Degradation of antibiotic contaminants from water by gas–liquid underwater discharge plasma

Antibiotic contamination adversely affects human health and ecological balance.In this study,gasliquid underwater discharge plasma was employed to simultaneously degrade three antibiotics,sulfadiazine(SDZ),tetracycline(TC),and norfloxacin(NOR),to address the growing problem of antibiotic contaminants in water.The effects of various parameters on the antibiotic degradation efficiency were evaluated,including the discharge gas type and flow rate,the initial concentration and pH of the solution,and the discharge voltage.Under the optimum parameter configuration,the average removal rate of the three antibiotics was 54.0% and the energy yield was 8.9 g(kW·h)-1after 5 min treatment;the removal efficiency was 96.5% and the corresponding energy yield was4.0 g(kW·h)-1 after 20 min treatment.Reactive substance capture and determination experiments indicated that ·OH and O3 played a vital role in the decomposition of SDZ and NOR,but the role of reactive substances in TC degradation was relatively less significant.

A Novel TiO_2 Combined Pulsed Diaphragm Discharge System for Phenol Degradation

A synergistic photocatalysis combined pulsed diaphragm discharge（PDD）system with TiO_2 nanofilm deposited on the surface of quartz diaphragm is developed for the first time for phenol degradation in an aqueous solution.It is observed that the decomposition efficiency of phenol in the TiO_2 combined PDD system is higher than that of the single PDD system under the same conditions,indicating a successful collaboration between the photocatalysis and the plasma decomposition in the present system.Analysis of the solution＇s pH value confirms this collaboration and further reveals that the photocatalytic enhancement effect of phenol degradation is strong at a relatively low supplied voltage.The present TiO_2 combined PDD system exhibits improved efficiencies of pollutant degradation and energy utilization,suggesting a good candidate for wastewater treatment.

Degradation Performance and Biodiversity of an Anaerobic Polyvinyl Alcohol-Degrading Microbial Community

Polyvinyl alcohol( PVA) is a water-soluble synthetic polymer that is hard to biodegrade. PVA-degrading microorganisms were previously reported as unitary bacteria and most of them have been identified as aerobes. In this work,a microbial community was cultured anaerobically and its degradation performance and biodiversity were analyzed. The microbial community was cultured for more than 40 d,which represents a highly efficient degradation performance with a chemical oxygen demand removal efficiency of 88. 48%. Operational taxonomic unit-based analysis of the sequences revealed a highly diverse community in the reactor. To note,metagenome 16s rDNA sequencing delineated 19 phyla and 41 classes. Specifically, proteobacteria, chlamydiae, bacteroidetes,firmicutes,and planctomycetes play key roles in the biodegradation processes. Moreover,the betaproteobacteria class belonging to the proteobacteria phylum was the predominant bacterial members in this community. Our results demonstrated that anaerobic treatment of PVA wastewater is feasible and confers degradation by a highly diverse microbial community.

Cultivating High Efficient Bacteria of Degrading Pulping Wastewater by Ultraviolet Mutagenic Technology

Instead of pure bacteria, induction mutation of activated sludge by ultraviolet (Uv) was studied and used to treat pulping wastewater by continuous- flow. The result showed the mutagenic activated sludge had remarkable effect and application potential in pulping wastewater treatment. Comparing with common activated sludge, the mutagenic activated sludge was more suitable for lignose decomposition and had high decomposing efficiency.

Efficient degradation of Rhodamine B by magnetically recoverable Fe_(3)O_(4)-modified ternary CoFeCu-layered double hydroxides via activating peroxymonosulfate

Environment-friendly nano-catalysts capable of activating peroxymonosulfate(PMS)have received increasing attention recently.Nevertheless,traditional nano-catalysts are generally well dispersed and difficult to be separated from reaction system,so it is particularly important to develop nano-catalysts with both good catalytic activity and excellent recycling efficiency.In this work,magnetically recoverable Fe_(3)O_(4)-modified ternary CoFeCu-layered double hydroxides(Fe_(3)O_(4)/CoFeCu-LDHs)was prepared by a simple co-precipitation method and initially applied to activate PMS for the degradation of Rhodamine B(Rh B).X-ray diffraction(XRD),fourier transform infrared spectrometer(FT-IR),scanning electron microscope(SEM),transmission electron microscopy(TEM),Brunauer-Emmett-Teller method(BET),and vibrating sample magnetometer(VSM)were applied to characterize morphology,structure,specific surface area and magnetism.In addition,the effects of several key parameters were evaluated.The Fe_(3)O_(4)/CoFeCu-LDHs exhibited high catalytic activity,and Rh B degradation efficiency could reach 100%within 20 min by adding 0.2 g/L of catalyst and 1 mmol/L of PMS into 50 mg/L of Rh B solution under a wide pH condition(3.0-7.0).Notably,the Fe_(3)O_(4)/CoFeCu-LDHs showed good super-paramagnetism and excellent stability,which could be effectively and quickly recovered under magnetic condition,and the degradation efficiency after ten cycles could still maintain 98.95%.Both radicals quenching tests and electron spin resonance(ESR)identified both HO·and SO_(4)^(·-) were involved and SO_(4)^(·-) played a dominant role on the RhB degradation.Finally,the chemical states of the sample’s surface elements were measured by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS),and the possible activation mechanism in Fe_(3)O_(4)/CoFeCu-LDHs/PMS system was proposed according to comprehensive analysis.

Improved photocatalytic degradation of organic dye using Ag3PO4/MoS2 nanocomposite

Highly efficient Ag3PO4/MoS2 nanocomposite photocatalyst was synthe- sized using a wet chemical route with a low weight percentage of highly exfoliated MoS2 （0.1 wt.%） and monodispersed Ag3PO4 nanoparticles （-5.4 nm）. The structural and optical properties of the nanocomposite were studied using various characterization techniques, such as XRD, TEM, Raman and absorption spectroscopy. The composite exhibits markedly enhanced photocatalytic activity with a low lamp power （60 W）. Using this composite, a high kinetic rate constant （k） value of 0.244 min^-1 was found. It was observed that -97.6% of dye degrade over the surface of nanocomposite catalyst within 15 min of illumination. The improved photocatalytic activity of Ag3PO4/MoS2 nanocomposite is attributed to the efficient interfacial charge separation, which was supported by the PL results. Large surface area of MoS2 nanosheets incorporated with well dispersed Ag3PO4 nanoparticles further increases charge separation, contributing to enhanced degradation efficiency. A possible mechanism for charge separation is also discussed.

Cagelike mesoporous silica encapsulated with microcapsules for immobilized laccase and 2,4-DCP degradation

In this study,cage-like mesoporous silica was used as the carrier to immobilize laccase by a physical approach,followed by encapsulating with chitosan/alginate microcapsule membranes to form microcapsules of immobilized laccase based on layer-by-layer technology.The relationship between laccase activity recovery/leakage rate and the coating thickness was simultaneously investigated.Because the microcapsule layers have a substantial network of pores,they act as semipermeable membranes,while the laccase immobilized inside the microcapsules acts as a processing plant for degradation of2,4-dichlorophenol.The microcapsules of immobilized laccase were able to degrade 2,4-dichlorophenol within a wide range of 2,4-dichlorophenol concentration,temperature and p H,with mean degradation rate around 62%.Under the optimal conditions,the thermal stability and reusability of immobilized laccase were shown to be improved significantly,as the removal rate and degradation rate remained over 40.2% and 33.8% respectively after 6 cycles of operation.Using mass spectrometry（MS） and nuclear magnetic resonance（NMR）,diisobutyl phthalate and dibutyl phthalate were identified as the products of 2,4-dichlorophenol degradation by the microcapsules of immobilized laccase and laccase immobilized by a physical approach,respectively,further demonstrating the degradation mechanism of 2,4-dichlorophenol by microcapsule-immobilized laccase.

Degradation of sulfadiazine antibiotics by water falling film dielectric barrier discharge

A new water falling film dielectric barrier discharge was applied to the degradation of sulfadiazine in the aqueous solution. The various parameters that affect the degradation of sulfadiazine and the proposed evolutionary process were investigated. The results indicated that the inner concentrations of 10 mg/L sulfadiazine can be all removed within 30 min. The optimum pH value was 9.10 and both strong acidic and alkaline solution conditions were not suitable for the degradation. The degradation of sulfadiazine can be enhanced by the addition of hydrogen radical scavengers, but be inhibited by adding hydroxyl radical scavengers. The water falling film dielectric barrier discharge was rather ineffective in mineralization, because of the intermediates were recalcitrant to be degraded. The existence of Fe2＋ and CCI4 in the liquid phase can promote the degradation and mineralization of sulfadiazine. It was found that the degradation of SDZ was enhanced by CC14 was mainly because of the increase of＇OH due to the reaction of CC14 with ＊H that reduce the chances of their recombination with ＂OH. Based on the 8 intermediate products identified by LC-MS, the proposed evolution of the degradation process was investigated.

Fly ash-based geopolymer as a novel photocatalyst for degradation of dye from wastewater

The geopolymer synthesized by alkali-activated fly ash was firstly used as a novel photocatalyst for degradation of methylene blue （MB） dye from wastewater. The geopolymer is composed of nanoparticulates with an average particle size of about 50 nm, More than 90% of pore volume in the fly ash-based geopolymet predominately centralized on the pore size in the range of 17-700 nm. The degradation efficiency of MB dye by fly ash-based geopolymer catalyst was up to 92.79% under UV irradiation due to the synergistic effect of adsorption and semiconductor photocatalysis. The pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order rate equations as well as intra-particle diffusion rate equation were employed to correlate analysis for the adsorption kinetics of MB dye, The experimental data agreed well with pseudo-second-order rate equation in both cases of with UV and without UV irradiations. The intra-particle diffusion process is not the rate determining step. The photocatalytic degradation of MB dye in solution obeys third-order reaction kinetics.

One-dimensional titania nanotubes annealed at various temperatures for the photocatalytic degradation of low concentration gaseous pollutants

In this study, one-dimensional titania nanotubes （TNTs） were synthesized using a combined process of chemical and hydrothermal treatments, and their activities for the photocatalytic reactions of selected gaseous pollutants at sub-ppm levels were determined. Additionally, the properties of the TNTs were examined using selected spectroscopic methods. The annealed TNTs showed higher photocatalytic activities for the four target compounds than did the unannealed TNTs. For all the target compounds except benzene, the effect of the annealing temperature on the degradation efficiency was difficult to determine because all degradation efficiencies were very high. However, for benzene, which decomposed with a low efficiency, the degradation activities of the TNTs increased as the treatment temperature was increased from 250 to 300 ℃, while they decreased slightly when the temperature was increased from 300 to 400 ℃. These findings confirm the presence of an optimal annealing temperature for the synthesis of TNTs. Moreover, the average degradation extents for benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and o-xylene decreased from 92%, 96%, 99%, and 98% to 77%, 86%, 92%, and 94%, respectively, as the airstream flow rate increased within the range of 1-4L/min. The average degradation extents decreased from 12%, 75%, 87%, and 88% to 3%, 29%, 46%, and 51%, respectively, as the input concentration increased from 0.4 to 1.9 ppm. Overall, these findings suggest that one-dimensional TNTs can be effectively utilized for the degradation of gaseous pollutants under optimal operational conditions.

Pd-MnO_2 nanoparticles/TiO_2 nanotube arrays(NTAs) photo-electrodes photo-catalytic properties and their ability of degrading Rhodamine B under visible light

Pd-MnO2/TiO2 nanotube arrays（NTAs） photo-electrodes were successfully fabricated via anodization and electro deposition subsequently; the obtained Pd-MnO2/TiO2 NTAs photo electrodes were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy（SEM）, X-ray diffraction（XRD） and characterized accordingly. Moreover, the light harvesting and absorption properties were investigated via ultraviolet–visible diffuse reflectance spectrum（DRS）; photo degradation efficiency was investigated via analyzing the photo catalytic degradation of Rhodamine B under visible illumination（xenon light）. The performed analyses illustrated that Pd-MnO2 codoped particles were successfully deposited onto the surface of the TiO2 nanotube arrays;DRS results showed significant improvement in visible light absorption which was between400 and 700 nm. Finally, the photo catalytic degradation efficiency results of the designated organic pollutant（Rhodamine B） illustrated a superior photocatalytic（PC） efficiency of approximately 95% compared to the bare TiO2 NTAs, which only exhibited a photo catalytic degradation efficiency of approximately 61%, thus it indicated the significant enhancement of the light absorption properties of fabricated photo electrodes and their yield of UOH radicals.