AgClₓBr₁₋ₓ composites with different halogen molar ratios (Cl/Br) were prepared by a facile ultrasound-assisted ion-exchange method. The formation of close contact between AgCl and AgBr facilitated the transportation of photoexcited charge carriers and contributed to the enhanced visible-light-driven photocatalytic degradation of different kinds of antibiotics. The AgClₓBr₁₋ₓ composites had a sphere-like morphology and tunable band gaps from 2.95 to 2.57 eV depending on Cl/Br mole ratios. Besides, the AgClₓBr₁₋ₓ composite was optimized by varying halogen mole ratios (Cl/Br) to achieve the highest photocatalytic activity. Results indicated that AgCl₀.₇₅Br₀.₂₅ showed the best photocatalytic degradation performance, which was about 2.36 and 2.78 times that of the single AgCl towards ciprofloxacin (CIP) and metronidazole (MNZ) degradation, respectively. Meanwhile, a possible photocatalytic degradation mechanism was discussed, and results indicated that the holes (h⁺) and •OH were the dominant active species in the AgCl₀.₇₅Br₀.₂₅ system.

Long-term disposal of tannery waste and effluent without rigorous treatment may result in severe chromium (Cr) contamination in soils. In order to reduce the toxicity of Cr in soil, rice straw was co-pyrolyzed with Cr-contaminated soil under 0.5 MPa pressure. The influences of co-pyrolysis temperature (100–300 °C) and rice straw/soil mixing ratio (0–20 wt%) on Cr immobilization were investigated. The synthetic precipitation leaching procedure (SPLP), total Cr(VI) measurement, and simple bioaccessibility extraction test (SBET) were conducted, and results showed that the leachable Cr, total Cr(VI), and bioavailable Cr in co-pyrolyzed soils were significantly decreased (up to 95%, 86%, 70%, respectively) compared with untreated soil. BCR sequential extraction also indicated that mobile fractions (F1, F2) of Cr were transformed to more stable fractions after pressurized co-pyrolysis treatment. Time-varying desorption tests showed that the pseudo-second order kinetic model fitted better (R² > 0.9) in all samples and co-pyrolysis could effectively reduce Cr desorption when extracted by citric acid, nitric acid, and CaCl₂ solution. X-ray diffraction (XRD) revealed that unstable forms of Cr transformed to stable Cr species and Cr(III) was the dominant species in the soil. In conclusion, pressurized co-pyrolysis of Cr-contaminated soil with 20% of rice straw at 300 °C effectively immobilized Cr and reduced Cr(VI), making it a promising method to minimize the potential bioavailable risk of Cr in soil.

The contaminated Kaynaklar soil containing high level of diesel (100,000 mg/kg dw) was treated in slurry systems with solid-to-liquid ratios (S/L) of 1/5, 1/10, and 1/20 to describe the performance of physical treatment. The soil microbial mass was inhibited by using mercury chloride and autoclaving prior to the diesel spiking in order to eliminate any bacterial degradation of non-aqueous phase liquids (NAPLs) and has been treated in the reactor systems for 8 h. The removal performance of PAHs in soil slurry systems was evaluated according to the number of benzene rings: 3, 4, and 5and 6 ring PAHs. The experimental results showed that PAH treatment efficiency sharply decreases in slurry soils with increasing number of benzene rings; maximum treatment efficiencies in soil were 82%, 56%, and 42% for 3 ring (ACY), 4 ring (PY), and 5 and 6 ring (BbF) PAHs, respectively. In addition, a significant correlation between the PAH removal efficiencies and their vapor pressures has found. The impact of solid-to-liquid ratio on slurry system performance was found negligible; therefore, higher solid-to-liquid ratios are recommendable to be applied on the contaminated sites to remove high concentrations of PAHs from soil for reducing the investment and operational costs. The soil used in this study has relatively large specific surface area and considerable amount of clay. The removal performance of slurry systems may be elevated with sandy soils containing high concentrations of PAHs, where can be faced at the seashores due to the off shore oil spills.

A first study on the adsorptive removal of tungsten species from the aqueous phase by using the multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) is reported. The MWCNTs were employed for the uptake of tungsten species at pH 6 in batch experiments. It was observed that 100% of tungsten species were removed in 2 h, by employing 75 mg of MWCNTs from the aqueous solution containing 10 ppm of tungsten. Adsorption equilibrium data were fitted by the three isotherm models namely the Langmuir, Freundlich, and Sips isotherms and best described by a three-parameter Sips model. The maximum experimental adsorption capacity of MWCNTs for tungsten was 17.64 mg/g, while the adsorption capacity anticipated by the Langmuir and Sips isotherm models was 20.58 and 25.18 mg/g, respectively. The adsorption kinetic data was adequately fitted by a pseudo-second-order model. Our present findings ascertained that MWCNTs could be a potential adsorbent for the removal of tungsten species from the aqueous phase.

Macroscopic utilization of nanomaterial provides a new idea for the research and development of novel adsorbent, which can enhance efficiency in the adsorption and elution process. In this paper, nano-polypyrrole (PPy) was dispersed into two inexpensive and renewable biomass materials, gelatin (Gel) and chitosan (CS), to fabricate a novel photo/electric-sensitive hydrogel, Gel/CS/PPy. The micro-network of Gel/CS/PPy shows a high adsorption rate of 94.2% for acid fuchsine (AF). Furthermore, with the addition of polypyrrole, Gel/CS/PPy has the characteristic of photo/electric response, which can improve the elution efficiency of AF from the adsorbent. The results showed that the elution efficiency could be increased by 4 times with photo-assistance, and about 2 times with electro-assistance. Predictably, using the methods described in this article, high-quality adsorbents can be designed for more organic pollutants. Graphical abstract

An experimentation has been carried out in simulated Mediterranean and tropical laboratory conditions aimed to show the Moso bamboo capability of phytoextraction chromium from contaminated soil. Electronic microscopy supported the analyses performed on soil and on the different plant tissues. A preliminary test on the bamboo has been carried out in laboratory evaluating his growth with irrigation in Mediterranean conditions (600 mm/year) and tropical conditions (1.800 mm/year). A test of the bamboo tolerance of was also carried out by measuring his growth with irrigation with a solution of 100 mg Cr/l, reporting not significant damages to the plant tissues. Subsequently chromium phytoextraction was tested highlighting that bamboo removes Cr from soil with a percentage ranging from 43% (600 mm/year) to 47.4% (1.800 mm/year) of the total content in soil. Lastly, the distribution of chromium in the different fragments of the bamboo plants has been performed. It has been shown that approx. 69% of chromium, in Mediterranean conditions, was in the rhizomes and approx. 68% in tropical conditions. A slightly higher tendency to chromium translocation to leaves has been shown in tropical conditions than in Mediterranean conditions.

In the present study, we examined the relationships between (1) N, P, total organic carbon (TOC), and total suspended sediment (TSS) each and stream flow and water table elevation, individually (2) N, P, and TOC, each and TSS, and (3) stream water C/N ratios and stream flow in managed pine forests with various switchgrass treatments implemented on four watersheds in coastal North Carolina plain. The treatments included a young pine forest–natural understorey (27.5 ha), a young pine forest with switchgrass intercropped between pine rows replacing natural understorey (IC) (26.3 ha), a mature thinned pine forest (25.9 ha), and pure switchgrass (27.1 ha). Precipitation, flow, water table elevation, N, phosphate, TOC, and TSS concentrations were measured from November 2009 to June 2014 (switchgrass growth from May 2012 after site preparation (SP) that ended in April 2012). Relationships (α = 0.05) among water quality and hydrologic variables were examined using a Spearman rank correlation coefficient and the principal component analysis (PCA). Nitrogen concentrations on IC were positively correlated with flow during SP. The export of nutrients and sediment from this drained pine plantation forest intercropped with switchgrass was affected by changes in hydrological and biochemical processes regulating the formation and transport of different water quality constituents during both site preparation and pine and switch growth periods. The PCA showed strong interaction between the hydrological and biochemical processes.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is one of the most dangerous incurable diseases that affects a large number of people worldwide. Artemisia species have various protective activities and are widely used for the control of diabetes in folkloric medicine. Therefore, the current study was designed to illustrate the protective effect of oral administration of Artemisia judaica extract (AjE) against hepatorenal damage in a high-fat diet/streptozotocin (HFD/STZ) rat model of hyperlipidemia and hyperglycemia. Animals were divided into five groups—control, AjE, HFD/STZ, HFD/STZ-AjE (300 mg/kg), and HFD/STZ-MET (100 mg/kg)—and treated daily for 28 days. The results revealed that STZ-injected rats showed marked hyperglycemia and hypoinsulinemia in addition to high levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, and low- and high-density lipoproteins compared to control rats. Significant elevations in hepatic (AST and ALT) and renal (urea, uric acid, and creatinine) function markers were observed in the serum of diabetic rats. Additionally, STZ injection caused remarkable elevations in lipid peroxidation and nitric oxide levels as well as suppression of antioxidant markers (superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase, and glutathione). Marked elevations in TNF-α and Bax levels with a decline in Bcl-2 levels were detected after STZ injection. Furthermore, TGF-β1 expression levels were significantly upregulated in the liver and kidney tissues. Rats that received AjE or MET showed significant improvement in most of the aforementioned parameters, and the protective efficacy was higher for AjE than for MET. Histopathological screening confirmed the biochemical findings. Conclusively, our results illustrated the antihyperglycemic, antihyperlipidemic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiapoptotic activities of AjE against hepatorenal injury in HFD/STZ-induced diabetes.

Microcystins (MCs) are the most studied toxins of cyanobacteria in freshwater bodies worldwide. However, they are poorly documented in coastal waters in several parts of the world. In this study, we investigated the composition of cyanobacteria and the presence of microcystins (MCs) in several coastal aquatic ecosystems of Nigeria. Direct morphological analysis revealed that members of the genus Oscillatoria were dominant with five species, followed by Trichodesmium with two species in Nigerian coastal waters. Oso Ibanilo had the highest cyanobacterial biomass (998 × 10³ cells/L), followed by Rivers Ocean (156 × 10³ cells/L). Except for the Cross River Ocean, cyanobacteria were present in all the investigated aquatic ecosystems. Ten (10) out of twenty water bodies examined had detectable levels of MCs. Furthermore, genomic DNA analysis for the mcyE gene of microcystin synthetase (mcy) cluster showed identities higher than 86% (query coverage > 96%) with toxic strains of cyanobacteria in all the samples analyzed. Also, the sequences of samples matched those of uncultured cyanobacteria from recreational lakes in Southern Germany. Our findings indicate that the presence of toxic cyanobacteria in coastal waters of Nigeria is of public and environmental health concern.

In the face of the water scarcity problem, the use of treated wastewater emerges as a viable alternative to meet the demand of the agricultural sector, the main consumer of available water in the world. Thus, the development of technologies to provide safe wastewater reuse is a priority. We evaluated the reduction rate of the fecal indicator Escherichia coli naturally present in effluent from an urban wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) submitted to UV-LED (Ultraviolet-Light-Emitting Diodes) radiation, emitting UVA (365 and 405 nm) or UVC (255 and 280 nm), used alone or coupled. The 280-nm wavelength seems to be crucial to the success of the disinfection systems, as all the programs that used this wavelength reached a 4-log reduction of E. coli.