Recycling of Pd(0) catalysts by magnetic nanocomposites-microbial extracellular polymeric substances@Fe3O4.

Palladium (Pd) is extremely expensive due to its scarcity and excellent catalytic performance. Thus, the recovery of Pd has become increasingly important. Herein, microbial extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and magnetic nanocomposite EPS@Fe3O4 were applied to recover Pd catalysts from Pd(II) wastewater. Results indicated that Pd(II) was reduced to Pd (0), which was then adsorbed by EPS (101.21 mg/g) and EPS@Fe3O4 (126.30 mg/(g EPS)). After adsorbing Pd, EPS@Fe3O4 could be collected by magnetic separation. The recovered Pd showed excellent catalytic activity in the reduction of methylene blue (MB). The pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Redlich-Peterson model best fit the adsorption results. According to spectral analysis, Pd(II) was reduced to Pd (0) by chemical groups in EPS and EPS@Fe3O4, and the hydroxyl had a chelating effect on adsorbed Pd. Therefore, EPS@Fe3O4 is an efficient adsorbent for recovering Pd from Pd(II) wastewater.

Magnetic nanocomposite microbial extracellular polymeric substances@Fe3O4 supported nZVI for Sb(V) reduction and adsorption under aerobic and anaerobic conditions.

The extracellular polymeric substances coating magnetic powders-supported nano zero-valent iron (nZVI@EPS@Fe3O4) was synthesized, using reduction and adsorption to treat Sb(V) wastewater. The adsorption performance and mechanism were investigated under aerobic and anaerobic conditions. The adsorption capacity of nZVI@EPS@Fe3O4 (79.56 mg/g at pH = 5) was improved compared to that of the original materials (60.74 mg/g). The spectral analysis shows that both nZVI and EPS@Fe3O4 in nZVI@EPS@Fe3O4 played an important role in reducing Sb(V) to Sb(III) and adsorbing Sb. The reducibility and adsorption capacity of nZVI@EPS@Fe3O4 towards Sb(V) remained strong under aerobic condition (62% Sb(III), 79.56 mg/g), although they were slightly weaker than those under anaerobic condition (74% Sb(III), 91.78 mg/g). nZVI@EPS@Fe3O4 showed good performance in regeneration experiments. nZVI@EPS@Fe3O4 is promising as a cost-effective and highly efficient material for Sb(V)-contaminated water. This study is meaningful in understanding the redox behaviour of nZVI composites in aerobic and anaerobic conditions.

[Investigation on life quality of patients with chronic lymphatic filariasis in Yuhang district of Hangzhou].

Data were collected from chronic lymphatic filariasis patients and the public in Yuhang District of Hangzhou. Health status was assessed by using EuroQol (EQ)-5D. A total of 600 questionnaires were sent and 550 (91.7%) returned (276 chronic lymphatic filariasis patients and 274 members of the public). The EQ-SD index score for patients with chronic lymphatic filariasis (0.770 +/- 0.128) were lower than the general public (0.872 +/- 0.073). In contrast to the public (6.6%, 5.8%, 12.0%, 20.4%, and 10.6%), patients reported more problems with their mobility (43.8%), self-care (22.5%), daily activities (44.9%), anxiety/depression (47.8%), and pain/discomfort (29.0%) (P < 0.01). Strength of association were 6.67, 3.86, 3.74, 2.73, and 2.34, respectively. These results indicated that chronic lymphatic filariasis shows an impact on patients' health-related quality of life. It particularly causes great problems in the dimensions of mobility, self-care, and daily activities.