Catherine Morlay

QSAR-like models: a potential tool for the selection of PhACs and EDCs for monitoring purposes in drinking water treatment systems--a review.

Recent studies have demonstrated the presence of trace-level pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) and endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) in a number of finished drinking waters (DWs). Since there is sparse knowledge currently available on the potential effects on human health associated with the chronic exposure to trace levels of these Emerging Contaminants (ECs) through routes such as DW, it is suggested that the most appropriate criterion is a treatment criterion in order to prioritize ECs to be monitored during DW preparation. Hence, only the few ECs showing the lowest removals towards a given DW Treatment (DWT) process would serve as indicators of the overall efficiency of this process and would be relevant for DW quality monitoring. In addition, models should be developed for estimating the removal of ECs in DWT processes, thereby overcoming the practical difficulties of experimentally assessing each compound. Therefore, the present review has two objectives: (1) to provide an overview of the recent scientific surveys on the occurrence of PhACs and EDCs in finished DWs; and (2) to propose the potential of Quantitative-Structure-Activity-Relationship-(QSAR)-like models to rank ECs found in environmental waters, including parent compounds, metabolites and transformation products, in order to select the most relevant compounds to be considered as indicators for monitoring purposes in DWT systems.

General Deposition of Metal–Organic Frameworks on Highly Adaptive Organic–Inorganic Hybrid Electrospun Fibrous Substrates

Electrospun nanofibrous mats are ideal substrates for metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) crystal deposition because of their specific structural parameters and chemical tenability. In this work, we utilized organic-inorganic hybrid electrospun fibrous mats as support material to study the deposition of various MOF particles. HKUST-1 and MIL-53(Al) were produced through solvothermal method, while ZIF-8 and MIL-88B(Fe) were prepared using microwave-induced heating method. The synthesis procedure for both methods were simple and effective because the hybrid nanofibrous mats showed considerable affinity to MOF particles and could be used without additional modifications. The obtained MOF composites exhibited effective incorporation between MOF particles and the porous substrates. MIL-53(Al) composite was applied as fibrous sorbent and showed enhanced adsorption capacity and removal rate, as well as easier operation, compared with thepowdered sample. Moreover, MIL-53(Al) composite was easier to be regenerated compared with powder form.

Performance evaluation of phosphorus removal by apatite in constructed wetlands treating domestic wastewater: column and pilot experiments

In constructed wetlands (CWs) treating domestic wastewater, good treatment performance is obtained on mains parameters except phosphorus (P) which can cause eutrophication problems. In order to improve P removal from wastewater with a low specific filter surface per person equivalent (pe), different materials have been tested: man-made and natural materials, industrial by-products, and a mixture of these materials. The P removal by natural apatite has been studied by only a limited amount of work. Apatite materials appear to possess high and long-term removal capacity, thus a better knowledge is needed to determine the quality of apatite to be used and the P removal evolution with time and water quality. In this work the P removal rates were studied in two different scales (lab-experiments and pilot units) on different apatite qualities. Removal rate in the pilot units was smaller than the one found in lab-scale columns and the results suggested that a security coefficient might be applied while designing the apatite filter.

Adsorption Kinetics of Fluroxypyr Herbicide in Aqueous Solution onto Granular Activated Carbon

Fluroxypyr is a widely used herbicide whose presence in natural waters has prompted research into its removal by adsorption. This article reports a kinetics study of fluroxypyr adsorption on a commercial activated carbon. The experimental study used a micro differential column batch reactor operated at three solution flow rates and two initial fluroxypyr concentrations, establishing a differential regime in order to obtain correct experimental data. Initial rates at zero coverage permitted the external transfer coefficient k L to be calculated. Internal surface diffusion coefficients D S were determined by using the Homogeneous Surface Diffusion Model running the FAST software and taking advantage of tabulated user-oriented solutions. This model satisfactorily fits the experimental data. D S values were 2.5 × 10−14 and 4.2 × 10−14 m2 s−1 for initial concentrations of 30 and 50 mg/L, respectively. These values were confirmed by experiments in a widely used shaken batch reactor with a determined k L value.