This paper investigates the asymmetric impact of energy consumption and carbon dioxide (CO₂) intensity on the environmental quality in Russia. The ecological footprint (a proxy for environmental quality) was used as a dependent variable, while independent variables include energy consumption, CO₂ intensity, and gross fixed capital formation as a proxy of capital for time series data spanning from 1992 to 2016. To examine the asymmetric cointegration between the selected variables, the nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) method was used. The structural break unit root and BDS tests were used to check data stationarity and nonlinearity, respectively. Besides, the asymmetric causality test in Gauss software was employed to check the causal relationship among the variables. Among the considered variables, the asymmetric cointegration was found. A significant unidirectional symmetric causality was found running from energy consumption to ecological footprint (Wald test = 3.956*) and from ecological footprint to capital (Wald test = 10.115**), while asymmetrically, ecological footprint granger cause energy consumption (Wald test = 6.054**) and capital (Wald test = 6.739**) respectively. On the contrary, a neutral effect was found between environmental quality and CO₂ intensity. From these findings, environmental policies are also discussed. Specifically, policymakers should support modern, controlled emission technologies, including nuclear and renewable energy sources and green portfolio investment. Graphical abstract

Potassium (K), along with nitrogen and phosphorus, is an essential resource to ensure agricultural productivity and, therefore, food security around the world. However, diminishing physical reserves of potash salts and high-price volatility of potassium chloride, the main source of K to agricultural soils, has raised concerns about a K scarcity scenario, mainly in countries that depend on fertilizer imports to sustain its production. In this context, Brazil is one of the main agricultural producers in the world, having a major role in the global K flows, since the country sustains its production by a high consumption of imported K fertilizers. In order to seek opportunities to contribute to a more sustainable management of K resources, tools such as the material flow analysis (MFA) can be used to highlight the main K stocks and flows in a country scale, and identify options for reuse and recycle. This study proposed a MFA of K for Brazil, considering the base-year 2013. A total of forty-four flows and seven stocks were identified and quantified considering nine main processes related to human activity. According to the results, for the year of study, the main inputs of K in Brazil were in the form of fertilizers (4.1 × 10³ Gg of K per year), and the main outputs were in the form of grain exports (9.1 × 10² Gg of K per year). Agricultural soils were the main stock for K in the country, and from the total flow of 7.3 × 10³ Gg of K per year applied to soils, 67% came out as agricultural products, 13% was lost through erosion and leaching, and 20% remained in the soils. The flow of K actually consumed by the Brazilian population was 3.5 × 10² Gg of K per year, just 8.4% of the total food produced in the country. About 1.9 × 10³ Gg of K per year has been lost to the environment in sewage streams and solid landfill waste. Prospects for more sustainable K management in the country are identified and discussed.

Battery electric vehicles (BEV) have become the most effective and environmentally friendly means to replace internal combustion vehicles. However, given the fact that BEV are a relatively new product category, and the majority of car users have little experience of using BEV, consumers often have a misconception about BEV, and thus tend to avoid purchasing an electric vehicle. This paper aims to explore the role of customer experience and demonstrate how this experience affects the adoption willingness of BEV. Based on driving experience and the theory of planned behavior, the authors constructed a framework of influencing factors for electric vehicle adoption willingness with the incorporation of consumer experience as the antecedents of adoption willingness. Using sample data from Jiangsu province, China, our empirical analysis shows that the mean values of the subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, attitudes, and adoption willingness of experienced consumers are significantly higher than those of inexperienced consumers. Further, the adoption willingness is positively influenced by experience through direct and indirect paths, which confirms the significant mediating effects of subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and attitudes (battery life, cruising range, low noise, and low emission).

Vachellia campechiana (Mill Seigler & Ebinger) is widely distributed in Mexico and is a dominant species of tailings in Huautla, in the state of Morelos, Mexico. Mining activities carried out in this region generated about 780 thousand tons of bioavailable heavy metal waste (HMs) that were deposited in the environment without any treatment. This study evaluates the bioaccumulation capacity and morphological changes of V. campechiana growing during 1 year in control or tailing substrates (treatments) under greenhouse conditions. The concentration of six HMs was also measured in roots, leaves, and seeds by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Five metals showed a similar bioaccumulation pattern in the roots and leaves of V. campechiana grown in both substrates: Pb > Fe > Cr > Cu > Zn. The concentrations of Cr, Cu, and Pb were significantly higher in the roots and leaves of individuals growing on the exposed substrate. The presence of essential metals (Cu, Fe, Zn) was only recorded in the seeds, with similar concentrations in both treatments. Seventeen of 18 morphological characters evaluated in V. campechiana decreased in plants exposed to metals. Pb, Cu, and Fe showed a bioconcentration factor greater than one in roots and leaves. The translocation factor showed the following pattern: Cr > Cu = Pb. In conclusion, V. campechiana is a candidate species to phytoremediate environments contaminated with Pb, Cr, and Cu due to its ability to establish itself and turn into the dominant plant species in polluted sites, its ability to bioaccumulate non-essential metals in roots and leaves, and its high rate of HMs translocation.

Tebuconazole is a broad-spectrum fungicide extensively used worldwide for the control of many diseases such as powdery mildew and scab in apple, early blight of tomato, anthracnose of chilli, white rot and purple blotch of onion etc. Maximum residue level of this compound has not been worked out on these crops in India; the persistence and dissipation kinetics of tebuconazole on apple, tomato, chilli and onion were studied following three foliar applications of the formulation Folicur 430 SC at a standard dose (X) 322, 268.75, 215 and 215 g a.i./ha and at double dose (2X) 645, 537.5, 430 and 430 g a.i./ha, respectively, to work out the safe waiting periods and half-life period of tebuconazole. Extraction was done using QuEChERS method and cleanup by using dispersive solid-phase method. Tebuconazole residues were estimated on gas chromatograph-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The recovery of tebuconazole in fortified matrix was above 90% with a limit of quantification (LOQ) at 0.05 mg kg⁻¹. The initial deposits of tebuconazole on apple at two locations under study ranged from 1.986–2.011 mg kg⁻¹at X dose to 3.698–3.843 mg kg⁻¹ at 2X dose. The initial deposits in tomato, chilli and onion were 1.129, 1.760 and 1.169 mg kg⁻¹ at X dose and 2.213, 2.784 and 2.340 mg kg⁻¹, respectively at the 2X dose. Dissipation of the fungicide followed first-order of kinetics and the half life of degradation ranged from 1.30–2.25 days at X dose to 1.40–2.62 days at 2X days on different crops under study. Residues declined below the determination limit (LOQ) of 15 and 20 days after spraying, respectively, at X and 2X dose in apple; 7 and 10 days in tomato; 10 and 15 days in chilli and onion. Waiting periods of 5, 2, 7 and 12 days, respectively, are suggested for apple, tomato, chilli and onion at 2X dose.

Char-based adsorbents (char-FeCl₃, char-FeCl₂, and char-FeCit) derived from cotton textile waste (CTW) were synthesized by one-step low-temperature pyrolysis approach with different iron salts. The properties of the samples were conducted by BET, SEM, EDS, XRD, XPS, TEM, and FTIR. The results suggested that the surface areas of char-FeCl₃ and char-FeCl₂ were higher than those of char-FeCit. The presence of Fe₂O₃ as well as pyrolysis gas (HCl (g) and H₂O (g)) could catalyze the formation of porosity. Meanwhile, FeCl₃ showed the strongest catalysis effect to decompose cellulose to produce char. The pyrolysis process analysis was investigated by means of thermogravimetry-DSC. FeCl₃ and FeCl₂ could accelerate the breakage of cellulose structure whereas FeC₆H₅O₇ was not beneficial to form char at low temperature as the incomplete decomposition of citrate. The adsorption property of Cr(VI) for the chars was evaluated. Adsorption processes were fitted well with the Freundlich model, and char-FeCl₃ presented the best adsorptive capacity (70.39 mg/g). Thus, this low-temperature pyrolysis method was economical and technologically simplified as well as efficient adsorption capacity of Cr(VI) removal. Graphical abstract

Diesel particle filter (DPF) has been widely acknowledged as the most effective way to mitigate particulate matter emitted from diesel engines. Over time, ash mainly derived from lubricating oil will deposit in DPF, showing negative influence to engine performance, fuel economy, service life of DPF, and so on. Recently, the investigation about DPF backpressure characteristics and DPF regeneration process considering ash has gained attention. As a porous material, ash will play a key role in the DPF permeability. Thus, the pore morphology and fractal dimension of ash derived from three kinds of lube are addressed in this work. The results show that the changing tendency of the micropore specific surface and pore volume is consistent with the ash content in lubricant oil, which is owing to the chemical interaction of Ca and S contained in the oil during the complex DPF regeneration. There is no significant changing tendency of the mesopore and macropore properties because of the heterogeneity and complexity of ash. According to the fractal analyses, the Avnir equation shows excellent predictive accuracy for the pore surface fractal dimension of ash, which reflects that the ash pore surfaces are irregular.

A new highly efficient rGO/ZnBi₂O₄ hybrid catalyst has been successfully synthesized through oxidation-reduction and co-precipitation methods, followed by heating at 450 °C. The obtained rGO/ZnBi₂O₄ catalyst was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The catalytic activity of rGO/ZnBi₂O₄ under visible light irradiation was tested using 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) in aqueous solution. The rGO/ZnBi₂O₄ hybrid catalyst containing 2% rGO (2.0rGO/ZnBi₂O₄) showed the best catalytic performance. More than 90% of 2,4-D in a 30 mg/L solution was degraded after 120 min of visible light irradiation using 2.0rGO/ZnBi₂O₄ at 1.0 g/L concentration. Moreover, the 2.0rGO/ZnBi₂O₄ catalyst showed excellent stability over four consecutive cycles, with no significant changes in the photocatalytic degradation rate. This study demonstrated that rGO/ZnBi₂O₄ may be a promising, low-cost, and green photocatalyst for environmental remediation applications.

Fe₃O₄ NPs are synthesized by the co-precipitation technique. Moreover, the pristine was coated by silica layer and then functionalized by 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTS). The sample possessed saturation magnetization with value equals 37 emu/g which made them to easily separate using external magnet. FT-IR, TGA, EDX, and VSM confirmed the aminosilane loading. The surface topography and composition were characterized using XRD, TEM, SEM, BJH, and BET methods. Where adsorption capacity of the surface toward the removal of four commercial reactive wool dyes (RD), Itowol black (IB), Itowol Red (IR), Sunzol black (SB), and Lanasol blue (LB) have been investigated. The influence variables such as pH, adsorbent dose, dye concentration, and temperature were calculated. Where experimental results fitted to Langmuir isotherm model with qₘₐₓ equals 161.29, 151.51, 123.45, and 98.20 mg/g, for IR, LB, SB, and IB respectively. The results showed that the RD adsorption described by pseudo-second-order kinetics. The calculated thermodynamic parameters indicated that RD adsorption onto Fe₃O₄@SiO₂–NH₂ was spontaneous and exothermic in nature. The possible mechanisms monitoring RD adsorption on the surface included hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interactions. The reusability of adsorbent carried with four cycles without releasing of magnetite and thus excluding the potential hazardous of nanomaterial to the environment. Graphical abstract

With the rapid development in nanoscience and nanotechnology, rare earth oxide nanomaterials (REO-NMs) have been increasingly used due to their unique physical and chemical characteristics. Despite the increasing applications of REO NPs, scarce information is available on their detrimental effects. In the current study, we investigate the toxic effect of ytterbium oxide nanoparticles (Yb₂O₃ NPs) in mouse model by using various techniques including inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) analysis over 30 days of exposure. Furthermore, we elucidated lung lavage fluid of mice for biochemical and cytological analysis, and lung tissues for histopathology to interpret the NP side effects. We observed a significant concentration of Yb₂O₃ NPs accumulated in the lung, liver, kidney, and heart tissues. Similarly, increased bioaccumulation of Yb content was found in the olfactory bulb compared to other reigns of brain. The cytological analysis of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) revealed a significant elevation in the percentage of neutrophils and lymphocytes. Biochemical analysis showed an instilled Yb₂O₃ NPs, showing signs of oxidative damage through up-regulation of 60–87% of MDA while down-regulation of 20–40% of GSH-PX and GSH content. The toxicity pattern was more evident from histopathological observations. These interpretations provide enough evidence of bioaccumulation of Yb₂O₃ NPs in mice tissues. Overall, our findings reveal that acute exposure of Yb₂O₃ NPs through intranasal inhalation may cause toxicity via oxidative stress, which leads to a chronic inflammatory response. Graphical abstract Graphical illustrations of experimental findings.