Self-Promoting Mechanism of Oxalic Acid in Ce-CN-Assisted Photocatalytic Ozonation for Water Treatment.

Small molecular carboxylic acids (SCAs) are common in natural waters, but their impact on advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) is understudied. This study investigates the effects of various carboxylic acids, such as oxalic acid (OA), formic acid (FA), acetic acid (AA), succinic acid (SA), and benzoic acid (BA), on a Ce single-atom-doped graphitic carbon nitride (Ce-CN) photocatalytic ozonation (PCO) system. Among the tested SCAs, only OA significantly promoted O activation and pollutant degradation.

Recognizing the state of aerobic granular sludge over its life-cycle in a continuous-flow membrane bioreactor with an artificial intelligence approach.

The continuous-flow aerobic granular sludge-membrane bioreactor (AGS-MBR) system represents an efficient and sustainable technology for wastewater treatment. AGS, a spherical or ellipsoidal granular sludge formed through microbial self-aggregation under aerobic conditions, progresses through four distinct life-cycle stages in the AGS-MBR system: initial, growth, mature, and cleaved. Accurate identification and classification of these stages are crucial for optimizing AGS-MBR operations and maintaining system stability; however, traditional monitoring methods are labor-intensive and error-prone.

Tandem reaction-powered near-infrared fluorescent molecular reporter for real-time imaging of lung diseases.

Diabetes and its complications have drawn growing research attention due to their detrimental effects on human health. Although optical probes have been used to help understand many aspects of diabetes, the lung diseases caused by diabetes remain unclear and have rarely been explored. Herein, a tandem-reaction (TR) strategy is proposed based on the adjacent diol esterification-crosslinking reaction and the nicotinamide reduction reaction of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) to design a lung-targeting near-infrared (NIR) small molecule probe (NBON) for accurate imaging of diabetic lung diseases.

Selective oxidation of ammonium to nitrogen with VUV/UV/Cl process: Efficiency, pathway and mechanism.

Conversion of chloride ions (Cl⁻) into reactive chlorine species (RCS) is an effective strategy for ammonium (NH⁺-N) selective oxidation to nitrogen (N) under high salinity conditions. Herein, vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) irradiation was introduced for NH⁺-N removal in simulated recirculating mariculture systems (RMS) water treatment. Complete oxidation of NH⁺-N and 88.

Enhancing the affinity of Pb(II) to the metastable ferrihydrite with the presence of gallic acid and anoxia condition.

Naturally widespread ferrihydrite is unstable and often coexists with complex ions, such as the heavy metal ion Pb(II). Ferrihydrite could fix Pb(II) by precipitation and hydroxyl adsorption, but release Pb(II) with mineral aging. Gallic acid plays an important role in influencing the geochemical behavior of ferrihydrite-Pb, and anoxia is one of the factors influencing the transformation of mineral.

A photothermal MXene-derived heterojunction for boosted CO reduction and tunable CH selectivity.

We report here a BiWO/TiCT@Ag (BT@Ag) photothermal photocatalyst for efficient CO reduction with tunable CH selectivity. Incorporation of TiCT MXene creates well-defined heterointerfaces between BiWO and TiCT and converts thermal energy upon light illumination via photothermal effect, which contributes to a mitigation of the recombination of photo-induced charge carries for a high electron mobility. Density functional theory calculations substantiate that TiCT functions as the adsorption site and active center where the transferred electrons are effectively involved in CO reduction for enhanced CH selectivity.

Modulation of the local angiotensin II: Suppression of ferroptosis and radiosensitivity in nasopharyngeal carcinoma via the HIF-1α-HILPDA axis.

Purpose: Radiotherapy presents a curative approach for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC); however, the cellular radiosensitivity heterogeneity limits its efficacy. Thus, investigating the specific mechanisms of radioresistance in NPC is crucial for identifying and employing effective radiosensitizing agents to enhance treatment success.

Methods And Materials: Radioresistant NPC cell lines HONE1-RR and SUNE1-RR were established.

UV-activated calcium peroxide system enables simultaneous organophosphorus degradation, phosphate recovery, and carbon fixation.

Advanced oxidation processes are a desirable technology for treatment of contaminants of emerging concern. Nevertheless, conventional advanced oxidation of organophosphorus compounds releases inorganic phosphate, posing downstream concerns related to eutrophication. For this reason, we evaluated the ultraviolet light-activated calcium peroxide (UV/CaO) system for effective treatment of organophosphorus compounds and concurrent capture of the mineralization products, phosphate.

Evaluation of the shear stability of aerobic granular sludge from a pilot-scale membrane bioreactor: Establishment of a quantitative method.

This work established a quantitative method to access the shear stability of aerobic granular sludge (AGS) and validated its feasibility by using the mature AGS from a pilot-scale (50 tons/day) membrane bioreactor (MBR) for treating real municipal wastewater. The results showed that the changing rate (ΔS) of the peak area (S) of granule size distribution (GSD) exhibited an exponential relationship (R≥0.76) with the shear time (y=a-b·c), which was a suitable indicative index to reflect the shear stability of different AGS samples.

Intensifying the simultaneous removal of nitrogen and phosphorus of an integrated aerobic granular sludge-membrane bioreactor by Acinetobacter junii.

This work aims at intensifying the simultaneous removal of nitrogen and phosphorus of an integrated aerobic granular sludge (AGS) - membrane bioreactor (MBR) by Acinetobacter junii. After acclimation and enrichment in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR), Acinetobacter junii, a kind of denitrifying phosphate accumulating organism (DPAO), was successfully screened in the used SBR. Then it was verified to be capable of effectively enhancing the performance in the simultaneous removal of nitrogen and phosphorus of AGS-MBR.

Broadband near-infrared (NIR) emitting Cr -doped La Ga SnO phosphor with long persistent and photostimulated persistent luminescence.

Recently, long persistent phosphors (LPPs) have attracted significant attention as promising candidates for biomedical applications. However, the serious decrease in luminescence intensity in tissue still remains a major challenge. Therefore, exploring more competitive LPPs and achieving reproducible tissue imaging is crucial.

Boosted elimination of florfenicol by BiOClBr solid solutions via photocatalytic ozonation under visible light.

In this work, a series of BiOClBr (BCB) solid solutions are facilely designed for visible-light-driven photocatalytic ozonation (PCO) degradation of florfenicol (FF) in water environments, which could add to the library of efficient, cost-effective and robust nanocatalysts for water purification. BCB solid solutions in the structure of 2D nanosheets are achieved involving the etching of BiOBr "micro-flowers" with HCl at different concentrations, allowing a removal ratio of FF up to 97.3 % within 1 h, superior to bare BiOBr and bare BiOCl.

Removal and recovery of phosphate by modified oyster shell and its fertilizer application.

The resource utilization of oyster shell (OS) is essential for environmental and human health because its random disposal can induce the environmental pollution and disease spread. Herein, MnFeO loaded-oyster shell (OMF) was prepared by co-precipitation method for phosphate removal and recovery. The salt etching and MnFeO (MF) loading improved the adsorption performance of OS, and the maximum adsorption capacity of OMF reached 87.

Efficient treatment of surfactant containing wastewater by photocatalytic ozonation with BiPO nanorods.

In this study, monoclinic BiPO nanorods were fabricated by one-pot solvothermal method. Its catalytic capability in photocatalytic ozonation process was tested by degradation and mineralization of sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS) solution. The results demonstrated that the TOC removal rate was dramatically improved to 90.

Enhancing water purification through F and Zn-modified Fe-MCM-41 catalytic ozonation.

Due to its low interfacial electron migration ability and highly hydrophilic, Fe-MCM-41 (FeM) had poor activity and stability during catalytic ozonation. To this end, the secondary metal Zn and Si-F group were introduced into the framework of FeM to create surface potential difference and hydrophobic sites. Comparative characterizations showed that there existed rich acid sites with great potential difference on F-Fe-Zn-MCM-41 (FFeZnM).

Insights into the life-cycle of aerobic granular sludge in a continuous flow membrane bioreactor by tracing its heterogeneous properties at different stages.

This work gave insights into the life-cycle of aerobic granular sludge (AGS) by tracing its heterogeneity in the basic properties at different stages in a closed system (a continuous flow membrane bioreactor, MBR), including physical and chemical characteristics and microbial communities. The results indicate that the entire life-cycle consists of the following four stages, namely, the initial, growing, mature and cleaved stages, where multiple AGS properties synergistically affect the rheological properties of the AGS over its life-cycle. The storage modulus (G') of AGS reached its maximum value at the mature stage, whose value was significantly and positively correlated with the protein (PN) in extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and granule size, specifically the peak area of granule size distribution, but this value was strongly and negatively correlated with the roughness.

Enhancing the activity of Pd ensembles on graphene by manipulating coordination environment.

Atomic dispersion of metal catalysts on a substrate accounts for the increased atomic efficiency of single-atom catalysts (SACs) in various catalytic schemes compared to the nanoparticle counterparts. However, lacking neighboring metal sites has been shown to deteriorate the catalytic performance of SACs in a few industrially important reactions, such as dehalogenation, CO oxidation, and hydrogenation. Metal ensemble catalysts (M), an extended concept to SACs, have emerged as a promising alternative to overcome such limitation.

Activation of peroxymonosulfate for degrading ibuprofen via single atom Cu anchored by carbon skeleton and chlorine atom: The radical and non-radical pathways.

Single atomic Cu catalysts (SACs Cu@C) anchored by carbon skeleton and chlorine atom was synthesized by hydrolyzing Cu-MOFs and then pickled by aqua-regia to remove Cu nanoparticles (NPs Cu). Comparative characterizations revealed that SACs Cu@C was a hierarchically porous nanostructure and Cu dispersed uniformly throughout the carbon skeletons. With less active components, SACs Cu@C behaved better in activating PMS over NPs Cu@C on ibuprofen removal (91.

A comprehensive review on metal based active sites and their interaction with O during heterogeneous catalytic ozonation process: Types, regulation and authentication.

Heterogeneous catalytic ozonation (HCO) was a promising water purification technology. Designing novel metal-based catalysts and exploring their structural-activity relationship continued to be a hot topic in HCO. Herein, we reviewed the recent development of metal-based catalysts (including monometallic and polymetallic catalysts) in HCO.

Flexible construct of N vacancies and hydrophobic sites on g-CN by F doping and their contribution to PFOA degradation in photocatalytic ozonation.

N vacancies, hydrophobic sites and electron rich zone were simply regulated by doping F into g-CN (CN) to accelerate photocatalytic ozonation of PFOA. Activity of F-CN was superior to that of CN, with 74.3% PFOA removal by F-CN/Vis/O but only 57.

Enhancing catalytic ozonation activity of MCM-41 via one-step incorporating fluorine and iron: The interfacial reaction induced by hydrophobic sites and Lewis acid sites.

Fe-MCM-41 had been widely used as ozonation catalyst, however, the existence of large amount of hydrophilic silanol hindered its interfacial reaction with O and pollutants. To solve this problem, F-Fe-MCM-41 was synthesized by co-doping F and Fe into the framework of MCM-41 to replace silanol with Si-F groups through a one-step hydrothermal method. F introduced hydrophobic sites which contributed to more ibuprofen (IBP) chemisorption on the surface of F-Fe-MCM-41.

Efficient catalytic ozonation of bisphenol A by three-dimensional mesoporous CeO-loaded SBA-16.

Herein, we demonstrated the construction of three-dimensional (3D) cerium oxide (CeO)/SBA-16 nanocomposites for efficient removal of bisphenol A (BPA) via a catalytic ozonation, with a high BPA mineralization up to 60.9% in 90 min. On one hand, the CeO/SBA-16 mesoporous structured materials presented large surface area and uniform pore distribution, which was conducive to the adsorption of transformation by-products (TBPs) and then, the mass transfer.

Oxygen vacancies and Lewis sites activating O/HO at wide pH range via surface electron transfer over CeO@SiO for nitrobenzene mineralization.

The low efficiency of peroxone (O/HO) at acidic and neutral pH restrained its application in water purification. To overcome this shortcoming, CeO@SiO with large surface area, abundant surface oxygen vacancies (V), Lewis sites (L sites) and high Ce(III)/Ce(IV) ratio were synthesized to change the traditional electron transfer pathway between O and HO. V was facile in absorbing HO to form V-HO and L sites were capable of absorbing O to form L-O.

Visible-light-driven photoelectrocatalytic activation of chloride by nanoporous MoS@BiVO photoanode for enhanced degradation of bisphenol A.

The massive emission of bisphenol A (BPA) has imposed adverse effects on both ecosystems and human health. Herein, nanoporous MoS@BiVO photoanodes were fabricated on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrates for photoelectrocatalytic degradation of BPA. The photocurrent density of the optimized photoanode (MoS-3@BiVO) was 5.

Unraveling influence of metal species on norfloxacin removal by mesoporous metallic silicon adsorbent.

Metal-modified adsorbent had appreciable adsorption capacity and fast rate toward norfloxacin (NOR), but limited studies focused on the influence of metal species on adsorbents' performance. In this study, Fe and Cu were chosen to be loaded on mesoporous silicon SBA-15 for absorbing NOR and investigating the key function of metal species. An obvious synergy effect was found between active species and supporter.