Advancements in atmospheric water harvesting: toward continuous operation through mass transfer optimization.

Sorption-based atmospheric water harvesting (SAWH) offers a promising solution to global water scarcity. However, practical implementation is limited by discontinuities in the mass transfer process inside sorbents. This perspective reviews current SAWH technologies and introduces a new concept, mass transfer of SAWH (MT-SAWH), which ensures continuous water collection by facilitating the movement of water molecules within a fixed sorbent bed.

The Secchi disk depth to water depth ratio affects morphological traits of submerged macrophytes: Development patterns and ecological implications.

Water clarity, represented by Secchi disk depth (SD), and water depth (WD) alter bottom light availability, and SD/WD is critical for morphological trait development of submerged macrophytes in freshwater ecosystems. However, the underlying mechanism and trait development patterns of submerged macrophytes to a decreasing SD/WD gradient remains largely unknown. Here, we performed a 42-day mesocosm experiment with the erect type submerged macrophyte, Hydrilla verticillata, along a decreasing SD/WD gradient to study the relationship of morphological trait development with light availability, to determine the critical SD/WD at which changes in the development of morphological traits occur, and to gain insights into the potential mechanism involved.

Legacy persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in eggs of night herons and poultries from the upper Yangtze Basin, Southwest China.

Black-crowned night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) eggs have been identified as useful indicators for biomonitoring the environmental pollution in China. In this study, we investigated thirty eggs of black-crowned night heron collected from the upper Yangtze River (Changjiang) Basin, Southwest China, for the occurrence of legacy persistent organic pollutants (POPs), including polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs), organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). Our results showed a general presence of POPs in night heron eggs with OCPs being the dominant contaminants, having a geometric mean concentration of 22.

Degradation kinetics and formation of regulated and emerging disinfection by-products during chlorination of two expectorants ambroxol and bromhexine.

Ambroxol hydrochloride (AMB) and bromhexine hydrochloride (BRO) are classic expectorants and bronchosecretolytic pharmaceuticals. In 2022, both AMB and BRO were recommended by medical emergency department of China to alleviate cough and expectoration for symptoms caused by COVID-19. The reaction characteristics and mechanism of AMB/BRO with chlorine disinfectant in the disinfection process were investigated in this study.

The performance and mechanism of iron-mediated chemical oxidation: Advances in hydrogen peroxide, persulfate and percarbonate oxidation.

Many studies have successfully built iron-mediated materials to activate or catalyze Fenton-like reactions, with applications in water and wastewater treatment being investigated. However, the developed materials are rarely compared with each other regarding their performance of organic contaminant removal. In this review, the recent advances of Fenton-like processes in homogeneous and heterogeneous ways are summarized, especially the performance and mechanism of activators including ferrous iron, zero valent iron, iron oxides, iron-loaded carbon, zeolite, and metal organic framework materials.

Pulsed distribution of organotins in the turbidity maximum zone of the Yangtze Estuary throughout a tidal cycle.

This study investigated the concentration fluctuation of organotin compounds in the Turbidity Maximum Zone (TMZ) of the Yangtze Estuary within a tidal cycle. Organotin concentrations varied greatly during the tidal cycle with dissolved organotins ranged from 39 to 682 ng Sn·L and 40-1588 ng Sn·L, and particulate organotins ranged from 59 to 467 ng Sn·g dw and 21-429 ng Sn·g dw in TMZ water close to Hengsha Island and Jiuduansha Island, respectively. Meanwhile, the maximum levels of organotins appeared at each period of tidal transition, suggesting the tidal-driven pulsed exposure of organotins was prevalent in the estuaries.

Investigation of microplastic pollution in Arctic fjord water: a case study of Rijpfjorden, Northern Svalbard.

Microplastic contamination is an emerging issue in the marine environment including the Arctic. However, the occurrence of microplastics in the Arctic fjords remains less understood. Sample collections were conducted by trawling horizontally in surface water (0-0.

Fate, mobility, and pathogenicity of drinking water treatment plant resistomes deciphered by metagenomic assembly and network analyses.

Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) have been regarded as emerging environmental contaminants. The profile of resistome (collection of all ARGs) in drinking water and its fate during drinking water treatment remain unclear. This study applied metagenomic assembly combined with network analysis to decipher the profile, mobility, host, and pathogenicity of resistomes in two full-scale drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs), each applying conventional treatment and advanced treatment of ozonation followed by biological activated carbon filtration.

Enhanced coagulation for mitigation of disinfection by-product precursors: A review.

The unintended formation of disinfection by-products (DBPs) has received considerable attention as it may pose risks to human health. Coagulation is the most common process for removing particulates as well as dissolved organic matter (DOM) (i.e.

Catalytic hydrolysis: A novel role of zero-valent iron in haloacetonitrile degradation and transformation in unbuffered systems.

Efforts to remove highly toxic haloacetonitriles (HANs) is an important step to reduce health risks associated with disinfection by product exposure. Zero valent iron (ZVI) is a versatile material, whose reductant, sorbent and coagulant role has been well understood. However, their catalytic role is less known.

Removal of disinfection by-product precursors by Al-based coagulants: A comparative study on coagulation performance.

Coagulation is well-established for controlling regulated disinfection by-products (DBPs), but its effectiveness for controlling unregulated DBPs remains unclear. The efficiency of coagulation in controlling unregulated DBPs requires clarification owing to their relatively high toxicity. In this study, three Al-based coagulants, aluminum sulfate (Alum), polyaluminum chloride (PAC), and a novel type of covalently bond hybrid coagulant (CBC, synthesized using AlCl) were selected, and the coagulation performance of these Al-based coagulants in controlling DBPs and DBP-associated toxicity was compared over 5 classes of DBPs, including trihalomethanes, haloacetic acids, haloacetaldehydes, haloacetonitriles, and halonitromethanes.

Abiotic reductive removal of organic contaminants catalyzed by carbon materials: A short review.

Since the observation that carbon materials can facilitate electron transfer between reactants, there is growing literature on the abiotic reductive removal of organic contaminants catalyzed by them. Most of the interest in these processes arises from the participation of carbon materials in the natural transformation of contaminants and the possibility of developing new strategies for environmental treatment and remediation. The combinations of various carbon materials and reductants have been investigated for the reduction of nitro-organic compounds, halogenated organics, and azo dyes.

Simultaneous mitigation of disinfection by-product formation and odor compounds by peroxide/Fe(II)-based process: Combination of oxidation and coagulation.

To remove disinfection by-product (DBP) precursors and mitigate odor compounds, peroxide (peroxymonosulfate and persulfate)/Fe(II)-based process was applied as a combination of coagulation and oxidation. Compared with traditional Fe-based salt coagulation (FeSO and FeCl), peroxide/Fe(II)-based process was more efficient in dissolved organic carbon, UV and turbidity removal, and peroxymonosulfate showed better performance than persulfate. The better coagulation performance arose from a combination of enhanced neutralization and different characteristics of flocs.

Transformation of antiviral ribavirin during ozone/PMS intensified disinfection amid COVID-19 pandemic.

Due to the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), large amounts of antivirals were consumed and released into wastewater, posing risks to the ecosystem and human health. Ozonation is commonly utilized as pre-oxidation process to enhance the disinfection of hospital wastewater during COVID-19 spread. In this study, the transformation of ribavirin, antiviral for COVID-19, during ozone/PMS‑chlorine intensified disinfection process was investigated.

Degradation of tetrabromobisphenol A by ferrate(VI)-CaSO process: Kinetics, products, and impacts on following disinfection by-products formation.

Tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) is one of the most widely applied brominated flame retardants and has been widely detected in water environment, which might pose risks of brominated disinfection by-products formation in water treatment system. Ferrate(VI)-CaSO (Fe(VI)-CaSO) system could effectively degrade TBBPA at pH 7.0-9.

Potassium ferrate coupled with freezing method enhances methane production from sludge anaerobic digestion.

This study proposed a novel sludge pretreatment technology by combining freezing with potassium ferrate (PF) for synergistically enhancing the methane yield from sludge anaerobic digestion. Experimental results showed that the methane production was promoted from 170.1 ± 5.

Freezing pretreatment assists potassium ferrate to promote hydrogen production from anaerobic fermentation of waste activated sludge.

Anaerobic fermentation is an eco-friendly technology for waste activated sludge (WAS) treatment, during which resource recycle can be achieved. However, traditional sludge anaerobic fermentation is limited by the poor efficiency. We herein reported a novel high-efficiency technology by combining freezing with potassium ferrate (PF) for sludge pretreatment to promote hydrogen production from anaerobic fermentation.

Efficacy of electrochemical membrane bioreactor for virus removal from wastewater: Performance and mechanisms.

Wastewater treatment facilities play pivotal roles in preventing the transmission of water-borne viruses and protecting human health. In this study, a new electrochemical membrane bioreactor (EMBR) was proposed to achieve a long-lasting and efficient removal of virus from wastewater. Results showed that applying a low electric field (2.

Single-Atom Fe Catalyst Outperforms Its Homogeneous Counterpart for Activating Peroxymonosulfate to Achieve Effective Degradation of Organic Contaminants.

Recently, reactive iron species (RFeS) have shown great potential for the selective degradation of emerging organic contaminants (EOCs). However, the rapid generation of RFeS for the selective and efficient degradation of EOCs over a wide pH range is still challenging. Herein, we constructed FeN structures on a carbon nanotube (CNT) to obtain single-atom catalysts (Fe-N-CNT) to generate RFeS in the presence of peroxymonosulfate (PMS).

Simply closing the reactor improves the electron efficiency of zerovalent iron toward various metal(loid)s removal.

The controlled corrosion of zerovalent iron (ZVI) is crucial for the favorable performance of ZVI toward metal(loid)s removal, and dissolved oxygen (DO) plays an important role in the process of ZVI corrosion. However, few efforts have been made to control the concentration of DO in real practice. In this study, we found that the electron efficiency and the specific removal capacity of ZVI toward the removal of four metal(loid)s were increased by 1.

Enhanced Oxidation of Organic Contaminants by Mn(VII)/CaSO Under Environmentally Relevant Conditions: Performance and Mechanisms.

Although permanganate activation by sodium sulfite (Mn(VII)/NaSO) has shown great potential for rapid abatement of organic contaminants, the limited reactivity under alkaline conditions and undesirable Mn residual may prevent its widespread application. To solve these challenges, calcium sulfite (CaSO) was employed as a slow-release source of SO/HSO (S(IV)) to activate Mn(VII) in this study. It was found that the application of CaSO solid could extend the effective working pH range of Mn(VII)/S(IV) from ≤7.

Weak magnetic field enables high selectivity of zerovalent iron toward metalloid oxyanions under aerobic conditions.

For water treatment/remediation by zerovalent iron (ZVI), of particular concern is its selectivity toward contaminants over natural non-targets (e.g., O and HO/H).

Ultrasensitive detection of Cr(VI) (CrO/CrO) ions in water environment with a fluorescent sensor based on metal-organic frameworks combined with sulfur quantum dots.

Accurate, simple and quick detection methods for Cr(VI) detection are urgently needed for water quality monitoring. Herein, a novel and facile method of detecting Cr(VI) (CrO/CrO) ions is developed via the fluorescent detection technology based on metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) doped with sulfur quantum dots (SQDs) (SQDs@UiO-66-NH). The blue-light-emitting SQDs@UiO-66-NH composites exhibit excellent fluorescent properties in water environment with high quantum yield (68%) and ideal fluorescent stability, thus demonstrating excellent potential for serving as a chemical sensor.

Trace organic contaminants abatement by permanganate/bisulfite pretreatment coupled with conventional water treatment processes: Lab- and pilot-scale tests.

Bisulfite-activated permanganate (PM/BS) process has proven to be a promising method for trace organic contaminants (TrOCs) abatement. However, to our knowledge, most previous studies on PM/BS process were limited in synthetic water at lab-scale. Hence, the performance of TrOCs abatement by PM/BS process was investigated in real waters in this study, and for the first time, its feasibility as a pretreatment process was evaluated at pilot-scale.