Synthesis of Mesoporous, Nanocrystalline Lanthanum Phosphate in the Presence of Citric Acid and Stearic Acid

Lanthanum phosphate was prepared in the presence of citric acid and stearic acid under methanolic conditions at pH 4.5 and pH 7, respectively. The samples obtained were intensively characterized using X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherm study, transmission electron microscopy （TEM）, thermal gravimetric and differential thermal analysis, and Fourier transform infrared （FTIR） analysis . The as-synthesized samples prepared at pH 4.5 showed lamellar mesostruroned form with high crystallinity. Results showed that the pore size and pore volume changed when the materials were prepared under different pH conditions. Morphology of the samples was observed by using TEM, which showed that the samples possessed relatively small particles closely packed together. The as-synthesized samples were investigated using FTIR, and the mesopore formation mechanism was discussed.

Enhanced photocatalytic activity of fish scale loaded TiO_2 composites under solar light irradiation

Fish scale （FS） loaded TiO2 composites were investigated as photocatalysts in degradation of Methyl Orange under solar light irradiation. Composites were prepared through sol-gel method by varying mass ratio of TiO2/FS at 90：10, 70：30 and 50：50, respectively. The catalysts prepared in this study were characterized by using XRD, SEM, FT-IR and nitrogen sorption. The effects of solar irradiation, mass ratio of TiO//FS composites, irradiation time and catalyst loadings were studied. Synergistic effect was found in TiO2/FS of 90：10 composite which performed higher photocatalytic degradation than synthesized TiO2 under solar light irradiation. However, further increasing fish scale content in the composites reduced the photocatalytic activity drastically. Under solar light irradiation, all the catalysts in this study exhibited photocatalytic activity, except TiO2/FS of 50：50 composite that only acted as a weak biosorbent without performing any photocatalytic property. Photocatalytic degradation increased with increasing catalyst loading and irradiation time but decreased with increased of initial dye concentration.

Performance of the hybrid growth sequencing batch reactor(HG-SBR) for biodegradation of phenol under various toxicity conditions

Hybrid growth microorganisms in sequencing batch reactors have proven effective for treating the toxic compound phenol, but the toxicity effect under different toxicity conditions has rarely been discussed. Therefore, the performance of the HG-SBR under toxic, acute and chronic organic loading can provide the overall operating conditions of the system. Toxic organic loading(TOL) was monitored during the first 7 hr while introducing50 mg/L phenol to the system. The system was adversely affected with the sudden introduction of phenol to the virgin activated sludge, which caused a low degradation rate and high dissolved oxygen consumption during TOL. Acute organic loading(AOL) had significant effects at high phenol concentrations(600, 800 1000 mg/L). The specific oxygen uptake rate(SOUR) gradually decreased to 4.9 mg O_2/(g MLVSS·hr) at 1000 mg/L of phenol compared to 12.74 mg O_2/(g MLVSS·hr) for 200 mg/L of phenol. The HG-SBR was further monitored during chronic organic loading(COL) over 67 days. The effects of organic loading were more apparent at 800 mg/L and 1000 mg/L phenol concentrations, as the removal range was between 22%–30% and 18%–46% respectively, which indicated the severe effects of COL.

Sustainable green technology on wastewater treatment:The evaluation of enhanced single chambered up-flow membrane-less microbial fuel cell

This study demonstrated the potential of single chamber up-flow membrane-less microbial fuel cell（UFML-MFC） in wastewater treatment and power generation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and enhance the performance under different operational conditions which affect the chemical oxygen demand（COD） reduction and power generation,including the increase of KCl concentration（MFC1） and COD concentration（MFC2）. The results showed that the increase of KCl concentration is an important factor in up-flow membrane-less MFC to enhance the ease of electron transfer from anode to cathode. The increase of COD concentration in MFC2 could led to the drop of voltage output due to the prompt of biofilm growth in MFC2 cathode which could increase the internal resistance. It also showed that the COD concentration is a vital issue in up-flow membrane-less MFC.Despite the COD reduction was up to 96%, the power output remained constrained.