Publications by authors named "Jinzhi Ni"

Article Synopsis
  • BPS-DOM can interact with PAHs, affecting their environmental behavior, but the details of this interaction are not fully understood.
  • The study investigates how different molecular types within BPS-DOM bind to PAHs like phenanthrene and pyrene using advanced analytical techniques.
  • The findings reveal that CHO compounds enhance PAH binding through strong interactions, while CHON compounds hinder it, suggesting that the molecular structure is key to understanding these complex interactions.
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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the environmental impact of smoke-derived dissolved organic matter (BBS-DOM) from biomass burning, particularly its interaction with heavy metals like Cu(II) in wildfire regions.
  • Various plant materials (alfalfa, pinewood, corn straw) were burned at two temperatures, and advanced techniques were used to analyze how different organic components in BBS-DOM bind to Cu(II).
  • Findings reveal a hierarchy of binding capacities among organic components, with polyphenols showing the strongest interaction, and highlight that Cu(II) can increase the molecular size and complexity of BBS-DOM, enhancing its environmental effects.
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The deposition of biomass-burning smoke water-soluble organic matter (BBS-WSOM) significantly affects the environmental behavior of heavy metals in aqueous environments. However, the interactions between BBS-WSOM and heavy metals at the molecular level remain unknown. This study combined FT-ICR-MS, fluorescence spectrum, FTIR, and two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy to anatomize the molecular characteristics of BBS-WSOM binding with Cd(II).

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The environmental effects of biochar-derived organic carbon (BDOC) have attracted increasing attention. Nevertheless, it is unknown how BDOC might affect the natural attenuation of widely distributed chloroalkanes (e.g.

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Biomass burning (e.g., wildfire) frequently occurs globally, inevitably produces abundant biomass-burning smoke-derived dissolved organic matters (BBS-DOMs) which eventually deposits on the surface environment.

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Considerable efforts that isolate and characterize degrading bacteria for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have focused on contaminated environments so far. Here we isolated three distinctive pyrene (PYR)-degrading bacteria from a paddy soil that was not contaminated with PAHs. These included a novel Bacillus sp.

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Biochar as an effective adsorbent can be used for the removal of triclocarban from wastewater. Biochar-derived dissolved organic carbon (BC-DOC) is an important carbonaceous component of biochar, nonetheless, its role in the interaction between biochar and triclocarban remains little known. Hence, in this study, sixteen biochars derived from pine sawdust and corn straw with different physico-chemical properties were produced in nitrogen-flow and air-limited atmospheres at 300-750 °C, and investigated the effect of BC-DOC on the interaction between biochar and triclocarban.

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In the post-COVID-19 era, extensive quantities of antipyretic drugs are being haphazardly released from households into the environment, which may pose potential risks to ecological systems and human health. Identification of the mobility behaviors of these compounds in the subsurface environment is crucial to understand the environmental fate of these common contaminants. The mobility properties of three broad-spectrum antipyretic drugs, including ibuprofen (IBF), indometacin (IMC), and acetaminophen (APAP), in porous soil media, were investigated in this study.

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Vegetation fire frequently occurs globally and produces two types of water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) including black carbon WSOC (BC-WSOC) and smoke-WSOC, they will eventually enter the surface environment (soil and water) and participate in the eco-environmental processes on the earth surface. Exploring the unique features of BC-WSOC and smoke-WSOC is critical and fundamental for understanding their eco-environmental effects. Presently, their differences from the natural WSOC of soil and water remain unknown.

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Biomass-pyrogenic smoke-derived dissolved organic matter (SDOMs) percolating into the underground environment profoundly impacts the transport and fate of environmental pollutants in groundwater systems. Herein, SDOMs were produced by pyrolyzing wheat straw at 300-900 °C to explore their transport properties and effects on Cu mobility in quartz sand porous media. The results indicated that SDOMs exhibited high mobility in saturated sand.

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Biochar-derived dissolved organic carbon (BDOC), as a highly activated carbonaceous fraction of biochar, significantly affects the environmental effect of biochar. This study systematically investigated the differences in the properties of BDOC produced at 300-750 °C in three atmosphere types (including N and CO flows and air limitation) as well as their quantitative relationship with biochar properties. The results showed that BDOC in biochar pyrolyzed in air limitation (0.

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Biochar-derived water-soluble organic carbon (BWSOC) plays important roles in the environmental effect of biochar. The environmental behavior and fate of BWSOC are closely related to its size distribution and chemical components. However, the molecular size-dependent BWSOC components and properties remain little known.

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Presently, as the prevalent pyrolysis atmospheres, N is widely used, while air-limitation and CO are rarely considered, to produce biochar to adsorb tetracycline. This study thus used N, CO, and air-limitation to produce various biochars at 300 ∼ 750 °C, and explored their structure-performance relationship for tetracycline sorption. The maximum sorption capacities of biochars produced in CO and air-limitation were 55.

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Biochar-derived dissolved organic carbon (BDOC) and smoke-derived dissolved organic carbon (SDOC) are two different biomass-pyrogenic DOCs. They inevitably enter soil and water, then potentially pose different impacts on the chemistry of these media. This study systemically investigated the emissions and spectral characteristics of BDOC and SDOC as well as their differences from natural DOC.

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This study systemically investigated the characteristics of biochars derived from thermo-conversion of pine sawdust and wheat straw in air-limitation, CO, and N atmospheres at the temperatures of 300-750 °C. Meanwhile, their energy and C stability parameters were also evaluated here. The results showed that biochar produced in air-limitation had less yield, fixed C and bulk C, as well as more volatile matter and inorganic elements than that produced in CO and N.

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Dissolved organic carbon derived from biomass-pyrogenic smoke (SDOC) can be transported and deposited with atmospheric aerosols, enter aqueous environments, and possibly alter aqueous chemistry and quality. However, the characteristics of SDOC in aqueous environments and their effects on the fate of hydrophobic organic pollutants are poorly understood. In this study, we found that the emitted SDOC is 7.

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Biochar is a highly effective adsorbent for nitroaromatic compounds (NACs), and acts as an electron shuttle that mediates the reduction of NACs. Hence, when biochar is used to mediate NAC reduction, adsorption and reduction will occur simultaneously and affect each other. However, the effect of biochar-mediated NAC reduction on sorption remains unknown.

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The different effects of nitrogen-flow (NF) and air-limitation (AL) pyrolysis on the characteristics and nutrient retention of biochars (BCs) are unclear. Hence, in this study, BCs derived from bamboo, corn straw, and wheat straw were produced in AL and NF atmospheres at various temperatures (300-750 °C), and their different characteristics and nutrient retention rates were compared systematically. Nitrogen-flow pyrolysis facilitates C retention and graphitic C formation, and AL pyrolysis improves the polarity and supports the formation of oxygen-containing groups.

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Biochar is composed of carbonaceous and inorganic (ash) fractions. The structural properties of carbonaceous fractions and the composition of ash in biochar are both variable with pyrolysis temperature. However, it is unknown whether ash may play different roles in sorption of organic compounds to the carbonaceous fraction of biochars produced at different temperatures.

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A crucial mechanism for the application of biochar in soil improvement is the direct release of nutrients from biochar. Low molecular weight organic acids (LMWOAs) ubiquitously exist in soil. However, the mechanism of LMWOAs-mediated release of nutrients from biochars remains little known.

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The contents and sources of 15 US EPA priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were analyzed in 59 surface soil samples (0-10 cm depth) collected from six functional zones, including cultural and educational area, park, residential area, vegetable garden, gas station, and industrial area, in Yangzhou City. The toxicity equivalent content of benzo[a]pyrene (TEQ) was adopted to assess PAH risks in soils. The results showed that the contents of Σ15PAHs in soil samples ranged from 21 to 36118 μg·kg, with a median value of 295 μg·kg.

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Advantages for biochars used in soil improvement have been proposed to their nutrients release and sorption characteristics which strongly depend on their production conditions. N-flow and air-limited pyrolysis are two different widely-applied oxygen-limited pyrolysis methods for producing biochars, however, their different effects on nutrients release and sorption characteristics of biochars remains unknown. In this study, bamboo derived biochars pyrolyzed in N-flow (BC-N) and air-limited environments (BC-Air) at the temperature of 150~750 °C were used to compare the release and sorption of nitrogen and phosphorous nutrients.

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Currently, it is still lack of systematic and in-depth knowledge regarding the co-effect of carbon-based fractions and ash in the sorption behavior of biochars. Therefore, pristine wood-derived biochars (PBCs) produced at different temperatures and their corresponding de-ashed versions (DBCs) were used to determine the roles of carbon's morphological structure and ash in sorption of aromatic compounds (toluene, m-toluidine, and m-nitrotoluene) to biochars. The results showed that biochars produced at 300-400 °C (mainly uncarbonized organic matter, UCOM) and 900 °C (turbostratic carbon, TC) may have stronger partition effect and pore filling effect with π-π interaction, respectively, and thus have greater sorption coefficients (Lg K) than biochars produced at 600 °C (pyrogenic amorphous carbon, PAC), which are probably dominated by surface hydrophobic effect.

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Ash in biochar has great influence on the characteristics of biochars. This study systematically compared the differences in physico-chemical properties between pristine biochars (PBCs) and deashed biochars (DBCs) produced at different temperatures (300-900 °C), and specifically analyzed their different advantages in environmental applications. In terms of all the PBCs and DBCs, PBC of 900 °C and the corresponding DBC have the highest degree of graphitization that is recalcitrant in environment, they are benefit for carbon sequestration.

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Weak bonds between molecular segments and between separate molecules of natural organic matter (OM) govern OM solubility, adsorption, supramolecular association in solution, and complexation with metal ions and oxides. We tested the hypothesis that especially strong hydrogen bonds, known as (negative) charge-assisted hydrogen bonds, (-)CAHB, contribute significantly to OM cohesion and play a role in the water solubility of solid-phase OM. The (-)CAHB, exemplified by structures such as (-CO2HO2C-)- and (-CO2HO-)-, may form between weak acids with similar proton affinity, and is shorter, more covalent, and much stronger than ordinary hydrogen bonds.

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