Huining Zhang

Properties of iron-based mesoporous silica for the CWPO of phenol: a comparison between impregnation and co-condensation routes.

Iron-based mesoporous silica materials were prepared according to different impregnation and co-condensation procedures. Several complementary techniques, including XRD, TEM/EDX and nitrogen sorption isotherms were used to evaluate the final structural and textural properties of the calcined Fe/SBA-15 materials. While Fe(2)O(3) isolated particles of which the size is close to the silica pore diameter ( approximately 7-8 nm) were obtained using classical wet impregnation procedure, smaller iron oxide particles ( approximately 2-4 nm) homogeneously dispersed within the hexagonal pore structure of the SBA15 host support were generated by self-combustion of an impregnated iron-glycinic complex. By contrast, the various co-condensation routes used in this work were less efficient to generate iron oxide nanoparticles inside the silica mesopores. Catalytic performances of the materials were evaluated in the case of total phenol oxidation by H(2)O(2) in aqueous solution at ambient conditions. Large differences in terms of catalytic activity and iron species stability were observed. While the impregnated solids proved to be the most active catalysts (highest Fe(2)O(3) nanoparticles dispersion), iron leaching was observed in aqueous solution, accounting for a homogeneous catalytic contribution. In contrast, the co-condensed samples exhibiting larger iron oxide clusters stabilized over the silica surface proved more efficient as active sites in Fenton catalysis.

Aerobic denitrification: A review of important advances of the last 30 years

Understanding aerobic denitrification has become an important focus of environmental microbiology. Aerobic denitrification can be performed by various genera of microorganisms and describes the use of nitrate (NO3-) as oxidizing agents under an aerobic atmosphere. Isolation of aerobic denitrifiers, enzymes involved in aerobic denitrifiers, phylogenetic distribution of aerobic denitrifiers, factors affecting the performance of aerobic denitrifiers, attempts of applications and possible future trends are depicted. The periplasmic nitrate reductase is vital for aerobic denitrifiers and NapA gene may be the proof of aerobic denitrification. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that aerobic denitrifiers mainly belong to α-, β- and γ-Proteobacteria. Aerobic denitrifiers tend to work efficiently at 25 ~ 37°C and pH 7 ~ 8, when dissolved oxygen concentration is 3 ~ 5 mg/L and C/N load ratio is 5 ~ 10. In addition, recent progresses and applications on aerobic denitrifiers are described, including single aerobic reactors, sequencing batch reactor and biofilm reactors. The review attempts to shed light on the fundamental understanding in aerobic denitrification.

Functionalization of 4-aminothiophenol and 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane with graphene oxide for potential dye and copper removal

In this work, 4-aminothiophenol and 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane were firstly used to functionalize graphene oxide (GO) in order to promote the sorption efficiencies of methylene blue (MB) and copper (Cu(2+)). Characterization experiments illustrated that sulfydryl group (SH) and amino group (NH2) were existed onto 4-aminothiophenol modified GO (GO-SH) and 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane modified GO (GO-N), respectively. Adsorption isotherm results showed that the maximum adsorption capacities of MB by GO-SH and GO-N were 763.30 and 676.22mg/g, which was much higher than original GO 455.95mg/g. For Cu(2+) adsorption, the maximum adsorption capacities by GO-SH and GO-N were 99.17 and 103.28mg/g, suggesting that the engineered GO exhibited greater Cu(2+) sorption ability than original GO 32.91mg/g. Both MB and Cu(2+) removal rates increased with pH and adsorbent dosage increased, while the sorption rates weakly reduced with increasing ionic strength. The modification by SH and NH2 would not only increase the sorption sites, but also cause chelation with heavy metals, and thus improving the sorption capacities of MB and Cu(2+).

Removal performance and microbial communities in a sequencing batch reactor treating hypersaline phenol-laden wastewater.

Hypersaline phenol-rich wastewater is hard to be treated by traditional biological systems. In this work, a sequencing batch reactor was used to remove phenol from hypersaline wastewater. The removal performance was evaluated in response to the variations of operating parameters and the microbial diversity was investigated by 454 pyrosequencing. The results showed that the bioreactor had high removal efficiency of phenol and was able to keep stable with the increase of initial phenol concentration. DO, pH, and salinity also affected the phenol removal rate. The most abundant bacterial group was phylum Proteobacteria in the two working conditions, and class Gammaproteobacteria as well as Alphaproteobacteria was predominant subgroup. The abundance of bacterial clusters was notably different along with the variation of operation conditions, resulting in changes of phenol degradation rates. The high removal efficiency of phenol suggested that the reactor might be promising in treating phenol-laden industrial wastewater in high-salt condition.

Evaluation of heterogeneous photo-Fenton oxidation of Orange II using response surface methodology.

A mesoporous SBA-15 doped iron oxide (Fe2O3/SBA-15) was synthesized by co-condensation, characterized and used as heterogeneous catalysts for the photo-Fenton decolorization of azo dye Orange II under UV irradiation. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to investigate operating condition effects, such as hydrogen peroxide concentration, initial pH and catalyst loadings, on the decolorization rate. UV irradiation is found to enhance the activity of the catalyst in the process. RSM analysis evidenced the influence of the initial pH value and H2O2 concentration on the dye degradation rate. The coupled UV/Fe2O3/SBA-15/H2O2 process at room temperature is revealed as a promising friendly process for wastewater treatment. Indeed, the use of a heterogeneous catalyst allows an easy active phase recycling without multi-step recovering while the heterogeneous catalyst used here exhibits high catalytic activity for the reaction considered.

Cr(VI) removal by combined redox reactions and adsorption using pectin-stabilized nanoscale zero-valent iron for simulated chromium contaminated water

The synthetic pectin-stabilized nanoscale zero-valent iron was used to remove Cr(VI) from simulated chromium contaminated water. The Cr(VI) removal data were well fitted with the pseudo-first order kinetic equation. The observed pseudo-first order rate constant for Cr(VI) removal decreased from 0.0781 to 0.0413 min−1 when the pH increased from 3 to 9. When the initial Cr(VI) concentration increased from 20 to 80 mg L−1, the observed pseudo-first order rate constant decreased from 0.0645 to 0.0366 min−1. The Cr(VI) removal efficiency had obviously increased as the dose of pectin-stabilized nZVI increased from 0.02 to 0.10 g, and it increased from 0.0276 to 0.1159 min−1 as the temperature increased from 15 to 35 °C. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images proved that the presence of pectin successfully stabilized the nZVI particles and thus increased the BET specific surface area of nZVI. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses demonstrated that the mechanisms of Cr(VI) removal by pectin-stabilized nZVI were a combined process of redox reactions and adsorption.

Biosorption of Cr(VI) ions from aqueous solutions by a newly isolated Bosea sp. strain Zer-1 from soil samples of a refuse processing plant

The adsorption behavior of Cr(VI) ions from aqueous solution by a chromium-tolerant strain was studied through batch experiments. An isolate designated Zer-1 was identified as a species of Bosea on the basis of 16S rRNA results. It showed a maximum resistance to 550 mg·L(-1) Cr(VI). The effects of 3 important operating parameters, initial solution pH, initial Cr(VI) concentration, and biomass dose, were investigated by central composite design. On the basis of response surface methodology results, maximal removal efficiency of Cr(VI) was achieved under the following conditions: pH, 2.0; initial concentration of metal ions, 55 mg·L(-1); and biomass dose, 2.0 g·L(-1). Under the optimal conditions, the maximum removal efficiency of Cr(VI) ions was found to be nearly 98%. The experimental data exhibited a better fit with the Langmuir model than the Freundlich model. The biosorption mechanisms were investigated with pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order, and intraparticle diffusion kinetics models. These results revealed that biosorption of Cr(VI) onto bacterial biomass could be an alternative method for the removal of metal ions from aqueous solution.

Autotrophic denitrification with anaerobic Fe2+ oxidation by a novel Pseudomonas sp. W1

In the present study, a novel Pseudomonas sp. W1 was characterized in terms of its ability to perform nitrate removal coupled with anaerobic Fe⁻¹ oxidation under autotrophic growth condition. The effects of operating parameters with respect to the initial solution pH, temperature and initial Fe⁻¹ concentration on nitrate removal were investigated by central composite design. Based on the results of response surface methodology, the maximal nitrate removal efficiency was achieved under the following conditions: pH 7.0, temperature 30 °C and initial Fe⁻¹ concentration 1,100 mg L⁻¹. Under this optimal condition and with an initial NO(3)(-)-N concentration of 55 mg L⁻¹, this strain could remove NO(3)(-)-N with 90% reduction of NO(3)(-)-N, corresponding to oxidizing Fe⁻¹ with 71% oxidation of Fe⁻¹ after 7 days of incubation. The result of kinetic evaluation indicated that this bacterium showed significant substrate affinity to both NO(3)(-)-N and Fe⁻¹.