilot-scale; however, this work is a comprehensive assessment of full-scale mechanized thermophilic aerobic co-composting of algal sludge and other typical biomass-based wastes, including chicken faeces and rice straw, in a water-rich rural area in the Tai lake basin, China.

Role of moderately hydrophobic chitosan flocculants in the removal of trace antibiotics from water and membrane fouling control.

In this paper we describe the preparation and testing of a new class of chitosan-based flocculants for the treatment of surface waters containing antibiotic compounds. Three forms of moderately hydrophobic chitosan flocculants (MHCs) were prepared by chemically grafting hydrophobic branches with different lengths onto hydrophilic chitosan and these were evaluated by jar tests and a bench-scale continuous flow ultrafiltration (UF) membrane process with coagulation/sedimentation pre-treatment. Tests were conducted using both synthetic and real surface water in which norfloxacin and tylosin were added as representative antibiotics at an initial concentration of 0.

Pilot-scale composting of typical multiple agricultural wastes: Parameter optimization and mechanisms.

In this work, pilot-scale (100 kg of mixed wastes each time) composting of typical agricultural wastes, including chicken manure, vegetable leaves and rice husks with a mass ratio of 6:3:1, was studied. Effects of thermal phases and transformation time on performance, including moisture, nutrient, and carbon contents and C/N ratios of compost, were investigated. The optimal parameters were 75 ± 5 °C and 18 h; the compost met the requirements of Chinese National Agricultural Organic Fertilizer Standard (NY525-2012).

Norfloxacin and Bisphenol-A Removal Using Temperature-Switchable Graphene Oxide.

Graphene oxide (GO) is a competitive candidate used for adsorption of emerging organic contaminants (EOCs) from water. To overcome GO's spontaneous aggregation tendency in adsorption and to ease contaminant desorption from the adsorbent for adsorbent regeneration, a modified GO (P-GO), with temperature-switchable hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity, obtained by grafting temperature-responsive poly( N- n-propylacrylamide) was proposed. Two model EOCs, norfloxacin (NOR) and bisphenol A (BPA), with distinct hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity were employed.

Separation and Sequential Recovery of Tetracycline and Cu(II) from Water Using Reusable Thermoresponsive Chitosan-Based Flocculant.

Coexistence of antibiotics and heavy metals is typically detected in water containing both organic and inorganic contaminants. In this work, a flocculation method using a reusable thermoresponsive chitosan-based flocculant (CS-g-PNNPAM) was applied for separation and sequential recovery of tetracycline (TC) and Cu(II) from water. High synergistic removal rates of both TC and Cu(II) from water (>90%) were reached.

Interactions between Antibiotics and Graphene-Based Materials in Water: A Comparative Experimental and Theoretical Investigation.

Complex interactions between antibiotics and graphene-based materials determine both the adsorption performance of graphene-based materials and the transport behaviors of antibiotics in water. In this work, such interactions were investigated through adsorption experiments, instrumental analyses and theoretical DFT calculations. Three typical antibiotics (norfloxacin (NOR), sulfadiazine (SDZ) and tetracycline (TC)) and different graphene-based materials (divided into two groups: graphene oxides-based ones (GOs) and reduced GOs (RGOs)) were employed.