The study examined the individual and combined effects of potassium ferrate(VI) additions and freeze-thaw conditioning for the treatment and dewatering of sludge samples. The first part of the experiments, using primary sludge, compared potassium ferrate(VI) additions prior to freeze-thaw treatment (pretreatment) versus potassium ferrate(VI) additions following freeze-thaw treatment (posttreatment). A low dose (LD) of 1.0 g/L and a high dose (HD) of 10.0 g/L of potassium ferrate(VI) were evaluated along with a freezing temperature of −20 °C and freezing periods of 1, 8 and 15 days. Following the designated freezing period, the samples were removed from the freezer and thawed at room temperature for 12 h. The second part of the study, using anaerobically digested sludge, evaluated the effects of potassium ferrate(VI) pretreatment, using LD = 0.5 g/L and HD = 5.0 g/L, and used simulated drainage beds to separate meltwater from the sludge cake during the thawing period. The study demonstrated that stand-alone freeze-thaw can reduce faecal coliform by >3-log after being frozen for only 1 day, and pretreatment with potassium ferrate(VI) can be used to improve the effects of freeze-thaw on faecal coliform inactivation in sludge. Furthermore, the drainability of the sludge following freeze-thaw was not significantly deteriorated when potassium ferrate(VI) was added to the sludge prior to freezing, despite greater than fourfold increases in the concentrations of soluble proteins and soluble carbohydrates. The meltwater collected during the sludge thawing was approximately 85 % of the initial sludge volume. When 5 g/L of potassium ferrate(VI) was added to the sludge prior to freezing, the meltwater collected had <0.28 MPN/mL faecal coliform, the turbidity was <10 NTU and the pH was 9.1. Pretreatment with potassium ferrate(VI) also reduced the concentration of faecal coliform in the sludge cake, suggesting that freeze-thaw coupled with potassium ferrate(VI) additions can be used to stabilise sludge and reduce sludge volume.

The kinetic trend for Cu extraction from contaminated soil through ethylenediamine-N,N′-disuccinic acid (EDDS)-enhanced soil washing is investigated. Long-term tests are conducted over 96 h at five different values of EDDS-Cu (M) molar ratio (mol/mol) and five different values of liquid-to-soil (L/S) ratio (v/w). The overall Cu extraction efficiency at different M ratios ranges from ≃47 to ≃60 % as the ratio increases from stoichiometric values to EDDS excess (M = 50). An increase in the L/S ratio generally leads to the Cu extraction efficiency decrease, from ≃60 % (L/S = 5) to ≃49 % (L/S = 45). The highest decrease of Cu extraction yield is observed while increasing the L/S ratio from 5 to 15, with negligible differences occurring as the L/S ratio increases further. The collected data show a two-step kinetic tendency during the extraction process, first characterized by a fast extraction kinetic which is followed by a slow extraction step. Two sets of experimental data are used for calibration and validation of a two-step mathematical model used to simulate Cu mobilization efficiency as a function of treatment time and M ratio. The proposed model is a useful tool for Cu extraction efficiency prediction and can be applied to improve the decision-making process regarding the EDDS-enhanced soil washing approach.

Herein, an efficient nano TiO₂-functionalized graphene oxide nanocomposite photocatalyst was readily prepared, using an ordinary solvothermal technique. It was noted that the as-prepared nanocomposite yielded a quadruple degradation capacity of the previously reported P25-graphene composite photocatalyst towards methylene blue (MB). To elucidate this, the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET)-specific surface area, conductivity, and water contact angle measurements were all carried out. It was found out that graphene oxide was endowed with nontrivial photocatalytic activity by increasing its content in the nanocomposite (from 1/100 to 1/9, with respect to the dosage of nano TiO₂). Overall, the nano TiO₂-functionalized graphene oxide nanocomposite is a promising candidate in applications of environment remediation.

Recently, persulfate (PS) has been applied to the oxidation of organic contaminants in wastewater, groundwater, and soil. However, PS requires activation by UV light, heat, transition metal, or pH control to be useful. In particular, transition metals are able to rapidly activate PS to sulfate radical. However, it is difficult to control the concentration of transition metal solution in an environmental setting. In this study, the potential of an electrochemical reaction using an iron anode to activate PS was investigated with phenol as a model contaminant. Based on Faraday’s law, Fe(II) generated by the electrochemical reaction was regularly supplied to the solution to activate PS to sulfate radical. The activation of PS was influenced by current intensity; however, excess Fe(II) decreased the oxidation rate of phenol because anodic oxidation-generated Fe(II) also scavenged sulfate radical. However, the electrochemical reaction using the iron anode could be readily controlled to supply an optimal amount of Fe(II) for activation of PS. Therefore, it is expected that this electrochemical process using an iron anode could be useful for the effective removal of phenol.

The previous studies indicated that Tychonema-like strains from Lake Erhai could release geosmin so that the species was listed as the potential harmful cyanobacteria influencing the drinking water safety around Lake Erhai. But, the dynamics and biological information of this species were too limited. In this study, the polyphasic approach was used to reveal its biological characterization and the dynamics in Lake Erhai. The characters of trichomes, including filaments with solitary or bundle state, reddish-brown or blue-green color, planktonic habitat, and presence of keritomized content, were examined by the microscopic method. The 16S rDNA sequences of these strains were used for phylogenetic analysis and molecular identification. The strains were morphologically classified as Tychonema bourrellyi, and geosmin and β-ionone were identified as the major volatile substances using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. No strains of T. bourrellyi were found to produce microcystin by the HPLC and mcy gene approaches. Cell numbers at 12 sampling sites in Lake Erhai were shown as an average of 3 × 10⁴ cells L⁻¹ in 2009 and 2010. The obvious peaks occurred in July and August each year. This was the first report on occurrence of T. bourrellyi from outside of Europe, and T. bourrellyi was also a newly recorded species in China. Such a result demonstrated that T. bourrellyi could distribute extending from cold waters in North Europe to the warm waters in subtropical regions. It was interesting to observe the coincidence of the occurrence of T. bourrellyi with slightly eutrophicated waters since Lake Erhai had been regarded as an early phase of eutrophicated lake.

The Platanus fruit fibers (PFFs) with unique hollow tubular structures were successfully utilized in the preparation of an efficient oil sorbents for the first time by chemical modification with acetic anhydride. The structure and morphology of the pristine PFFs (p-PFFs) and acetylated PFFs (a-PFFs) were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The effects of acetic anhydride to PFFs ratio, catalyst concentration, reaction temperature, and time on the weight percent gain (WPG) and oil sorption capacity were particularly investigated in detail. The results showed the hydrophobic modification of p-PFFs contributed to the enhancement of the sorption capacity of a-PFFs for various oils and organic solvents. The sorption kinetic analysis indicated the oil sorption data were fitted well with a pseudo-second-order kinetic model. And the oil-filled a-PFFs exhibited high oil retention ability with less than 30 % of the sorbed oil lost after 2-h dripping. Moreover, a-PFFs showed little loss of initial sorption capacities after eight sorbing/desorbing cycles with the recovery of sorbents by n-hexane extraction. The natural renewable a-PFFs are proved to be a promising candidate for large-scale removal of spilled oils from water.

This study aims at understanding characteristics of current traffic pollution at roadsides and to assess the use of magnetic parameters for a cost-efficient monitoring concept. We conducted a systematic monitoring study of roadside pollution at three sites in southern Germany and one site at Lanzhou/China. For this purpose, we installed ground-based monitoring boxes filled with clean quartz sand at different distances (1, 2, and 4 m) from the road. Mass-specific magnetic susceptibility (χ), heavy metal (HM) contents, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentrations all showed decreasing values with distance to the roadside. The temporal variations over 2 years of monitoring reveal an overall increasing trend but differences in depth migration due to seasonal effects (i.e., precipitation). A magnetite-like phase turned out to be responsible for the enhancement of χ. Significant positive correlations between χ and total PAHs as well as HMs for the German sites suggest that χ—which can be measured fast and convenient—can be used as a proxy for traffic-derived PAH and HM pollution. However, in the much drier region of Lanzhou, the relationship of χ with HMs is much weaker, which might be caused by specific materials used in road construction and heavy vehicles. From the obtained results, we conclude that an appropriate roadside monitoring procedure based on magnetic signatures should best use a single thin (1–2 cm) layer of clean quartz sand protected against lateral material translocation.

Phytoextraction has been proposed as an alternative remediation technology for heavy metal contamination, and it is well known that chelators may alter the toxicity of heavy metals and the bioavailability in plants. Our previous work demonstrated that an adsorbent-column chromatography can effectively separate melanoidin-like product (MLP) from sugarcane molasses. The aim of this study was to examine the chelating property of MLP and to evaluate the facilitatory influence on the phytoextraction efficiency of Japanese radish. The result showed that MLP binds to all the metal ions examined and the binding capacity of MLP toward Cu²⁺ seems to be the highest among them. The metal detoxification by MLP followed the order of Pb²⁺ > Zn²⁺ > Ni²⁺ > Cu²⁺ > Fe²⁺ > Cd²⁺ > Co²⁺. Furthermore, in the phytoextraction experiment using copper sulfate, the application of MLP accelerated the detoxification of copper and the bioavailability in radish sprouts. Thus, these results suggest that MLP possesses the potential for an accelerator of phytoextraction in the copper-contaminated media.

Toxic metal-contaminated water is a major threat to sustainable agriculture and environment. Plants have the natural ability to absorb and concentrate essential elements in its tissues from water solution, and this ability of plants can be exploited to remove heavy/toxic metals from the contaminated water. For this purpose, two plants Veronica anagallis-aquatica and Epilobium laxum were hydroponically studied. The effect of different fertilizers (NPK) and plant growth regulators (GA₃ and IAA) were evaluated on growth, biomass, free proline, phenolics, and chlorophyll contents, and their role in Cd phytoaccumulation was investigated. Results showed that in both plants, fertilizer addition to media (treatment T4) produced the highest significant increase in growth, biomass (fresh and dry), cadmium concentration, proline, phenolics, and chlorophyll concentrations. The significant effect of GA₃ in combination with NPK foliar spray (treatment T12) was observed on most of the growth parameters, Cd concentration, and proline and phenolic contents of the plants. The free proline and total phenolics showed positive correlation with cadmium concentration within plant tissues. Proline showed significantly positive correlation with phenolic contents of root and shoot. Veronica plant demonstrated the hyperaccumulator potential for cadmium as bioconcentration factor (BCF >1) which was much higher than 1, while Epilobium plant showed non-hyperaccumulator potential. It is recommended for further study to investigate the role of Veronica plant for other metals and to study the role of phenolics and proline contents in heavy metal phytoextraction by various plant species.

Bombyx mori L. (B. mori) were exposed to cadmium chloride (CdCl₂) incorporated in an artificial diet (0, 6.25, 12.5, 25, and 50 mg kg⁻¹) throughout the larval stage. Changes in malondialdehyde (MDA) and reduced glutathione (GSH) contents and activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), as well as their corresponding messenger RNA (mRNA) levels in the testes of the fifth instar larvae were evaluated. Additionally, spermatozoon deformation in the testes was examined. Upon Cd treatment, the MDA content in the testes was significantly increased in a concentration-dependent manner. Cd-exposed larvae had increased levels of glutathione. Pearson’s correlation analysis revealed that SOD and CAT activities were positively correlated (R ² = 0.605, P = 0.017). The changing trends in the mRNA levels of these enzymes were not always consistent with those of enzymatic activities. Alterations in GSH-Px activities and mRNA levels were positively correlated (R ² = 0.771, P < 0.01). Morphological analysis revealed that Cd deformed and affected the maturation of spermatozoa. Our results collectively support a relationship between Cd and alterations in the levels of antioxidant enzymes in B. mori testes.