Review
Microbiology
Kristine Grace M. Cabugao, Sara Gushgari-Doyle, Stephany S. Chacon, Xiaoqin Wu, Amrita Bhattacharyya, Nicholas Bouskill, Romy Chakraborty
Summary: Understanding the mechanisms and pathways of microbial transformation of natural organic matter (NOM) is crucial for comprehending microbial impacts on the global carbon cycle. The capillary fringe of subsurface soils is a dynamic and poorly understood environment. Integration of analytical and omics techniques allows for connecting chemical signatures with microbial genes and pathways, enabling comprehensive characterization of terrestrial NOM formation, transformation, and mineralization influenced by microbial communities.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Shanshan Dong, Yasu Gong, Zhenxing Zeng, Suhua Chen, Jing Ye, Zhenyu Wang, Dionysios D. Dionysiou
Summary: Removing refractory organic pollutants in real water using photocatalysis is challenging due to the quenching effect of dissolved organic matter (DOM) on photogenerated holes. This study presents a hydrogen bonding strategy to prevent hole quenching and even promote the photocatalytic degradation of refractory organic pollutants by forming hydrogen bonds between DOM and a hydroxylated S-scheme heterojunction photocatalyst. The formed hydrogen network stabilizes the excited-state of DOM and improves electron-hole separation, leading to the generation of more reactive oxygen species for pollutant removal.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yi-Pin Lin, I-Chia Li, Ping- Chou
Summary: This study investigated the dissolution of suspended PbS, CuS, and ZnS with varying levels of adsorbed NOM, revealing that NOM can either promote or inhibit the dissolution of metal sulfides, depending on the specific metal involved.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Ruifeng Wang, Hongyou Wan, Beibei Wang, Kehao Zhang, Huanhuan Shi, Wei Zhang, Jianwei Tang, Hailong Wang, Shixiang Gao, Qingguo Huang
Summary: The electrooxidation performance of Ti4O7 anode on coexisting CAP and NOM was systematically investigated. The removal of CAP followed pseudo-first-order kinetics, achieving 72.42% removal and 40.79% mineralization in 60 minutes using 5 mA cm-2. CAP's efficient degradation was attributed to the combined action of center dot OH attack and DET reaction. The feasibility of Ti4O7 anode electrooxidation to remove CAP antibiotics and organic matter from water was proven.
SEPARATION AND PURIFICATION TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Fuhar Dixit, Pranav Chintalapati, Benoit Barbeau, Mengqi Han, Thomas Riley Rodney Whittaker, Madjid Mohseni
Summary: The study shows that the combined application of ion exchange resins and vacuum ultraviolet light can effectively remove organic matter and microcystin-LR from natural waters, improving the degradation rate of MCLR. By pre-treating with IX resins, a significant reduction in energy consumption and chlorine demand for surface waters was achieved.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Bicai Li, Xuan Lin, Ziying Qi, Meng Dong, Caiyun Gao, Hong Zhang, Zhicheng Li
Summary: In this study, ZnO-rGO composite catalysts with different morphologies were successfully synthesized using a two-step hydrothermal method. The degradation efficiency of dissolved organic matter (DOM) under ultraviolet light was higher for ZnO-rGO composites compared to pure ZnO powder. The heterostructure formed by coating rGO on the ZnO surface was beneficial for accelerating electron separation and inhibiting electron recombination.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Joeri Kaal, Asier Goni-urtiaga, Philip Wenig, Medina Veliu, Eduardo Moreno-Jimenez, Cesar Plaza, Marco Panettieri
Summary: The rapid accumulation of plastics in the environment has created the need for methods to accurately identify synthetic organic matter in samples dominated by natural organic matter. This study investigated the molecular composition of mixtures of peat with several synthetic polymers and found that pyrolysis-GC-MS and thermally assisted hydrolysis and methylation are effective tools for identifying and quantifying the accumulation of synthetic organic matter without the need to remove natural organic matter. However, quantification is challenging due to inconsistent trends in marker signals.
JOURNAL OF ANALYTICAL AND APPLIED PYROLYSIS
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Hiua Daraei, Edoardo Bertone, John Awad, Rodney A. Stewart, Christopher W. K. Chow, Jinming Duan, John Van Leeuwen
Summary: This study investigated the application of enhanced coagulation (EnC) as a water treatment process for disinfection by-product control. Various analytical techniques were used to study dissolved organic matter (DOM) characteristics and the removal trends of different parameters with increasing alum dosing. The results showed that absorbance at around 230 nm and fluorescence EEM data near Peak C had the highest correlations with enhanced dose. The study also assessed the potential of different water quality analysis techniques for EnC process monitoring and alum dose control.
JOURNAL OF WATER PROCESS ENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
H. Bouyarmane, C. El Bekkali, J. Labrag, I. Es-saidi, O. Bouhnik, H. Abdelmoumen, A. Laghzizil, J-M Nunzi, D. Robert
Summary: TiO2-hydroxyapatite nanocomposites were prepared and tested for drug degradation under UV light. They showed efficient adsorption and photocatalytic degradation of ciprofloxacin and ofloxacin in water, with higher efficiency at high TiO2 content.
SURFACES AND INTERFACES
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Nianzhi Jiao, Jihua Liu, Bethanie Edwards, Zongqing Lv, Ruanhong Cai, Yongqin Liu, Xilin Xiao, Jianning Wang, Fanglue Jiao, Rui Wang, Xingyu Huang, Bixi Guo, Jia Sun, Rui Zhang, Yao Zhang, Kai Tang, Qiang Zheng, Farooq Azam, John Batt, Wei-Jun Cai, Chen He, Gerhard J. Herndl, Paul Hill, David Hutchins, Julie LaRoche, Marlon Lewis, Hugh MacIntyre, Luca Polimene, Carol Robinson, Quan Shi, Curtis A. Suttle, Helmuth Thomas, Douglas Wallace, Louis Legendre
Summary: The study found that chemical oxygen demand (COD) is not an appropriate proxy for assessing the microbial degradability of organic matter in aquatic environments, and recommends the replacement of COD with an optode-based biological oxygen demand method.
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Xuan Cuong Nguyen, Youngmin Seo, Ho-Yeon Park, Most Shirina Begum, Byung Joon Lee, Jin Hur
Summary: Dissolved organic matter (DOM) from different sources can cause environmental issues in agricultural watersheds, and effective source-tracking tools are needed for proper management. Fluorescence excitation-emission matrix (EEM) spectroscopy has been widely used to investigate DOM composition. In this study, optimal ML models based on EEM data outperformed defined fluorescence indices and conventional source tracking methods, with support vector regression (SVR) achieving the best performance.
ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION
(2023)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Belisa A. Marinho, Luka Suhadolnik, Blaz Likozar, Matej Hus, Ziva Marinko, Miran Ceh
Summary: This article provides a comprehensive review of photo-and electrocatalytic techniques for the removal of pharmaceuticals from water and wastewaters. It discusses the analytical and toxicity methods commonly used in studying pharmaceutical degradation. The principles and practical applications of photocatalysis, electrocatalysis, and photoelectrocatalysis are presented, along with examples. The limitations and advantages of these techniques are discussed, as well as alternatives to overcome these limitations.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2022)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Danping Li, Rongfang Yuan, Beihai Zhou, Huilun Chen
Summary: Four types of molecularly imprinted TiO2 photocatalysts exhibited different selectivity for sulfonamide antibiotics. The degradation rate constants of SD ranged from 0.0789 to 0.1051 min-1, while the removal rate constants of SMX varied from 0.1076 to 0.5848 min-1. The major transformation pathways of SAs involved bond cleavage, hydroxylation, ring-opening, oxidation, and deamination. The novel MIP-TiO2/SN and MIP-TiO2/AN showed excellent catalytic abilities with less byproducts formed.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Zhijie Chen, Wei Wei, Xiaoqing Liu, Bing-Jie Ni
Summary: This review comprehensively examines recent progress in electrochemical identification and removal of MPs/NPs in urban waters, focusing on sensing principles, methods, and critical parameters. It discusses the potential of electrochemical technologies for efficient management of future MPs/NPs pollution in urban waters.
Review
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Elena Hipper, Michaela Blech, Dariush Hinderberger, Patrick Garidel, Wolfgang Kaiser
Summary: This review addresses the analytical aspects of investigating photo-oxidation products and related mediators using established and novel techniques.
Review
Chemistry, Physical
Fuwei Xiang, Fang Cheng, Yongjiang Sun, Xiaoping Yang, Wen Lu, Rose Amal, Liming Dai
Summary: This article comprehensively reviews the fundamentals and recent progresses of flexible batteries in terms of battery constituent components, chemistry systems, device configurations, and practical applications. The current challenges and future opportunities for the research and development of flexible batteries are also discussed.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Huabo Liu, Jiaxing Liang, John Watt, Richard D. Tilley, Rose Amal, Da-Wei Wang
Summary: In this study, a facile and scalable electrochemical deposition method for synthesizing quasi-layered conductive organic-inorganic hybrid films with controllable thickness and size was demonstrated. The films exhibited high gravimetric density and excellent capacitance performance, suggesting their great potential for electrochemical energy storage applications. The charge storage mechanism of the films was identified to be ion intercalation accompanied by change in oxidation states of the polymer backbone.
Review
Chemistry, Analytical
Zhining Shi, Christopher W. K. Chow, Rolando Fabris, Jixue Liu, Bo Jin
Summary: Online UV-Vis spectrophotometers are important for continuous water quality monitoring and rapid response to changes, with the need for further research on industrial-scale applications and potential solutions for online water quality monitoring instruments.
Review
Environmental Sciences
Sharif Hossain, Christopher W. K. Chow, David Cook, Emma Sawade, Guna A. Hewa
Summary: Nitrification is a significant challenge in chloraminated drinking water systems, leading to the loss of disinfectant residual and adverse effects on water quality. Monitoring and controlling nitrification require microbiological tests or assessment of surrogate parameters. Strategies to manage nitrification include controlling factors that affect monochloramine decay and ammonium substrate availability, but these strategies may increase disinfection-by-products levels.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Civil
Wei Fan, Yan Zhuge, Xing Ma, Christopher W. K. Chow, Nima Gorjian, Danda Li
Summary: This study investigates the effectiveness and efficiency of using CAC-GGBFS blended SHCC to retrofit damaged RCP. The experimental results show that the ultimate load-carrying capacity of the retrofitted RCP increased up to 50.6% compared to the original RCP, and the retrofitted pipe acted monolithically with the lining material.
THIN-WALLED STRUCTURES
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Sharif Hossain, Guna A. Hewa, Christopher W. K. Chow, David Cook
Summary: This study compares two different approaches to model monochloramine decay in a water distribution system. The results suggest that the data analytics model has relatively higher accuracy in predicting monochloramine residual concentrations.
Review
Chemistry, Physical
Amir A. E. Elseady, Ivan Lee, Yan Zhuge, Xing Ma, Christopher W. K. Chow, Nima Gorjian
Summary: This paper reviews the fundamental concepts of piezoresistivity and AC impedance spectroscopy, as well as the comparison of equivalent circuit models of cement-based sensors found in the literature. It introduces concepts such as piezoresistivity theory, factors affecting piezoresistivity measurement, resistance measurement methodology, strain/damage sensing, causes of piezoresistivity, theories of conduction, AC impedance spectroscopy theory, and the equivalent circuit model. The aim of this review is to provide a comprehensive guide for researchers and practitioners interested in exploring and applying different techniques to self-sensing concrete.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Mahmoud Khedher, John Awad, Erica Donner, Barbara Drigo, Rolando Fabris, Martin Harris, Kalan Braun, Christopher W. K. Chow
Summary: This study investigated the feasibility of using the Flocculation Index (FI) as a control parameter to optimize turbidity removal. The results indicate that the FI can be used as an alternative parameter for optimizing the coagulation process.
JOURNAL OF WATER PROCESS ENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Sonali Pandithawatta, Seungjun Ahn, Raufdeen Rameezdeen, Christopher W. K. Chow, Nima Gorjian, Tae Wan Kim
Summary: This research created a new ontology, the Job Hazard Analysis Knowledge Graph (JHAKG), by analyzing actual JHA documents and interviewing JHA domain experts. The JHAKG can answer queries regarding hazards, external factors, level of risks, and appropriate control measures. It provides more complete and comprehensive JHA documents compared to those produced by an individual safety manager.
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Christopher W. K. Chow, Raufdeen Rameezdeen, George Y. Y. Chen, Haolan Xu, Md Mizanur Rahman, Xing Ma, Zhuge Yan, Nima Gorjian, Jing Gao
Summary: Moisture ingress in concrete reduces durability and life span of water assets. Accurate condition information is difficult to obtain when inspection points are physically inaccessible. Therefore, a reliable and cost-effective real-time monitoring system would be useful, particularly for water utilities.
WATER CONSERVATION SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Weiwei Duan, Yan Zhuge, Christopher W. K. Chow, Alexandra Keegan, Yue Liu, Ildiko Merta
Summary: This study utilized alum water treatment residue (AWTR) as an additional precursor in slag-based AAM to mitigate alkali-silica reaction (ASR) in mortars. The results showed that incorporating 40% AWTR improved compressive strength and reduced ASR-induced expansion. Microscopic observations revealed that ASR products formed in two stages, and incorporating AWTR could slow down silica dissolution and reduce the growth of harmful crystalline ASR products.
CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Linan Xing, Mingyue Zheng, Christopher W. K. Chow, Xiulan Xin, Ye Li, Xiaohui Zhang, Qiangqiang Cheng
Summary: This study compared the dewatering capacity of two chemical coagulants, high-performance polyaluminum chloride (HPAC) and FeCl3, on mesophilic and thermophilic anaerobic digested sludge. The results showed that for mesophilic anaerobic digestion, the optimal dose of FeCl3 and HPAC to improve dewaterability was 5% g/g total suspended solids (TSS), with HPAC being superior to ferric chloride in removing loosely bound extracellular polymeric substances (LB-EPS) and tightly bound extracellular polymeric substances (TB-EPS). For thermophilic anaerobic sludge, HPAC was more effective than FeCl3 in improving dewaterability, with FeCl3 effectively removing TB-EPS and HPAC having better removal efficiency on soluble extracellular polymeric substances (S-EPS) and LB-EPS. Both coagulants showed potential in degrading EPS during thermophilic anaerobic digestion sludge treatment.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Hiua Daraei, John Awad, Edoardo Bertone, Rodney A. Stewart, Christopher W. K. Chow, Jinming Duan, Jonathan Creamer, John Van Leeuwen
Summary: This paper presents a model for predicting alum dosage for targeted removal of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) from raw surface waters using DOC input data. The model was developed based on jar testing results and showed a 85% removal rate of coagulable DOC fraction at enhanced coagulation. It was further validated through trials at five drinking water treatment plants, showing a high correlation between predicted alum doses and actual alum doses.
JOURNAL OF WATER PROCESS ENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Hiua Daraei, Bayram Akyol, Mahmoud Khedher, Edoardo Bertone, John Awad, Rodney A. Stewart, Christopher W. K. Chow, Jinming Duan, John van Leeuwen
Summary: A continuous floc image analyser (C-FIA) was developed to track the dynamics of floc particle formation, growth and settling during drinking water treatment processes. The C-FIA collected video frames have the potential to provide direct information on floc size and concentration.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE-WATER RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Mahmoud Khedher, John Awad, Erica Donner, Barbara Drigo, Rolando Fabris, Martin Harris, Kalan Braun, Christopher W. K. Chow
Summary: This study aims to use drinking water treatment sludge (DWTS) as a coagulant-aid to improve dissolved organic matter (DOC) removal efficiency and control the formation of disinfection by-products (DBPs). The results indicate that the reuse of DWTS as a coagulant-aid can enhance floc characteristics and settling rate, reduce DOC and trihalomethane formation potential (THMFP).
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
(2022)
