Article
Agricultural Engineering
Haiquan Dong, Liangchen Yue, Jun Cheng, Rongxin Xia, Junhu Zhou
Summary: Microbial electro-chemical degradation was proposed to enhance methane production from lipids in anaerobic digestion. Applying a voltage strengthened the beta-oxidation of lipids, promoting electron transfer and methane yield. The overall energy conversion efficiency in methane production increased due to microbial electrochemical degradation of lipids.
BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Aditya Mosur Nagarajan, Aishwarya Subramanian, Krishna Prasad Gobinathan, Gunda Mohanakrishna, Krishnasamy Sivagami
Summary: In recent times, the presence of emerging contaminants such as pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in water and wastewater has raised significant environmental concerns. Electrochemical treatment technologies have been proven to be effective in degrading or removing PPCPs from wastewater. The integration of electrochemical technology with advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), such as photo-Fenton, ozonation, and UV/H2O2, has shown promising results in terms of generating powerful radicals and enhancing the degradation of organic and inorganic pollutants. This review discusses the advantages, disadvantages, reaction mechanisms, and cost estimation of individual and integrated technologies, as well as the synergistic effect of the integrated technology.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Kyan A. D'Angelo, Carly K. Schissel, Bradley L. Pentelute, Mohammad Movassaghi
Summary: The study presents a concise total synthesis method for himastatin, a natural product with an unusual homodimeric structure. The final-stage dimerization strategy used in the synthesis was inspired by a detailed understanding of the compound's biogenesis. By combining this approach with a modular synthesis, a series of designed derivatives of himastatin, including synthetic probes to investigate its antibiotic activity, were efficiently accessed.
Review
Environmental Sciences
Ivan Lozano, Carlos J. Perez-Guzman, Abrahan Mora, Jurgen Mahlknecht, Claudia Lopez Aguilar, Pabel Cervantes-Aviles
Summary: Pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) are emerging contaminants with adverse effects on organisms and human health. Electrochemical Advanced Oxidation Processes (EAOPs) are effective in removing PPCPs. Antibiotics, anti-inflammatory, and antifungal compounds are the main categories of PPCPs detected. Further research is needed to understand the removal of PPCPs under realistic conditions.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Lin-Feng Zhai, He-You Guo, Yue-Yue Chen, Min Sun, Shaobin Wang
Summary: The study demonstrates the potential of electrocatalytic wet air oxidation technology for the treatment of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in water environment. The system shows higher rate constants and lower specific energy consumption compared to conventional electro-oxidation systems, promising cost-effective and safe elimination of PPCPs pollution.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
(2021)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Paripurnanda Loganathan, Saravanamuthu Vigneswaran, Jaya Kandasamy, Agnieszka Katarzyna Cuprys, Zakhar Maletskyi, Harsha Ratnaweera
Summary: When released into wastewater, pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) transform into microorganic contaminants, which are a major group of emerging pollutants. Exposures of humans, animals, and aquatic organisms to PPCPs have been linked to various risks such as carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, and reproductive toxicity. Therefore, different methods are being implemented to remove PPCPs from water bodies. This report critically reviews these methods and proposes improvements for removal strategies.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Gert Steurs, Nico Moons, Luc Van Meervelt, Boudewijn Meesschaert, Wim Michel De Borggraeve
Summary: The Steviol glycosides were exposed to bacteria from soil samples taken from a Stevia plantation in Paraguay, resulting in the formation of degradation products alongside the aglycon steviol. X-ray analysis, NMR methods, chemical synthesis, and GIAO NMR calculations were used to fully characterize the structure of these compounds, identified as a tricyclic ketone and its reduced form, named monicanone and monicanol respectively. The latter has an (S)-configuration at the alcohol site.
Article
Electrochemistry
Mario Mitov, Elitsa Chorbadzhiyska, Ivo Bardarov, Krassimir L. Kostov, Yolina Hubenova
Summary: This study demonstrates the use of microbial electrochemical snorkel (MES) for silver recovery from aqueous solutions for the first time. The results show that MES mode is more advantageous than MFC mode in terms of silver removal and recovery.
ELECTROCHIMICA ACTA
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Lei Xu, Xinyue Cui, Jianbo Liao, Yufeng Liu, Baoyi Jiang, Junfeng Niu
Summary: The electrochemical degradation performances of three non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), acetaminophen (ACT), aspirin (ASP), and ibuprofen (IBP), were investigated and compared in their alone and mixture conditions. The results showed that the synchronous degradation of the NSAIDs mixture can be effectively achieved through the electrochemical advanced oxidation process.
CHINESE CHEMICAL LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jianyuan Zhao, Jing Wang, Xu Pang, Zhenlong Liu, Quanjie Li, Dongrong Yi, Yongxin Zhang, Xiaomei Fang, Tao Zhang, Rui Zhou, Zhe Guo, Wancang Liu, Xiaoyu Li, Chen Liang, Tao Deng, Fei Guo, Liyan Yu, Shan Ceri
Summary: Researchers have discovered a compound called APL-16-5 that exhibits antiviral effects against influenza A virus (IAV). APL-16-5 binds to TRIM25 and viral PA protein, leading to the degradation of PA through ubiquitination and proteasome-mediated pathways. This compound shows potent in vivo anti-IAV activity and has the potential to become a new therapeutic option for IAV.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Luyao Wang, Yue Liu, Di Pang, Haiou Song, Shupeng Zhang
Summary: In this study, Ti3+ and oxygen vacancies self-doped TiO2-x nanotube array electrodes were used to investigate the simultaneous degradation of antibiotics tetracycline and metronidazole in water. The results showed that the nanotube arrays prepared with a reduction time of 10 minutes exhibited the best degradation performance. When a mixed solution of tetracycline and metronidazole was simultaneously degraded, the removal rate reached 100% within 3 hours, with a chemical oxygen demand removal rate of 79.1%. The energy consumption was significantly reduced compared to the degradation of a single substance, and the current utilization rate of the electrochemical degradation system was also significantly improved, with a specific energy consumption of 85.78 kWh kg-1 and an average current efficiency of 20.2%.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Yolina Hubenova, Elitsa Chorbadzhiyska, Krassimir L. Kostov, Mario Mitov
Summary: The applicability of microbial electrochemical technologies for gold recovery was investigated. It was found that the microbial electrochemical snorkel (MES) mode outperforms the traditional two-chamber microbial fuel cell (MFC) mode in terms of gold removal and recovery. Additionally, gold can be recovered from printed circuit board waste using MES.
BIOELECTROCHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Yuying Zhu, Baoqiang Chang, Xue Sun, Haijian Luo, Wenhui Wang, Chaolin Li
Summary: This study proposes the use of chloride-mediated electrochemical degradation to efficiently remove venlafaxine in aqueous media, which is a popular antidepressant and has become a rising issue in environmental aquatic media. The addition of chloride ions significantly increases the degradation rate of venlafaxine by selectively attacking the benzene ring and accelerating its opening. The study demonstrates the potential of chloride-mediated advanced oxidation technology for the degradation of venlafaxine and other emerging antidepressants containing a benzene ring, providing a new route for the removal of organic pollutants.
ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Applied
Xueyan Hou, Jinying Liang, Xue Yang, Jintao Bai, Mingbo Yang, Ning Qiao, Zilong Hu, Xiqing Yan, Yongli Shi
Summary: In this study, CUR-loaded poloxamer188-based nanoparticles (CUR/PTT NPs) were fabricated to improve the stability and water solubility of CUR. The results showed that CUR/PTT NPs had excellent in vivo bio-security.
Article
Chemistry, Applied
Shiye Lin, Haolin Zhang, Jesus Simal-Gandara, Ka-Wing Cheng, Mingfu Wang, Hui Cao, Jianbo Xiao
Summary: This study investigated the stability of quercetin in boiling water using UPLC-Q-TOF-MS-MS and identified the major degradation products. The results showed that quercetin gradually degraded with increasing boiling time, resulting in the formation of various degradation products.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Shaoyu Tang, Zhujun Luo, Jianbo Liao, Zhun Liu, Lei Xu, Junfeng Niu
Summary: The electrochemical oxidation of aqueous tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TDCPP) using Ti/SnO2-Sb/La-PbO2 as anode was investigated. The degradation mechanisms and toxicity changes of the degradation intermediates were determined. The results showed that the degradation of TDCPP followed pseudo-first-order kinetics, with better performance at higher current density. The free hydroxy radical ( •OH) was proven to play a dominant role in TDCPP oxidation. Five intermediates were identified and further degraded over time. The toxicity of TDCPP and the intermediates significantly reduced, indicating good detoxification efficiency.
CHINESE CHEMICAL LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Yangyuan Ji, Youn Jeong Choi, Yuhang Fang, Hoang Son Pham, Alliyan Tan Nou, Linda S. Lee, Junfeng Niu, David M. Warsinger
Summary: Due to the inability of widely used removal processes to destroy PFAS, this study applies an electric field in a crossflow membrane system to assess the performance of PFOA rejection, water flux, and energy consumption. The electric field-assisted nanofiltration design achieved a high PFOA rejection rate of 97% and a water flux of 68.4 L/m2 hr, requiring low electrical energy consumption of 7.31 × 10-5 kWh/m3/order.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Cong Liu, Shuo Sun, Mingchuan Yu, Yufei Zhou, Xiaoxia Zhang, Junfeng Niu
Summary: A p-n/Z-scheme dual heterojunction photocatalyst (BFC) was designed and prepared by introducing black phosphorus nanosheets and FeSe2 into porous g-C3N4 to improve its photocatalytic activity. BFC achieved 100% TBBPA degradation efficiency in 40 min and 22.6% debromination efficiency in 60 min under visible light irradiation.
SEPARATION AND PURIFICATION TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Xiaojing Wang, Duxiong Chen, Yufei Zhou, Mingchuan Yu, Junfeng Niu
Summary: The potential risks of continuous release of anti-cancer drugs like capecitabine have gained significant attention. Understanding the removal performance and protective mechanism against emerging contaminants is crucial for wastewater treatment using anammox techniques. Capecitabine had a slight effect on nitrogen removal performance in activity experiments. Through bio-adsorption and biodegradation, up to 64-70% of capecitabine can be effectively removed. However, a concentration of 10 mg/L significantly decreased the removal efficiency of capecitabine and total nitrogen in repeated load scenarios. Metabolomic and metagenomic analyses provided insights into the biodegradation pathway and protective mechanisms of the system, including the increased presence of heterotrophic bacteria and secretion of sialic acid.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Heshan Zheng, Yitong Ji, Shuo Li, Wei Li, Junfeng Niu
Summary: Studying the ecological risks of antibiotics and their degradation products is important for water environment security and AOPs development. This study found that tetracycline (TC) exhibited differential degradation pathways and resulted in differential growth inhibition trends on determined strains under different free radicals. Microcosm experiments combined with metagenomics revealed significant changes in the microbial community and TC resistance genes in water environment. Additionally, the study investigated the richness of genes related to oxidative stress and their effect on reactive oxygen species production and SOS response caused by TC and its intermediates.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Fan Pan, Jianjun Zhou, Tian Wang, Yunqing Zhu, Hongrui Ma, Junfeng Niu, Chuanyi Wang
Summary: This study develops an efficient catalyst for the electrochemical nitrate reduction reaction, achieving high nitrate conversion, ammonia selectivity, and reaction rate. The structure-performance relationship of the catalyst is revealed, and the reaction mechanism of nitrate-to-ammonia transformation is explored.
JOURNAL OF COLLOID AND INTERFACE SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yunlong Luo, Ashkan Khoshyan, Md Al Amin, Annette Nolan, Fiona Robinson, Jim Fenstermacher, Junfeng Niu, Mallavarapu Megharaj, Ravi Naidu, Cheng Fang
Summary: In this study, a hybrid system combining electrochemical treatment with ultrasound irradiation is proposed for enhanced degradation of PFAS. The electrochemical process using a titanium suboxide anode effectively removes PFOA, and when combined with ultrasound irradiation, achieves 100% PFOA removal and 63.5% defluorination, indicating synergistic removal/oxidation effects.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Correction
Engineering, Environmental
Qiongfang Zhuo, Jincheng Lu, Junfeng Niu, John C. Crittenden, Gang Yu, Shoushan Wang, Bo Yang, Zefang Chen
ACS ES&T ENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Cheng Fang, Saianand Gopalan, Xian Zhang, Lei Xu, Junfeng Niu, Ravi Naidu
Summary: This study examines the release of microplastics from toothbrushes using Raman imaging technique and algorithms. It confirms the release of microplastics in daily lives and provides an imaging analysis approach to identify the chemical elements of microplastics.
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Xiaojing Wang, Yu Zou, Yameng Wang, Junfeng Niu, Haibo Li
Summary: This study demonstrates that the addition of 4-chlorophenol significantly inhibits the ammonia-nitrogen removal efficiency and the activity of anammox process at different concentrations. Metagenomic analysis reveals a decrease in the abundance of KEGG pathways associated with carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism with increasing 4-chlorophenol concentration. The presence of 4-chlorophenol enhances the decomposition of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and bacterial debris, and partially converts 4-chlorophenol to p-nitrophenol.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Yindian Wang, Zhijuan Niu, Chengcheng Xu, Minghui Zhan, Kwangnak Koh, Junfeng Niu, Hongxia Chen
Summary: A real-time and label-free surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor was developed using a two-dimensional metal-organic framework as an SPR sensitizer to accurately monitor sulfamethazine (SMZ) in the environment. The sensor utilizes host-guest recognition to specifically capture SMZ from other similar antibiotics.
JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Kaihang Zhang, Yuanzheng Zhang, Su Liu, Xin Tong, Junfeng Niu, Dong Wang, Junchen Yan, Zhaoyang Xiong, John Crittenden
Summary: In this study, a MnOx-TiO2 NTAs anode was prepared by compositing narrow bandgap manganese oxide (MnOx) with TiO2 nanotube arrays (TiO2 NTAs). Electrochemical characterizations revealed that increasing the composited concentration of MnOx improved the conductivity and reduced the oxygen evolution potential, thus enhancing the electrochemical activity of the MnOx-TiO2 NTAs anode. Moreover, the optimal degradation rate of benzoic acid (BA) was achieved by adjusting the MnOx concentration and degradation voltage. These quantitative results are of great significance for the design and application of high-performance materials for electrochemical advanced oxidation processes (EAOPs).
GREEN ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Yunlong Luo, Olalekan Awoyemi, Siyuan Liu, Junfeng Niu, Ravi Naidu, Cheng Fang
Summary: This study investigates the release of microplastic particles from ruptured air balloons using Raman imaging. It is found that each balloon explosion can potentially release tens-to-thousands of microplastics. The recommendation of using terrain mapping to scan the sample surface to avoid misleading images is also provided.
JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
(2024)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Cheng Fang, Olalekan Simon Awoyemi, Gopalan Saianand, Lei Xu, Junfeng Niu, Ravi Naidu
Summary: This study successfully identified and visualized microplastic fibers in indoor air using Raman imaging technology, providing statistical information. Air filters can serve as good indicators to monitor microplastic contamination in indoor air quality.
JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
(2024)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Jihan Zhang, Kun Zhao, Yueming Ma, Weirui Chen, Xinglei Shi, Chenghua Sun, Qianyu Zhang, Junfeng Niu
Summary: This study reports a single-atom bismuth loaded catalyst that enhances the electrocatalytic activity and selectivity of formic acid synthesis from CO2 reduction. The obtained catalyst exhibits significantly boosted production rate and Faradaic efficiency compared to other catalysts reported in the literature, owing to the electronic structure modulation to the bismuth center via threefold coordinated nitrogen ligands.