Major contaminants of emerging concern in soils: a perspective on potential health risks.

Soil pollution by the contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) or emerging contaminants deserves attention worldwide because of their toxic health effects and the need for developing regulatory guidelines. Though the global soil burden by certain CECs is in several metric tons, the source-tracking of these contaminants in soil environments is difficult due to heterogeneity of the medium and complexities associated with the interactive mechanisms. Most CECs have higher affinities towards solid matrices for adsorption.

Plasmonic enhancement of aqueous processed organic photovoltaics.

Sodium tungsten bronze (Na WO) is a promising alternative plasmonic material to nanoparticulate gold due to its strong plasmonic resonances in both the visible and near-infrared (NIR) regions. Additional benefits include its simple production either as a bulk or a nanoparticle material at a relatively low cost. In this work, plasmonic Na WO nanoparticles were introduced and mixed into the nanoparticulate zinc oxide electron transport layer of a water processed poly(3-hexylthiophene):phenyl-C-butyric acid methyl ester (P3HT:PCBM) nanoparticle (NP) based organic photovoltaic device (NP-OPV).

Highly efficient and rapid removal of arsenic(iii) from aqueous solutions by nanoscale zero-valent iron supported on a zirconium 1,4-dicarboxybenzene metal-organic framework (UiO-66 MOF).

A zirconium 1,4-dicarboxybenzene metal-organic framework (UiO-66 MOF) was successfully used as a template to enhance the distribution and activity of nanoscale zero-valent iron (NZVI). MOF-NZVI showed good anti-interference ability to co-existing ions (Ca, Mn, Cu, HPO and SO ) and organic acids (oxalic acid and citric acid). SEM and TEM analyses indicated that the MOF as a support efficiently prevent NZVI from aggregation for quick and effective removal of As(iii).

Rapid synthesis of defective and composition-controlled metal chalcogenide nanosheets by supercritical hydrothermal processing.

This study presents a simple one-pot synthesis method to achieve few-layered and defective Mo(S,Se) and (Mo,W)S by using supercritical water with organic reducing agents from simple and less-toxic precursors. This synthesis process is expected to be suitable for preparing other various kinds of TMD solid solutions.

On peroxymonosulfate-based treatment of saline wastewater: when phosphate and chloride co-exist.

Both chloride and phosphate are common inorganic anions in industrial wastewater, however, their effects on peroxymonosulfate (PMS)-based oxidation systems are largely unknown. The present results show that addition of chloride (>1 mM) apparently enhanced the degradation of Acid Orange 7 (AO7) independent of the presence of phosphate (PBS) buffer. Both PBS and chloride favored the degradation of AO7, while PBS played a more important role when they co-existed.

What are the primary concerns of nursing students as they prepare for and contemplate their first clinical placement experience?

Nursing students' first clinical placement experience can be a critical turning point -reinforcing professional aspirations for some, and for others, a time of emotional turbulence. There is a paucity of research focusing on students' perceptions and concerns prior to their first placement experience. Thus, the aim of this study was to explore the concerns of first year bachelor of nursing students from one Australian university as they prepared for their first clinical placement.