Potassium (K) fertilizer plays an important role in increasing crop yield, quality, and nitrogen use efficiency. However, little is known about its environmental impacts, such as its effects on emissions of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N₂O). A nitrogen-15 (¹⁵N) tracer laboratory experiment was therefore performed in an acidic agricultural soil in the suburbs of Wuhan, central China, to determine the effects of K fertilizer on N₂O emissions and nitrification/denitrification product ratios under N fertilization. During 15-d incubation periods with a fixed initial N concentration (80 mg kg⁻¹), K application increased average N₂O emission rates significantly (1.6–10.8-fold) compared to the control treatment. N₂O emissions derived from nitrification and denitrification both increased in K-treated soil, and denitrification contributed more to the increase; its contribution ratio rose from 32% without K fertilizer to 53% with 300 mg kg⁻¹ of K applied. The increase in N₂O emissions under K fertilization is probably due to an increase in the activity of denitrifying microorganisms and acid-resistant nitrifying microorganisms caused by higher K⁺ concentrations and lower soil pH. Combined treatment with potassium chloride (KCl) and N fertilizer produced lower N₂O emissions than combined treatment with potassium sulfate (K₂SO₄) and N fertilizer during 15-d incubation periods. Our results imply that there are significant interaction effects between N fertilizers and K fertilizers on N₂O emissions. In particular, combining N fertilizers with fertilizers that reduce soil acidity or contain Cl or K ions may significantly affect agricultural N₂O emissions.

Via the thermal sintering, a nanocrystalline IrO₂ coating was formed on the Ti substrate to successfully prepare a Ti/IrO₂ electrode. Based on the electrochemical analysis, the prepared Ti/IrO₂ electrode was found to have powerful oxidation effect on the organics in the TNT red water, where the nitro compound was oxidized through an irreversible electrochemical process at 0.6 V vs. SCE. According to the analysis of the nitro compound content, the UV–vis spectra, and the FTIR spectra of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) red water with electrolytic periods, the degradation mechanism of the dinitrotoluene sulfonate (DNTS) was developed. And the intermediates were characterized by UPLC-HRMS. The DNTS mainly occurred one electron transfer reaction on the Ti/IrO₂ electrode. At the early stage of the electrolysis, the polymerization of DNTS was mainly dominated. The generated polymer did not form a polymer film on the electrode surface, but instead it promoted a further reduction. After electrolyzing for 30 h, all NO₂ function group in the TNT red water was degraded completely.

Particulate matter (PM) pollution is an urgent urban environmental problem. However, plants can mitigate this pollution by filtering the air. Combining the PM capture capacity with the air pollution tolerance could be better evaluate the suitability of greenbelt plants. We selected nine dominant roadside plants growing at two sites in Beijing, and compared their PM capture capacity, morphological characteristics, biochemical characteristics, and air pollution tolerance index (APTI). Sophora japonica had the highest PM capture capacity (362.98 μg cm⁻²), and its wax layers could trap large amounts of PM₂.₅; this high efficiency is important for successful phytoremediation. Sophora japonica. Sabina chinensis, Ulmus pumila, and Euonymus japonicus also showed relatively high PM capture capacity. This is due to their complex cuticular wax layers, short petioles, rough surfaces, high stomata density, and dense canopy structures which reduce the possibility of resuspension of captured PM. Amount of PM captured per unit leaf area had a significant positive effect on the degree of membrane lipid peroxidation, indicating that species with high PM capture capacity suffered higher oxidative stresses. Air pollution showed the strongest negative effect size on chlorophyll contents of E. japonicas. While, S. japonica, S. chinensis, and U. pumila could prevent chlorophyll content decline under severe oxidative stress. Sophora japonica also had the highest APTI at both sites, indicating this species had the greatest tolerance to air pollution. Our findings suggest that S. japonica would be the most suitable species for greenbelt construction in Beijing, followed by S. chinensis, E. japonicus, and U. pumila.

Our understanding of colloidal biochar (CB) transport and release is largely unknown in environments with transient chemical conditions, e.g., ionic strength (IS), pH, and especially humic acid (HA). In this study, column experiments were conducted to investigate CB transport and retention in the presence and absence of HA, and CB release under transient IS and pH conditions in saturated sand. Step reductions in solution IS from 25 to 0.01 mM produced significant release peaks of CB due to a reduction in the depth of the primary minima on rough surfaces with small energy barriers. In contrast, step increases of solution pH from 4 to 10 only slightly increased CB release presumably due to the strong buffering capacity of CB. The CB retention was diminished by HA during the deposition phase. However, the release of CB with transients in IS and pH was not influenced much when deposition occurred in the presence of HA. These observations indicate that HA increased the energy barrier during deposition but did not have a large influence on the depth of the interacting minimum during transient release. Potential explanations for these effects of HA on CB retention and transient release include enhanced repulsive electrostatic interactions and/or altering of surface roughness properties. Our findings indicated that the release of retained CB is sensitive to transient IS conditions, but less dependent on pH increases and CB deposition in the presence of HA. This information is needed to quantify potential benefits and/or adverse risks of mobile CB in natural environments.

We investigated the levels and distributions of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in 159 background soil samples collected from 30 forested mountain sites across China. The sum of DDT was the most abundant OCP, with the concentrations of 0.197–207 ng/g and 0.033–122 ng/g in the O-horizon and A-horizon, respectively. High concentrations of OCPs usually occur near agricultural regions or high consumption areas. The spatial distribution was mainly influenced by the emission sources and soil total organic contents (TOC). The chiral compounds were generally nonracemic in the soils and showed preferential degradation of (−) o,p′- dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, (+) trans-chlordane, and (−) cis-chlordane in both the O- and A-horizons. The enantiomeric fraction (EF) distributions of chiral OCPs displayed no differences across the forest sites in the O-horizon or the A-horizon. Comparing the deviation of EFs from racemic (DEVrac = absolute value of 0.500 - EF) with environmental parameters, we found that DEVrac of cis-chlordane demonstrated a strong positive correlation with TOC (p < 0.05) and the C/N ratio (p < 0.01). This relationship suggests that these factors could affect the microbial activity and significantly impact the extent of enantioselective degradation of chiral compounds in the soils. Fresh and historical applications of DDT and historical chlordane and endosulfan uses may be prominent sources of OCP accumulation in Chinese forest soils.

To improve catalytic performance and stability of Ag nanoparticles (Ag NPs), a facile ultrasonication-assisted chemical reduction method was developed to fabricate reduced graphene oxide (rGO) aerogels loaded with 1–3 nm Ag NPs under the normal temperature and pressure. The ultrasonication facilitated the dispersion of Ag(I) in the form of silver ammonia and anchored onto GO nanosheets. Ag(I) and GO were simultaneously reduced to Ag(0) immobilizing onto 3D rGO hydrogels within the heterogeneous liquid phase, and ultimately formed 3D rGO-Ag NPs aerogels. The 3D rGO-Ag NPs aerogels displayed superb catalytic performance for the reduction of nitrobenzene (NB), 1,3-dinitrobenzene (DNB) and 4-nitrophenol (NP) into aniline, 1,3-diaminobenzene and 4-aminophenol, respectively. The individual reduction rate Kobs for NB, DNB and NP were 0.168 h−1, 0.109 h−1 and 0.092 h−1, which were much higher than those of other Ag NPs-based materials. Moreover, the immobilization of 1–3 nm Ag NPs in 3D rGO-Ag NPs was stable during the whole reduction reaction without aggregation and leaching. The high stability of Ag NPs in 3D rGO-Ag NPs and superb performance on catalytic reduction of nitroaromatic compounds (NACs) could be concluded into ultrasonication influence in the preparation procedure and synergistic effect of Ag NPs and 3D rGO in the catalytic reduction process. The simple ultrasonication-assisted chemical reduction approach provided a scaled-up application prospect in catalytic reduction of NACs by metal nanoparticle catalysts.

Surface water is a vital and sometimes stressed resource in the U.S. The quantity of this resource is threatened by population shifts and growth concurrently with climate change intensification. Additionally, growing population centers can impact water quality by discharging treated wastewater effluent, which is typically of lower quality than its receiving surface waters. Depending on baseflow and environmental factors, this could decrease water quality. From a previous model prepared in our lab, this study can improve the understanding of water resource quality and quantity, surface water availability for the contiguous U.S. was estimated for each USGS Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC) during 2015. The Mississippi River generally served as a dividing line for surface water availability, with five of the six regions with very low water availability (<24,000 LD⁻¹Km⁻²) residing in the west. These same areas also experience more drought as well as more severe droughts than regions in the east. In regions with lower surface water flows, their water quality is more susceptible to the influence of wastewater effluent discharges, especially near large and growing population centers like San Antonio, Texas. A prediction model was established for this city, which found that from 2009 to 2017 wastewater effluent increased by 1.8%. As cities grow, especially in the Southwest and Western U.S. together with intensified climate change, surface water quantity and quality become more crucial to sustainability. This study shows where surface water availability is already an issue and provides a model to estimate, as well as project, wastewater effluent flows into surface water bodies.

The present study describes the physiological and biochemical mechanisms of zinc tolerance in two heterocytous cyanobacteria i.e. Anabaena doliolum and Anabaena oryzae, treated with their respective LC₅₀ concentrations of zinc (3 and 4.5 mg L⁻¹) for eight days. The feedbacks were examined in terms of growth, metabolism, zinc exclusion, zinc accumulation, oxidative stress, antioxidants and metallothionein contents. Although the growth and metabolic activities were reduced in both the cyanobacterium, maximum adversity was noticed in A. doliolum. The higher order of abnormalities in A. doliolum was attributed to excessive accumulation of zinc and enhanced reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. However, the comparatively higher growth and metabolic activities of A. oryzae were ascribed to the lower accumulation of zinc as a result of released polysaccharides mediated zinc exclusion, synthesis of zinc chelating metallothioneins and subsequent less production of ROS. The oxidative stress and macromolecular damages were prominent in both the cyanobacterium but the condition was much harsher in A. doliolum which may be explained by its comparatively low antioxidative enzyme activities (SOD, APX and GR) and smaller amount of ascorbate-glutathione-tocopherol contents than that of A. oryzae. However, sustenance of 50% growth by A. doliolum under zinc stress despite severe cellular damages was attributed to the enhanced synthesis of phenolics, flavonoids, and proline. Thus, differential zinc tolerance in A. doliolum and A. oryzae is possibly the outcome of their distinct mitigation strategies. Although the two test organisms followed pseudo second order kinetics model during zinc biosorption yet they exhibited differential zinc biosorption capacity. The cyanobacterium A. oryzae was found to be more efficient in removing zinc as compared to A. doliolum and this efficiency makes A. oryzae a promising candidate for the phycoremediation of zinc polluted environments.

In this study, response of the microbial communities associated with the bioremediation of crude oil contaminated marine sediments was addressed using sediment microbial fuel cells (SMFCs). Crude oil was spiked into marine sediments at 1 g/kg of dry sediment to simulate a heavily contaminated marine environment. Conventional SMFCs were used with carbon fiber brushes as the electrode components and were enhanced with ferric iron to stimulate electrochemically active bacteria. Controls were operated under open circuit with and without ferric iron stimulation, with the latter condition simulating natural attenuation. Crude oil removal in the Fe enhanced SMFCs reached 22.0 ± 5.5% and was comparable to the measured removal in the control treatments (19.2 ± 7.4% in natural attenuation SMFCs and 15.2 ± 2.7% in Fe stimulated open circuit SMFCs), indicating no major enhancement to biodegradation under the applied experimental conditions. The low removal efficiency could be due to limitations in the mass transfer of the electron donor to the microbes and the anodes. The microbial community structure showed similarity between the iron stimulated SMFCs operated under the open and closed circuit. Natural attenuation SMFCs showed a unique profile. All SMFCs showed high relative abundances of hydrocarbon degrading bacteria rather than anode reducers, such as Marinobacter and Arthrobacter in the case of the natural attenuation SMFCs, and Gordonia in the case of iron stimulated SMFCs. This indicated that the microbial structure during the bioremediation process was mainly determined by the presence of petroleum contamination and to a lesser extent the presence of the ferric iron, with no major involvement of the anode as a terminal electron acceptor. Under the adopted experimental conditions, the absence of electrochemically active microbes throughout the biodegradation process indicates that the use of SMFCs in crude oil bioremediation is not a successful approach. Further studies are required to optimize SMFCs systems for this aim.