Investigating photo-driven arsenics' behavior and their glucose metabolite toxicity by the typical metallic oxides in ambient PM2.5.

It is essential and challenged to understand the atmospheric arsenic pollution because it is much more complicated than in water and top-soil. Herein the different behavior of arsenic species firstly were discovered within the ambient PM2.5 collected during daytime and nighttime, winter and summer. The diurnal variation of arsenic species in PMs is significantly correlated with the presence of metallic oxides, specifically, ferrous, titanium and zinc oxides, which might play a key role in the process of the photo-oxidation of As(III) to As(V) with the meteorological parameters and regional factors excluded. Subsequently, the photo conversion of arsenite was detected on metal-loaded glass-fiber filters under visible light. The photo-generated superoxide radical was found to be predominantly responsible for the oxidation of As(III). In order to reveal toxicity differences induced by oxidation As(III), HepG2 cells were exposed to various arsenic mixture solution. We found that the antioxidant enzyme activities suppressed with increasing the As(III)/As(V) ratio in total, followed by the accumulation of intracellular ROS level. The glucose consumption and glycogen content also displayed an obvious reduction in insulin-stimulated cells. Compared to the expression levels of IRS-1, AKT and GLUT4, GLUT2 might be more vulnerable to arsenic exposure and lead to the abnormalities of glucose metabolism in HepG2 cells. Taken together, these findings clarify that the health risk posed by inhalation exposure to As-pollution air might be alleviated owing to the photo-driven conversion in presence of metal oxides.

Photochemical transformation of an iron(III)-arsenite complex in acidic aqueous solution.

Surface complexation between arsenious acid anions (As(III)) and ferric (hydr)oxides in water is important for the transformation and transfer of inorganic arsenic species. The mechanisms of formation and the photochemistry of dissolved Fe(III)-As(III) complexes in acidic aqueous solution are still unclear. Here, the photooxidation of As(III) in the presence of Fe(III) ions in acidic media has been investigated by laser flash and steady-state photolysis. At low arsenite concentrations (<1 mM), As(III) is oxidized by the ˙OH radical generated by photolysis of the FeOH(2+) complex. At higher arsenite concentrations (>10 mM), photoactive Fe(III)-As(III) complexes are formed (ϕ≈ 0.012). At all arsenite concentrations, a white FeAsO4 colloid is formed during As(III) photolysis in the presence of Fe(III) ions. Solid Fe(III)-As(III) complexes have been prepared and characterized, and the photochemical transformation of As(III) into As(V) in solid Fe(III)-As(III) complexes has been confirmed. These findings are important for a better understanding of the evolution of As(III) species under environmental conditions and should provide guidance for detoxification of As(III)-polluted water systems.

Simultaneous photooxidation and sorptive removal of As(III) by TiO2 supported layered double hydroxide.

The present study focused on the enhanced removal of As(III) by the simultaneous photooxidation and removal process using TiO2 nanoparticles supported layered double hydroxide (TiO2/LDH). The TiO2/LDH nanocomposites were synthesized using a flocculation method, and nanosized (30-50 nm) TiO2 particles were well-distributed on the LDH surface. The XPS and DLS data revealed that the TiO2/LDH nanocomposites were both chemically and physically stable in the aquatic system. The optimum ratio of TiO2 was 20 wt.% and the calcination process of LDH enhanced the removal capacity of As(III) by the reconstruction process. In the kinetic removal experiment, UV irradiation improved the removal rate of As(III), based on the continuous conversion of As(III) to As(V), and that the removal rate was faster under alkaline conditions than acidic and neutral conditions due to the abundance of oxidants and negative charged As(III) species (pKa: 9.2). The main mechanism of As(III) photooxidation is the direct oxidation by [Formula: see text] , which is generated by supported TiO2 nanoparticles. X-ray near edge structure results also confirmed that the As(III) was completely oxidized to As(V). Consequently, the simultaneous photooxidation and removal process of As(III) by TiO2/LDH nanocomposites may be the effective removal option in As(III) contaminated water.

Photooxidation of arsenite under 254 nm irradiation with a quantum yield higher than unity.

Arsenite (As(III)) in water was demonstrated to be efficiently oxidized to arsenate (As(V)) under 254 nm UV irradiation without needing any chemical reagents. Although the molar absorption coefficient of As(III) at 254 nm is very low (2.49 ± 0.1 M(-1)cm(-1)), the photooxidation proceeded with a quantum yield over 1.0, which implies a chain of propagating oxidation cycles. The rate of As(III) photooxidation was highly enhanced in the presence of dissolved oxygen, which can be ascribed to its dual role as an electron acceptor of photoexcited As(III) and a precursor of oxidizing radicals. The in situ production of H2O2 was observed during the photooxidation of As(III) and its subsequent photolysis under UV irradiation produced OH radicals. The addition of tert-butyl alcohol as OH radical scavenger significantly reduced (but not completely inhibited) the oxidation rate, which indicates that OH radicals as well as superoxide serve as an oxidant of As(III). Superoxide, H2O2, and OH radicals were all in situ generated from the irradiated solution of As(III) in the presence of dissolved O2 and their subsequent reactions with As(III) induce the regeneration of some oxidants, which makes the overall quantum yield higher than 1. The homogeneous photolysis of arsenite under 254 nm irradiation can be also proposed as a new method of generating OH radicals.

Iodide-mediated photooxidation of arsenite under 254 nm irradiation.

The preoxidation of As(III) to As(V) is a desirable process to increase the removal efficiency of arsenic in water treatment In this work, the photooxidation of As(III) under 254 nm irradiation was investigated in the concentration range of 1-1000 microM in the presence of potassium iodide (typically 100 microM). Although the direct photooxidation of As(III) in water was negligible, the presence of iodide dramatically enhanced the oxidation rate. The quantitative conversion of As(III) to As(V) was achieved. The quantum yields of As(III) photooxidation ranged from 0.08 to 0.6, depending on the concentration of iodide and As(III). The excitation of iodides under 254 nm irradiation led to the generation of iodine atoms and triiodides, which seem to be involved in the oxidation process of As(III). Because the efficiency of iodine atom generation is highly dependent on the presence of suitable electron acceptors,the photooxidation of As(III) was efficient in an air- or N2O-saturated solution but markedly reduced in the N2-saturated solution. The production of H2O2 was also accompanied by the generation of As(V). The addition of excess methanol (OH radical scavenger) did not reduce the photooxidation rate at all, which ruled out the possibility of hydroxyl radical involvement. It was found that the in situ photogenerated triiodides oxidize As(III) with regenerating iodides by completing a cycle. The proposed UV254/KI/As(III) process is essentially an iodide-mediated photocatalysis.

Photocatalytic oxidation and removal of arsenite from water using slag-iron oxide-TiO2 adsorbent.

Photocatalytic oxidation of arsenite and simultaneous removal of the generated arsenate from aqueous solution were investigated. The whole process was performed using an adsorbent developed by loading iron oxide and TiO2 on municipal solid waste melted slag. The loading was carried out through chemical reactions and high-temperature process. In the removal process, arsenite was first oxidized to arsenate, and then was removed by adsorption. The oxidation of arsenite was rapid, but the adsorption of the generated arsenate was slow. A concentration of 100 mg l(-1) arsenite could be entirely oxidized to arsenate within 3 h in the presence of the adsorbent and under UV-light irradiation, but the equilibrium adsorption of the generated arsenate needed 10 h. Arsenite could also be oxidized to arsenate only by UV-light, but the reaction rate was approximately 1/3 of that of the photocatalyzed reaction. Both acidic and alkaline conditions were favorable for the oxidation reaction, and the optimum pH value for the oxidation and adsorption was proposed to be around 3. To oxidize and remove original 20 mg l(-1) or 50 mg l(-1) arsenite from aqueous solution, the necessary adsorbent amount was 2 g l(-1) or 5 g l(-1), respectively. Furthermore, the surface properties of the adsorbent were examined and the oxidation mechanism of arsenite was discussed. It is believed that the adsorbent developed in this study is efficient, cost-effective and environment-friendly for application in arsenic-contaminated wastewater treatment.