Emission and burnt smell characteristics from combustion experiments with defined materials.

Typical burnt smell often results from fire accidents or in general from incomplete combustion. Recently, eleven compounds were identified, which are basically responsible for this odour. When analyzing residual materials from different fire accidents, the pattern that means the relative ratios of these compounds among each other varies strongly, although always causing a burnt smelling.

A basic tutorial on cyclic voltammetry for the investigation of electroactive microbial biofilms.

Electroactive microbial biofilms and the microorganisms embedded therein are not only of crucial fundamental interest because they play an important role in redox cycles that occur in nature, they are also attracting increasing attention as key component of microbial bioelectrochemcial systems (BES). In these systems, interconversion of chemical and electrical energy and the associated exchange of electrons between living microbial cells and solid electrodes take place. The fascinating prospects and promise of BES technology have considerably increased the research on electroactive microbial biofilms over recent years.

Laboratory tests on the impact of superabsorbent polymers on transformation and sorption of xenobiotics in soil taking 14C-imazalil as an example.

Due to water scarcity, the agricultural production in arid areas is dependent on a sustainable irrigation management. In order to optimize irrigation systems, the application of superabsorbent polymers (SAP) as soil amendments, frequently studied within the last years, may be an appropriate measure to enhance the water holding capacity and the plant-available water in poor arable soils. These persistent polymers are also able to reduce heavy metal and salt stress to crops by accumulating those inorganic compounds.

Risk posed by chlorinated organic compounds in Abu Qir Bay, East Alexandria, Egypt.

Introduction: In Egypt, the picture of threats to humans and the environment from the exposure to organic pollutants is still incomplete. Thus the objectives of this study were to assess the occurrence and distribution of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organochlorine pesticides, and chlorpyrifos in sediments and mussels of Abu Qir Bay and their risks for environment and human health.

Materials And Methods: Twenty-three different compounds organochlorines were determined in 20 surfacial sediment and 10 mussel samples by gas chromatography-electron capture detector.

Electroactive mixed culture derived biofilms in microbial bioelectrochemical systems: the role of pH on biofilm formation, performance and composition.

The pH-value played a crucial role for the development and current production of anodic microbial electroactive biofilms. It was demonstrated that only a narrow pH-window, ranging from pH 6 to 9, was suitable for growth and operation of biofilms derived from pH-neutral wastewater. Any stronger deviation from pH neutral conditions led to a substantial decrease in the biofilm performance.

Cyclic voltammetric analysis of the electron transfer of Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 and nanofilament and cytochrome knock-out mutants.

Shewanella is frequently used as a model microorganism for microbial bioelectrochemical systems. In this study, we used cyclic voltammetry (CV) to investigate extracellular electron transfer mechanisms from S. oneidensis MR-1 (WT) and five deletion mutants: membrane bound cytochrome (∆mtrC/ΔomcA), transmembrane pili (ΔpilM-Q, ΔmshH-Q, and ΔpilM-Q/ΔmshH-Q) and flagella (∆flg).

Subcritical water as reaction environment: fundamentals of hydrothermal biomass transformation.

Subcritical water, that is, water above the boiling and below critical point, is a unique and sustainable reaction medium. Based on its solvent properties, in combination with the often considerable intrinsic water content of natural biomass, it is often considered as a potential solvent for biomass processing. Current knowledge on biomass transformation in subcritical water is, however, still rather scattered without providing a consistent picture.

From MFC to MXC: chemical and biological cathodes and their potential for microbial bioelectrochemical systems.

Microbial fuel cells (MFC) are the archetype microbial bioelectrochemical system (BES), producing electricity from microbially catalyzed anodic oxidation processes. The greatest potential of MFC lies in the use of wastewater as a substrate (fuel), which allows combining waste treatment and energy recovery. Recently, a development has been initiated that expands the scope of these bioelectrochemical systems from power generation to an increasing number of further applications.

Electroactive mixed culture biofilms in microbial bioelectrochemical systems: the role of temperature for biofilm formation and performance.

In this paper we investigate the temperature dependence and temperature limits of waste water derived anodic microbial biofilms. We demonstrate that these biofilms are active in a temperature range between 5°C and 45°C. Elevated temperatures during initial biofilm growth not only accelerate the biofilm formation process, they also influence the bioelectrocatalytic performance of these biofilms when measured at identical operation temperatures.