Calcium silicate hydrate complex konjac glucomannan-based hydrogel selectively adsorbed phosphate in low alkalinity solution.

The selective recovery of phosphate from wastewater can manage nutrients and realize the recycling of phosphorus resources. In this study, a novel konjac glucomannan/pectin/calcium silicate composite hydrogel (KP-CSH) was developed for efficient recovery of phosphate in aqueous solution. The amount of alkali released after the reaction of KP-CSH in a neutral solution was small (the pH of the solution after the reaction was < 9).

Eco-friendly hydrogel based on locust bean gum for water retaining in sandy soil.

Sandy soils are suffering from water loss and desertification, which severely restrict the development of local agriculture. In this work, an eco-friendly hydrogel composed of borax and locust bean gum was synthesized to enhance the water retention capacity of sandy soil and support agricultural development in arid regions. Locust bean gum/borax hydrogel with a 3D network structure exhibited great water-absorbing capacity (130.

Bioprotective Respirator Assembled by Defective Carbon Nitride for Long-Term Light Triggered Health Protection.

Wearing face masks is the best way to stop the spread of respiratory infections. However, if masks are not sterilized, changing them too frequently can actually increase the risk of cross-contamination. Herein, the construction of an antipathogen photocatalytic mask with carbon vacancy-modified carbon nitride nanosheets (g-CN-V Ns) coated on the non-woven fabrics of the out layer of the mask, offering effective and long-term protection against damaging pathogens when exposed to light is reported.

Efficient activation of peroxymonosulfate by CoMgMn-LDO for the degradation of orange Ⅱ: The important synergy of Mg.

Advanced oxidation process (AOP) based on peroxymonosulfate (PMS) has aroused extensive discussion in the degradation of organic pollutants due to the strong oxidative ability of SO. Great attention has been paid to developing transition metal catalysts for PMS activation. Still, few studies focused on the co-catalysis effect of non-redox metals.

Konjac glucomannan/pectin/Ca-Mg hydrogel with self-releasing alkalinity to recover phosphate in aqueous solution.

The combination of polysaccharides can obtain stable, degradable, and environmentally friendly hydrogels, which have broad application prospects in adsorbents assembly. With Ca and Mg as crosslinkers, a new pectin/Konjac glucomannan/Ca-Mg composite hydrogel was prepared for phosphate adsorption by the alkali-thermal co-reaction method. Since Mg(OH) can create a suitable pH condition for phosphate adsorption by Ca, Ca and Mg synergistically promoted phosphate adsorption and remained stable in the pH range of 4 to 10.

Comments on "Facilely synthesized cobalt doped hydroxyapatite as hydroxyl promoted peroxymonosulfate activator for degradation of Rhodamine B".

In recent years, researchers have devoted themselves to developing composites containing cobalt as highly active heterogeneous catalysts of persulfate. Most of them reported that the catalytic degradation processes of organic pollutants were accompanied by the leaching of cobalt ions, but only a few studies considered the contribution of the dissolved cobalt ion to the degradation of organic compounds. A research paper in Journal of Hazardous Materials reported a study on synthesis, application and catalytic mechanisms of cobalt doped hydroxyapatite (Co-HAP) for Rhodamine B (RhB) degradation.

Effects of overwintering cyanobacteria on phosphorus and iron regeneration across the sediment-water interface: A pilot simulation experiment.

Cyanobacterial blooms are a major environmental problem in eutrophic reservoirs in China. Algal cells can migrate to the sediment surface in winter and maintain biological activity, which could further affect the cycling process of sediment phosphorus (P) and iron (Fe). In this study, a pilot simulation experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of overwintering cyanobacteria (Owc) on P and Fe regeneration across the sediment-water interface (SWI).

Unveiling interactions of norfloxacin with microplastic in surface water by 2D FTIR correlation spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses.

Microplastics (MPs) has shown adsorption of hydrophilic organic matters (HOMs) in aqueous environments. However, it is still difficult to predict the adsorption behaviors of HOMs by different MPs, especially in authentic water systems. In this study, the adsorption behaviors and mechanisms of norfloxacin (NOR) onto polyamide (PA) MPs were investigated in both simulated and real surface water.

Effects of intercropping ryegrass with hollyhock and inoculation with Bacillus thuringiensis on enhancing phytoremediation of Cd-contaminated soils.

Cd is a heavy metal that contaminates soils. These kinds of heavy metals pose a serious threat to food security, ecosystems, and human health. To improve the phytoremediation efficiency of moderately Cd-contaminated cropland soils and achieve simultaneous production and remediation, intercropping ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.

Nitrogen addition may promote soil organic carbon storage and CO emission but reduce dissolved organic carbon in Zoige peatland.

With the increase of nitrogen (N) deposition, N input can affect soil C cycling since microbes may trigger a series of activities to balance the supply and demand of nutrients. However, as one of the largest C sinks on earth, the role of extra N addition in affecting peatland soil C and its potential mechanism remains unclear and debated. Therefore, this study chose the largest peatland in China (i.

Tetracycline adsorption trajectories on aged polystyrene in a simulated aquatic environment: A mechanistic investigation.

Microplastics (MPs) have attracted widespread attention as an organic class of pollutants as well as pollutant carriers in recipient aquatic ecosystems. In this study, tetracycline (TC) adsorption by polystyrene (PS), with multiple aging-based temporal changes in the adsorption mechanism, was observed. The results revealed that the pseudo-second-order model accurately predicted the TC adsorption kinetics for different types of PS.

The silicon active sites driven by oxygen vacancies in iron silicate for activating peroxymonosulfate.

Most metal sites and some non-metallic sites such as carbon and nitrogen are usually considered to be traditional active sites during peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation. However, as an important non-metallic element, the actual role of silicon (Si) in PMS activation still remains unclear. In this work, taking iron silicate (FeSi) as an example, the role of the Si region in PMS activation was clearly revealed.

Self-generated peroxyacetic acid in phosphoric acid plus hydrogen peroxide pretreatment mediated lignocellulose deconstruction and delignification.

Background: Peroxyacetic acid involved chemical pretreatment is effective in lignocellulose deconstruction and oxidation. However, these peroxyacetic acid are usually artificially added. Our previous work has shown that the newly developed PHP pretreatment (phosphoric acid plus hydrogen peroxide) is promising in lignocellulose biomass fractionation through an aggressive oxidation process, while the information about the synergistic effect between HPO and HO is quite lack, especially whether some strong oxidant intermediates is existed.

Synthesis of a novel anti-fog and high-transparent coating with high wear resistance inspired by dry rice fields.

During the outbreak of COVID-19, the fogging of goggles was a fatal problem for doctors. At present, there are many ways to prevent fogging by adjusting surface wettability. However, the mechanical properties of most super-hydrophilic antifogging coatings are poor, easy to lose their antifogging properties when encountering fingers or cloth friction.

Distribution of microplastics in the sludge of wastewater treatment plants in chengdu, China.

Large amounts of microplastics can accumulate in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), and sludge disposal is suspected to be a major source of microplastics pollution in the environment. It is therefore important to investigate the distribution of microplastics in the sludge of each processing unit of WWTPs. However, little information is available on this topic in China.

The fate of antibiotic resistance genes and their influential factors during excess sludge composting in a full-scale plant.

The alteration of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) during sludge composting has been less studied in a full-scale plant, causing the miss of practical implications for understanding/managing ARGs. Therefore, this study tracked the changes of ARGs and microbial communities in a full-scale plant engaged in excess sludge composting and then explored the key factors regulating ARGs through a series of analyses. After composting, the absolute and relative abundance of ARGs decreased by 91.

Insights into lignocellulosic waste fractionation for lignin nanospheres fabrication using acidic/alkaline deep eutectic solvents.

Facile fractionation of lignocellulosic waste into useable forms is essential to achieve a multi-product treatment process especially when the resulting lignin streams are expected for high-value materials valorization. Despite acidic/alkaline deep eutectic solvents (DESs) are promising solvents for lignocellulosic waste fractionation, there is little information about their differences in the fractionation and lignin extraction profiles. In this work, four DESs that were cataloged to acidic types (formic acid-choline chloride, lactic acid-choline chloride) and alkaline types (monoethanolamine-choline chloride, glycerol-KCO) were investigated to compare their abilities of bamboo waste fractionation.

Mechanistic insight into different adsorption of norfloxacin on microplastics in simulated natural water and real surface water.

Microplastics (MPs) as carriers of various contaminants have attracted more attentions in water environments. However, the interactions between typical MPs and norfloxacin (NOR) in natural water environments were still not systematically studied. In this study, the adsorption of NOR onto four typical types of MPs (polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), and polyvinyl chloride (PVC)) was investigated in simulated natural water and real surface water, and the adsorption mechanisms were deeply explored to provide fundamental understandings of the MPs-NOR complicated pollution.

Highly efficient removal of phosphorus from agricultural runoff by a new akadama clay barrier-vegetated drainage ditch system (VDD) and its mechanism.

A vegetated drainage ditch (VDD) system is an effective management practice for removing excess phosphorus (P) from agricultural runoff. However, the maximization of P removing efficiency by VDD remains a challenge. In this study, new VDDs with akadama clay barriers (particle size of clay: 1-6 mm; height of barrier: 5-15 cm and length of barrier: 10-90 cm) were designed in lab scale, and the mechanism of phosphate removal by akadama clay was investigated.

3-D hierarchical porous carbon from oxidized lignin by one-step activation for high-performance supercapacitor.

To convert lignin into high-valued carbon materials and understand the lignin structure function, oxidized lignin, a by-product from lignocellulose PHP-pretreatment (phosphoric acid plus hydrogen peroxide), was carbonized by one-step KOH-activation; the physico-chemical characteristics and electrochemical performances of the harvested carbons were also investigated. Results indicated the resultant carbons displayed 3-dimensional hierarchical porous morphology with maximum specific surface area of 3094 m g and pore volume of 1.72 cm g using 3:1 KOH/lignin ratio for carbonization.

Photonic TiO photoelectrodes for environmental protections: Can color be used as a quick selection indicator for photoelectrocatalytic performance?

Colored photonic TiO photoelectrodes have been prepared by a simple anodizing-annealing method. Traditionally, the photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) properties of the film are obtained by measuring the actual decomposition of organic pollutants under ultraviolet or visible light, which may take tens of minutes or even hours. Here, through the combined analysis of the apparent features and PEC properties, we found that the structure would affect the color and optical performance, and the films with different colors showed different PEC performance.

Phosphate recovery and simultaneous nitrogen removal from urine by electrochemically induced struvite precipitation.

The direct discharge of urine into water bodies leads to environmental pollution, and an increase in the water treatment cost, whereas recycling of the nutrients in urine is of significant economic value. A single-compartment reactor was investigated for the recycling of phosphate and simultaneous removal of nitrogen from urine wastewater by electrochemical magnesium induction, and electrochemical oxidation for the removal of residual nitrogen from the supernatant. The results demonstrated that phosphate recovery capacity was greater than 11 mg P cm h at a current density of 15 m A cm and anodizing time of 20 min; the removal rates of ammonium and total nitrogen in the synchronous electrochemical oxidation were 80% and 75%, respectively, at a current density of 45 m A cm and anodizing time of 60 min.

Why can hydrothermally pretreating lignocellulose in low severities improve anaerobic digestion performances?

A lignocellulosic residue, rice straw, was hydrothermally pretreated for the whole slurry anaerobic digestion. In contrast to the unpretreated rice straw, 110-120 °C pretreatment promoted biogas yield by 35%-38%, while only 14% promotion happened on the pretreatment at 180 °C. To understand why this improvement happened at lower severities, the pretreated rice straw at 90 °C, 120 °C, and 180 °C were selected for the further investigation, in which the liquor and solid fraction were separated for digestion, and compared with the whole slurry digestion.

Pretreatment of Wheat Straw with Phosphoric Acid and Hydrogen Peroxide to Simultaneously Facilitate Cellulose Digestibility and Modify Lignin as Adsorbents.

Effective valorization of lignin is crucial to achieve a sustainable, economic and competitive biorefinery of lignocellulosic biomass. In this work, an integrated process was proposed based on a concentrated phosphoric acid plus hydrogen peroxide (PHP) pretreatment to simultaneously facilitate cellulose digestibility and modify lignin as adsorbent. As a dominant constitutor of PHP pretreatment, HO input and its influence on the overall fractionation/lignin modification performance was thoroughly investigated.