Nanoplastics (NPs) are becoming emerging pollutants of global concern. Understanding the environmental behavior of NPs is crucial for their environmental and human risk assessment. In this study, the aggregation and stability of polystyrene (PS) NPs were investigated under different hydrochemical conditions such as pH, salt type (NaCl, CaCl₂, Na₂SO₄), ionic strength (IS), and natural organic matter (NOM). The critical coagulation concentrations of PS NPs were determined to be 158.7 mM NaCl, 12.2 mM CaCl₂, and 80.0 mM Na₂SO₄. Ca²⁺ was more effective in destabilizing PS NPs, compared to Na⁺, owing to its stronger charge screening effect. In the presence of monovalent ions, NOM reduced aggregation through steric repulsion, whereas in the case of divalent ions, NOM induced aggregation through cation bridging. Initial and long-term stability studies demonstrated that, in waters with high IS and NOM content, NOM was the most significant factor affecting NPs aggregation. PS NPs would be highly suspended in all freshwaters, and even in wastewater, whereas they would aggregate rapidly and deposit in seawater. Finally, a statistical model was established to evaluate the hydrodynamic diameter of NPs in different waters. The results indicated the stability of PS NPs in natural aquatic environments and their potential for long-term transport.

The well-known toxicity of conventional chemical oil spill dispersants demands the development of alternative and environmentally friendly dispersant formulations. Therefore, in the present study we have developed a pair of less toxic and green dispersants by combining lactonic sophorolipid (LS) biosurfactant individually with choline myristate and choline oleate ionic liquid surfactants. The aggregation behavior of resulted surfactant blends and their dispersion effectiveness was investigated using the baffled flask test. The introduction of long hydrophobic alkyl chain with unsaturation (attached to choline cation) provided synergistic interactions between the binary surfactant mixtures. The maximum dispersion effectiveness was found to be 78.23% for 80:20 (w/w) lactonic sophorolipid-choline myristate blends, and 81.15% for 70:30 (w/w) lactonic sophorolipid-choline oleate blends at the dispersant-to-oil ratio of 1:25 (v/v). The high dispersion effectiveness of lactonic sophorolipid-choline oleate between two developed blends is attributed to the stronger synergistic interactions between surfactants and slower desorption rate of blend from oil-water interface. The distribution of dispersed oil droplets at several DOR were evaluated and it was observed that oil droplets become smaller with increasing DOR. In addition, the acute toxicity analysis of developed formulations against zebra fish (Danio rerio) confirmed their non-toxic behavior with LC₅₀ values higher than 400 ppm after 96 h. Overall, the proposed new blends/formulations could effectively substitute the toxic and unsafe chemical dispersants.

The rapid development of China's industrial economy and implementation of air pollution controls have led to great changes in sulfur (S), nitrogen (N) and base cation (BC) deposition in the past three decades. We estimated China's anthropogenic BC emissions and simulated BC deposition from 1985 to 2015 with a five-year interval using a multilayer Eulerian model. Deposition of S and N from 2000 to 2015 with a five-year interval was simulated with the EMEP MSC-W model and the Multi-resolution Emission Inventory of China (MEIC). The critical load (CL) and its exceedance were then calculated to evaluate the potential long-term acidification risks. From 1985 to 2005, the BC deposition in China was estimated to have increased by 16 % and then decreased by 33 % till 2015. S deposition was simulated to increase by 49 % from 2000 to 2005 and then decrease by 44 % in 2015, while N deposition increased by 32 % from 2000 to 2010 with a limited reduction afterward. The maximum CL of S was found to increase in 67 % of mainland China areas from 1985 to 2005 and to decline in 55 % of the areas from 2005 to 2015, attributed largely to the changed BC deposition. Consistent with the progress of national controls on SO₂ and NOX emissions, the CL exceedance of S increased from 2.9 to 4.6 Mt during 2000–2005 and then decreased to 2.5 Mt in 2015, while that of N increased from 0.4 in 2000 to 1.2 Mt in 2010 and then decreased to 1.1 Mt in 2015. The reduced BC deposition due to particle emission controls partially offset the benefit of SO₂ control on acidification risk reduction in the past decade. It demonstrates the need for a comprehensive strategy for multi-pollutant control against soil acidification.

Acid deposition has been regarded as a serious factor in the deteriorative water environment and ecosystems. Despite the powerful acid emission control measures have been implemented by the Chinese government, many areas (especially Southeast China) are still suffering from acid deposition. The chemical and isotopic (δ³⁴S and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) compositions of rainwater in Hangzhou, a typical megacity in Southeast China with serious acid rain problem, for one year were studied with the aim to better constrain potential sources and explore the causes of rainwater acidification. Most rainwater samples were acidic, with a VWM pH value of 4.65. SO₄²⁻ was the dominant anion and the main acid ion in rainwater. Sulfur isotope and the quantity equilibrium model revealed that sea salt, crustal, biogenic, and anthropogenic sulfur represented 2.3%, 0.1%, 16.7%, and 80.8% of the SO₄²⁻ source in rainwater, respectively. The back trajectory and strontium isotopes indicated that the base cations (BCs) in rainwater originated mainly from anthropogenic sources. The relatively low neutralizing capacity caused by limited BCs input and emission control measures undermines some efforts to reduce rainwater acidity. This case study demonstrated that a valuable tool to probe the source of acid rain and unravel the mechanism of rainwater acidification can be provided by multiple lines of evidence, including rainwater chemical compositions, stable sulfur isotopes, and stable strontium isotopes.

Freshwater ecosystems are facing increasing contamination by major ions. The Multi-Ion Toxicity (MIT) model, a new tool for risk assessment and regulation, predicts major ion toxicity to aquatic organisms by relating it to a critical disturbance of the trans-epithelial potential (TEP) across the gills, as predicted by electrochemical theory. The model is based on unproven assumptions. We tested some of these by directly measuring the acute TEP responses to a geometric series of 10 different single salts (NaCl, Na₂SO₄, KCl, K₂SO₄, CaCl₂, CaSO₄, MgCl₂, MgSO₄, NaHCO₃, KHCO₃) in the euryhaline rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and the stenohaline goldfish (Carassius auratus) acclimated to very soft, ion-poor water (hardness 10 mg CaCO₃/L). Results were compared to 24-h and 96-h LC50 data from the literature, mainly from fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas). All salts caused concentration-dependent increases in TEP to less negative/more positive values, in patterns well-described by the Michaelis-Menten equation, or a modified version incorporating substrate inhibition. The ΔTEP above baseline became close to a maximum at the 96-h LC50, except for the HCO₃⁻ salts. Furthermore, the range of ΔTEP values at the LC50 within one species was much more consistent (1.6- to 2.1-fold variation) than the molar concentrations of the different salts at the LC50 (19- to 25-fold variation). ΔTEP responses were related to cation rather than anion concentrations. Overall patterns were qualitatively similar between trout and goldfish, with some quantitative differences, and also in general accord with recently published data on three other species in harder water where ΔTEP responses were much smaller. Blood plasma Na⁺ and K⁺ concentrations were minimally affected by the exposures. The results are in accord with most but not all of the assumptions of the MIT model and support its further development as a predictive tool.

Although thallium (Tl) usually exists in a very low level in the natural environment, it is highly toxic. With the development of mining and metallurgical industry and the wide application of Tl in the field of high technologies, Tl poses an increasing threat to the ecological environment and human health. This paper summarizes the research results of the toxicity of Tl as well as the distribution, occurrence forms, migration, and transformation mechanism of Tl in rivers, lakes, mining areas, estuaries, coastal waters, and oceans. It also discusses the influence mechanisms of pH, redox potential, suspended particulate matters, photochemical reaction, natural minerals, cation/anion, organic matters, and microorganisms on the environmental behavior of Tl. This paper points out the shortcomings of Tl research methods in water environment, and looks forward to the future development directions: First, the technology for separating Tl(III) and Tl(I) is still immature, especially it is difficult to effectively separate Tl(III) and Tl(I) in seawater. Second, the development of many advanced in situ detection technologies will bring great convenience to the studies of the dynamic mechanisms of Tl migration and transformation in the environments. Third, adsorption is the most effective mechanism to remove Tl from water, in which modified metal oxides or macrocyclic organic compounds have high application potential.

The increasing use of plastic products and its inevitable decomposition after improper disposal has led to large numbers of nano- and microplastic in aqueous environments. There is currently a critical need to investigate the transport and retention mechanisms of nanoplastic particles in water-saturated porous media (e.g., aquifers or sediments) to better understand residence times and ecosystem exposure of these particles in aqueous environments. In this study, we performed a set of column experiments in order to investigate and understand the primary controls on the mobility of nanoplastics in a controlled laboratory environment. As part of the experiments, we used polystyrene nanoplastic particles (PS-NPs, 50 nm) in combination with iron oxyhydroxide–coated sand, which is known for its high surface reactivity and often can be found in natural systems in environmentally relevant amounts. We also adjusted pore water chemistry (pH, ionic strength, cation species) to represent non-uniform geochemical conditions in nature and to understand how these conditions quantitatively affect the transport of nanoplastics. Mobility and retention of PS-NPs were assessed by analyzing breakthrough curves. For negatively charged iron oxyhydroxide coatings (at pH > pHₚzc), only little retention of PS-NPs could be observed. In contrast, positively charged iron oxyhydroxide coatings (pH < pHₚzc) provided favorable deposition sites for the negatively charged PS-NPs. DLVO theory was used to show that high pH and low ionic strength increased the energy barriers between PS-NPs and the porous media. In contrast, low pH and high ionic strength decreased the barriers and thus increased retention in the columns. Finally, bridging agents, such as Ca²⁺ and Ba²⁺, resulted in the significant deposition of nanoplastics by forming bonds between O-containing functional groups on both the plastic and sediment surfaces. These findings indicate that the deposition and fate of nanoplastic particles are strongly affected by the water chemistry and soil components in subsurface environments.

In this paper, Pd/C catalysts are synthesized via Ar glow-discharge plasma reduction using activated carbon as the support and Pd(acac)₂, Pd(NO₃)₂, K₂PdCl₄, and H₂PdCl₄ as the Pd precursors, and their catalytic performances are investigated by hydrogen production from dodecahydro-N-ethylcarbazole (H12-NEC). Pd/C-A, prepared from Pd(acac)₂, which has the smallest palladium nanoparticles (1.7 nm), the highest dispersion (34%) and no residue of inorganic ions, exhibits the best catalytic activity with a hydrogen release of 5.28 wt.%, which is 2.2 times that of Pd/C-H. The order of the apparent activation energies of the prepared Pd/C catalysts, according to the kinetics of the H12-NEC dehydrogenation reaction, is as follows: Pd/C-A ≈ Pd/C-N < Pd/C-K < Pd/C-H. When Pd(acac)₂ with a large ligand acts as a cation Pd precursor, the effect of coulombic attraction to Pd²⁺ during the plasma reduction process makes it difficult for Pd nanoparticles (NPs) to migrate, which leads to the formation of ultrafine Pd NPs.

Himalaya is one of the youngest and greatest mountain ranges in the world and is one of the world’s most erosion-prone regions. Reliable information on the basin hydrology, physico-chemical weathering, and runoff dynamics is essential to develop an appropriate policies for sustainable, socially acceptable, ecological, and economically viable development of the mountainous rivers. The current study uses a numerical model and GIS tools to estimate run-off volume and sediment production rate and generates morphometric parameters like drainage network, geometry, drainage texture, aerial, and relief characteristics in the Sindh River basin of Kashmir Himalaya, to understand the erosion dynamics of the basin. The basin is dominated by a dendritic drainage pattern with a drainage density of 2.60 km/sq km. The aerial parameters such as elongation ratio, circulatory ratio, compactness coefficient, and rotundity factor show that the basin is elongated in shape with a lower peak flow period, and the basin is structurally complex with high relative relief. The estimated basin run-off volume and sediment production rate of 11.31 (sq.km-cm/sq.km) and 0.002 (ha-m/100 sq.km/year), respectively, suggest that the Sindh basin can be categorized under the low run-off zone and less soil erosion occurs when compared to other Indian Himalayan rivers. The paper aims to fill the knowledge gap concerning the estimation of hydro-sedimentological flows in the Sindh basin. In this context, present work to estimate run-off volume and sediment production rate was carried out using morphometric features to help the decision-makers in framing sustainable land use policies and practices for the region.

This work is focused on the design and preparation of polymer inclusion membranes (PIMs) for potential applications for stannous cation sequestration from water. For this purpose, the membranes have been synthesized employing two polymeric matrices, namely, polyvinylchloride (PVC) and cellulose triacetate (CTA), properly enriched with different plasticizers. The novelty here proposed relies on the modification of the cited PIMs by selected extractants expected to interact with the target cation in the membrane bulk or onto its surface, as well as in the evaluation of their performances in the sequestration of tin(II) in solution through chemometric tools. The composition of both the membrane and the solution for each trial was selected by means of a D-Optimal Experimental Design. The samples such prepared were characterized by means of TG-DTA, DSC, and static contact angles investigations; their mechanical properties were studied in terms of tensile strength and elastic modulus, whereas their morphology was checked by SEM. The sequestering ability of the PIMs toward stannous cation was studied by means of kinetic and isotherm experiments using DP-ASV. The presence of tin in the membranes after the sequestration tests was ascertained by μ-ED-XRF mapping on selected samples.