Activity

Carbon-encapsulated Fe nanocomposites (Fe@C), obtained by pyrolysis of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), can activate peroxymonosulfate (PMS) to remove emerging contaminants (ECs). Unfortunately, the current MOFs-derived catalysts always inevitably produce more iron-oxide compounds that unfavorable for PMS activation. In this work, according to the thermogravimetric curve of Fe(II)-MOF-74, to discuss the role of pyrolysis temperature on the structural characteristics of Fe@C. The results demonstrated that Fe@C-4 could obtain abundant coordinately unsaturated metal sites and exhibited the best activation performance. Radical-quenching experiments and EPR measurements confirm that the generated sulfate radical (SO4-˙) and singlet oxygen (1O2) only degraded approximately 35% of TBBPA. Meanwhile, negatively charged complex intermediates formed by the weak interaction between Fe@C-4 and PMS was proposed as the dominant reactive species, and approximately 65% of TBBPA was degraded. This work optimizes the synthesis strategy and mechanism of Fe@C and provides a methodological reference for the design of Fe-based catalysts.Microbial bioremediation has gained attention as a cheap, efficient, and sustainable technology to manage the increasing environmental pollution. Since microorganisms in nature are not evolved to degrade pollutants, there is an increasing demand for developing safer and more efficient pollutant-scavengers for enhanced bioremediation. In this review, we introduce the strategies and technologies developed in the field of synthetic biology and their applications to the construction of microbial scavengers with improved efficiency of biodegradation while minimizing the impact of genetically engineered microbial scavengers on ecosystems. In addition, we discuss recent achievements in the biodegradation of fastidious pollutants, greenhouse gases, and microplastics using engineered microbial scavengers. Using synthetic microbial scavengers and multidisciplinary technologies, toxic pollutants could be more easily eliminated, and the environment could be more efficiently recovered.Nanoplastics are an emerging topic and have attracted increasing attention due to their widespread existence and potential toxicity on living organisms. The challenges of analytical methods for nanoplastics hinder the deeper understanding of toxicological effects and risk assessment of nanoplastics. In this work, a custom-built electromagnetic heating pyrolyzer was coupled to mass spectrometry for the rapid analysis of nanoplastics. Nanoplastics/microplastics were collected on the heat-resisting filter papers, then directly decomposed into gaseous products in the pyrolyzer and analyzed by mass spectrometry. The polystyrene nanoparticles were used to verify the performance of mass-traced quantification, and recoveries of 106-121% and precision of 9% were obtained. As a proof-of-principle experiment, the saline solution packed by polypropylene infusion bottles was aged for simulating indoor sunlight storage, where nanoplastics/microplastics were analyzed. The abundance models of nanoplastics/microplastics in the saline infusion bottle with aging time were assessed from both quality and quantity, for the first time. Results showed that nanoplastics/microplastics in medical infusion products could be generated under indoor sunlight exposure, which needs more attention due to the potential health risks. The proposed electromagnetic heating pyrolysis-mass spectrometry could be a promising method for assessing nanoplastics/microplastics.Waste-derived biochar has been emerged as promising catalysts to activate peroxymonosulfate (PMS) for the degradation of organic contaminants. Herein, passion fruit shell derived biochar (PFSC) was prepared by a one-pot pyrolysis method and used as a metal-free catalyst to activate PMS for the degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride (TC). The batch experiments indicated that the pyrolysis temperature could influence the efficiency of PFSC for the activation of PMS. In the PFSC-900 (prepared at 900 °C)/PMS system, the degradation rate of TC can reach 90.91%. The quenching test and electron paramagnetic resonance spectra revealed that the high catalytic performance of PFSC-900/PMS system was mainly attributed to the non-free radical reaction pathway containing a carbon bridge, and the TC degradation was controlled primarily by singlet oxygen-mediated oxidation. Moreover, the carboxyl group of ketones and the graphite-N atoms on PFSC-900 are the possible active sites of the non-free radical pathway including direct electron transfer or the formation of O2•-/1O2. This study not only shows a new type of biochar as an efficient catalyst for PMS activation but also provides a way of value-added reuse of passion fruit shell.

Studies have observed associations between long-term air pollution and cardiovascular disease hospitalization. Little is known, however, about effect modification of these associations by greenness, temperature and humidity.

We constructed an open cohort consisting of all fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries, aged≥65, living in the contiguous US from 2000 through 2016 (~63 million individuals). We assigned annual average PM

, NO

and ozone zip code concentrations. Cox-equivalent Poisson models were used to estimate associations with first cardiovascular disease (CVD), coronary heart disease (CHD) and cerebrovascular disease (CBV) hospitalization.

PM

and NO

were both positively associated with CVD, CHD and CBV hospitalization, after adjustment for potential confounders. find more Associations were substantially stronger at the lower end of the exposure distributions. For CVD hospitalization, the hazard ratio (HR) of PM

was 1.041 (1.038, 1.045) per IQR increase (4.0µg/m

) in the full study population and 1.327 (1.305, 1.350) per IQR increase for a subgroup with annual exposures always below 10µg/m

PM

. Ozone was only positively associated with CVD, CHD and CBV hospitalization for the low-exposure subgroup (<40ppb). Associations of PM

were stronger in areas with higher greenness, lower ozone and O

, lower summer and winter temperature and lower summer and winter specific humidity.

PM

and NO

were positively associated with CVD, CHD and CBV hospitalization. Associations were more pronounced at low exposure levels. Associations of PM

were stronger with higher greenness, lower ozone and O

, lower temperature and lower specific humidity.

PM2.5 and NO2 were positively associated with CVD, CHD and CBV hospitalization. Associations were more pronounced at low exposure levels. Associations of PM2.5 were stronger with higher greenness, lower ozone and Ox, lower temperature and lower specific humidity.