Jianyin Huang

Intercalative interaction of asymmetric copper(II) complex with DNA: Experimental, molecular docking, molecular dynamics and TDDFT studies

The intercalative interactions of small molecules with DNA are important in a variety of biological processes including mutagenesis, carcinogenesis, and chemotherapy. A comprehensive research protocol including experiments and calculations was employed to investigate the intercalative interaction between metallointercalator copper(II) complex and DNA. The intercalative binding mode has been validated by UV spectra, fluorescence spectra, CD spectra and viscosity measurements. The classical molecular dynamics simulation was carried out to investigate the intercalative interaction between asymmetric copper(II) complex and DNA. An analytical method was proposed to simulate the dynamically changing absorption spectra of intercalator/DNA system. According to the established model, the changing process of the electronic absorption spectra for intercalator/DNA system can be predicted accurately. A rational explanation for the change law of absorption spectra has been proposed. Moreover, the analyses of the frontier orbital reveal that the red shift of the absorption spectra is due to the increase of π orbital energy caused by the coupling of the π orbital of the intercalated ligand with the π orbital of DNA. This cause of red shift of spectra is completely different from the previous inference. All these insights are of crucial importance for correctly analyzing the absorption spectra of intercalative interaction, as well as for explaining the macroscopic phenomena observed in experiments at the molecular level.

Removing ammonium from water and wastewater using cost-effective adsorbents: A review.

Ammonium is an important nutrient in primary production; however, high ammonium loads can cause eutrophication of natural waterways, contributing to undesirable changes in water quality and ecosystem structure. While ammonium pollution comes from diffuse agricultural sources, making control difficult, industrial or municipal point sources such as wastewater treatment plants also contribute significantly to overall ammonium pollution. These latter sources can be targeted more readily to control ammonium release into water systems. To assist policy makers and researchers in understanding the diversity of treatment options and the best option for their circumstance, this paper produces a comprehensive review of existing treatment options for ammonium removal with a particular focus on those technologies which offer the highest rates of removal and cost-effectiveness. Ion exchange and adsorption material methods are simple to apply, cost-effective, environmentally friendly technologies which are quite efficient at removing ammonium from treated water. The review presents a list of adsorbents from the literature, their adsorption capacities and other parameters needed for ammonium removal. Further, the preparation of adsorbents with high ammonium removal capacities and new adsorbents is discussed in the context of their relative cost, removal efficiencies, and limitations. Efficient, cost-effective, and environmental friendly adsorbents for the removal of ammonium on a large scale for commercial or water treatment plants are provided. In addition, future perspectives on removing ammonium using adsorbents are presented.

Determining time-weighted average concentrations of nitrate and ammonium in freshwaters using DGT with ion exchange membrane-based binding layers

Commercially-available AMI-7001 anion exchange and CMI-7000 cation exchange membranes were utilised as binding layers for DGT measurements of NO3-N and NH4-N in freshwaters. These ion exchange membranes are easier to prepare and handle than DGT binding layers consisting of hydrogels cast with ion exchange resins. The membranes showed good uptake and elution efficiencies for both NO3-N and NH4-N. The membrane-based DGTs are suitable for pH 3.5-8.5 and ionic strength ranges (0.0001-0.014 and 0.0003-0.012 mol L-1 as NaCl for the AMI-7001 and CMI-7000 membrane, respectively) typical of most natural freshwaters. The binding membranes had high intrinsic binding capacities for NO3-N and NH4-N of 911 ± 88 μg and 3512 ± 51 μg, respectively. Interferences from the major competing ions for membrane-based DGTs are similar to DGTs employing resin-based binding layers but with slightly different selectivity. This different selectivity means that the two DGT types can be used in different types of freshwaters. The laboratory and field experiments demonstrated that AMI-DGT and CMI-DGT can be an alternative to A520E-DGT and PrCH-DGT for measuring NO3-N and NH4-N, respectively, as (i) membrane-based DGT have a consistent composition, (ii) avoid the use of toxic chemicals, (iii) provided highly representative results (CDGT : CSOLN between 0.81 and 1.3), and (iv) agreed with resin-based DGTs to within 85-120%.

Gas-Permeable Membrane-Based Conductivity Probe Capable of In Situ Real-Time Monitoring of Ammonia in Aquatic Environments

Aquatic ammonia has toxic effects on aquatic life. This work reports a gas-permeable membrane-based conductivity probe (GPMCP) developed for real-time monitoring of ammonia in aquatic environments. The GPMCP innovatively combines a gas-permeable membrane with a boric acid receiving phase to selectively extract ammonia from samples and form ammonium at the inner membrane interface. The rate of the receiving phase conductivity increase is directly proportional to the instantaneous ammonia concentration in the sample, which can be rapidly and sensitively determined by the embedded conductivity detector. A precalibration strategy was developed to eliminate the need for an ongoing calibration. The analytical principle and GPMCP performance were systematically validated. The laboratory results showed that ammonia concentrations ranging from 2 to 50 000 μg L-1 can be detected. The field deployment results demonstrated the GPMCPs ability to obtain high-resolution continuous ammonia concentration profiles and the absolute average ammonia concentration over a prolonged deployment period. By inputting the temperature and pH data, the ammonium concentration can be simultaneously derived from the corresponding ammonia concentration. The GPMCP embeds a sophisticated analytical principle with the inherent advantages of high selectivity, sensitivity, and accuracy, and it can be used as an effective tool for long-term, large-scale, aquatic-environment assessments.