Articles in Press

The degradation of Remazol Black (RBB) by S-TiO2 photocatalyst was investigated. X-ray diffraction, fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and UV-vis specular reflectance spectroscopy has been used to characterize S-TiO2. The results suggested that the optical absorption edge of TiO2 was red-shifted by the addition of S dopants and the bandgap energy was 3.02 eV. The sulfur species were found to be evenly dispersed on the TiO2 crystal lattice as cationic sulfur (S6+) which corresponds to the cationic substitution on TiO2. The particle size decreased to 4-14 nm after S doping, which indicates that the addition of S dopants has contributed to an improvement in the photocatalyst surface area. The degradation of RBB was achieved 94% after 120 min visible light irradiation, a remarkable increase compared to bare TiO2 which was only able to degrade 48% of RBB at the same time. Optimization of the pH showed that the optimum pH for RBB degradation was 3.0, and the photocatalyst dose was 0.8 g L-1. Kinetic study showed that S-TiO2 photocatalytic degradation of RBB followed the pseudo-second-order kinetics model. Reducing the bandgap has been found to increase the activity of photodegradation in the visible light region.

Many eutrophic lakes contain rapidly growing hydrophytes. Overgrown biomass is usually me-chanically harvested and thrown away, leading to resource waste and secondary environmental pollution. Microbial degradation is an economically and environmentally friendly approach for managing hydrophytic waste, fuelling the search for efficient biomass degraders. Here, we present isolation and characterization of Aspergillus sydowii WIU-01, a novel cellulolytic fungus. Strain WIU-01 was isolated from air. The degradation rate (29.75 vs. 21.95%) and endoglucanase activi-ty (0.31 vs. 0.16 U mL–1) of the fungus were higher in Canna indica (emergent plant) medium than in Hydrilla verticillata (submerged plant) medium, accordingly. Further, fungal endoglucanase ac-tivity was significantly positively correlated with the degradation rate, neutral detergent fiber con-tent, and acid detergent fiber content of hydrophyte powder. Fungal biomass was significantly negatively correlated with reducing sugar and cellulose content of hydrophyte medium, but was significantly positively correlated with hemicellulose, acid detergent lignin, and ash content of the medium. Collectively, these observations indicate that A. sydowii decomposes emergent and sub-merged plant mass without acid–base sample pretreatment, albeit its endoglucanase activity is rela-tively low. This highlights the role of cellulolytic microorganisms in the natural environment and the notion that the environment can be a source of cellulolytic microorganisms for potential envi-ronmentally friendly applications.

The aim of this paper is to estimate the amount of aeolian dust, deposited by dry and wet processes, that is deposited to the eleven marine regions of the Mediterranean-Black Sea Marine System (MBMS) and to compare it to the riverine influxes (i.e. suspended and dissolved sediment loads). This research is based on information for aeolian dust deposition at several coastal stations, around the MBMS, following an extended research of the available literature. For data elaboration, processing, and visualization a G.I.S. environment was utilized. The total annual amount of dust input for the whole system has been estimated to 59.9 × 106 tonnes, of which 57.2 × 106 tonnes are deposited in the Mediterranean Sea and only 2.7 ×106 tonnes in the Black Sea. The contribution of dust input (load), corresponding to 6.2% and 0.8% of the total amount of suspended and dissolved load, for the Mediterranean and Black Sea respectively, reveals the significant role of the aeolian dust inputs to the MBMS marine environment, in particular, at its southern Mediterranean domain.

Rainfall is one of the primary sources of chemical inputs in forest ecosystems, and the basis of forest nutrient cycling. Urban trees play an important role in the built environment, reducing the rainfall reaching the ground by rainfall interception. To explore the variations of nutrient cycling and nutrient balance in rainfall redistribution process in urban forest ecosystem, we investigated the chemistry of rainfall, throughfall and stemflow in a plantation of Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica distributed in Harbin city of Northeastern China. Mean nutrient concentrations in stemflow were higher than in throughfall and rainfall. Over the growing season observation, the nutrients (NO3-, PO43-, SO42-, Cl-, F-, K, Ca and Mg) fluxes in rainfall, throughfall and stemflow were 66.392 kg·ha-1, 46.900 kg·ha-1 and 15.723 kg·ha-1 respectively. The net throughfall and stemflow deposit was -3.769 kg·ha-1, in the growing season. The nutrient input in precipitation, throughfall and stemflow were mainly NO3-, SO42- and Ca, and the canopy of P. sylvestris var. mongolica plantation can net leaching of NO3- and Mg in rainfall, but filter out of PO43-, SO42-, Cl-, F-, K and Ca slightly. Our findings will facilitate a greater understanding of nutrient balance in canopy water fluxes in an urban area.