Drug-Loaded Tumor-Derived Microparticles Elicit CD8+ T Cell-Mediated Anti-Tumor Response in Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Background: Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) poses significant challenges due to limited effective treatments and high recurrence rates. Immunotherapy, a promising approach, faces obstacles in HCC patients due to T-cell exhaustion and immunosuppression within the tumor microenvironment. Methods: Using doxorubicin-loaded tumor-derived microparticles (Dox-TMPs), the mice with H22 ascites model and subcutaneous tumors model were treated. Following the treatment, mice were re-challenged with H22 cells to compare the therapeutic effects and recurrence among different groups of mice, alongside examining the changes in the proportions of immune cells within the tumor microenvironment. Furthermore, Dox-TMPs were combined with anti-PD-1 to further validate their anti-tumor efficacy. In vitro studies using various liver cancer cell lines were conducted to verify the tumor-killing effects of Dox-TMPs. Additionally, CD8+ T cells from the abdominal cavity of tumor-free mice were co-cultured with H22 cells to confirm their specific tumor-killing abilities. Results: Dox-TMPs demonstrate effective anti-tumor effects both in vitro and in vivo. In vivo, their effectiveness primarily involves enhancing CD8+ T cell infiltration, alleviating T cell immunosuppression, and improving the immune microenvironment to combat tumors. When used in combination with anti-PD-1, their anti-tumor effects are further enhanced. Moreover, some mice treated with Dox-TMPs developed anti-tumor immunity, displaying a self-specific T-cell immune response upon re-challenged with tumor cells. This suggests that Dox-TMPs also have the potential to act as a long-term immune response against tumor recurrence, indicating their capability as a tumor vaccine. Conclusion: Dox-TMPs exhibit a dual role in liver cancer by regulating T cells within the tumor microenvironment, functioning both as an anti-tumor agent and a potential tumor vaccine.

Anionic Sublattices in Halide Solid Electrolytes: A Case Study with the High-Pressure Phase of Li3ScCl6.

The Li3MX6 compounds (M=Sc, Y, In; X=Cl, Br) are known as promising ionic conductors due to their compatibility with typical metal oxide cathode materials. In this study, we have successfully synthesized γ-Li3ScCl6 using high pressure for the first time in this family. Structural analysis revealed that the high-pressure polymorph crystallizes in the polar and chiral space group P63mc with hexagonal close-packing (hcp) of anions, unlike the ambient-pressure α-Li3ScCl6 and its spinel analog with cubic closed packing (ccp) of anions. Investigation of the known Li3MX6 family further revealed that the cation/anion radius ratio, rM/rX, is the factor that determines which anion sublattice is formed and that in γ-Li3ScCl6, the difference in compressibility between Sc and Cl exceeds the ccp rM/rX threshold under pressure, enabling the ccp-to-hcp conversion. Electrochemical tests of γ-Li3ScCl6 demonstrate improved electrochemical reduction stability. These findings open up new avenues and design principles for lithium solid electrolytes, enabling routes for materials exploration and tuning electrochemical stability without compositional changes or the use of coatings.

Electrochemically selective ammonium recovery from wastewater via coupling hydrogen bonding and charge storage.

Electrochemical ammonium (NH4+) storage (EAS) has been established as an efficient technology for NH4+ recovery from wastewater. However, there are scientific difficulties unsolved regarding low storage capacity and selectivity, restricting its extensive engineering applications. In this work, electrochemically selective NH4+ recovery from wastewater was achieved by coupling hydrogen bonding and charge storage with self-assembled bi-layer composite electrode (GO/V2O5). The NH4+ storage was as high as 234.7 mg N g-1 (> 102 times higher than conventional activated carbon). Three chains of proof were furnished to elucidate the intrinsic mechanisms for such superior performance. Density functional theory (DFT) showed that an excellent electron-donating ability for NH4+ (0.08) and decrease of diffusion barrier (22.3 %) facilitated NH4+ diffusion onto electrode interface. Physio- and electro-chemical results indicated that an increase of interlamellar spacing (14.3 %) and electrochemical active surface area (ECSA, 388.9 %) after the introduction of GO were responsible for providing greater channels and sites toward NH4+ insertion. Both non-ionic chemical-bonding (V5+=O‧‧‧H, hydrogen-bonding) and charge storage were contributed to the higher capacity and selectivity for NH4+. This work offers underlying guideline for exploitation a storage manner for NH4+ recovery from wastewater.

(Na, Pb)-Jarosite nucleation and growth on anglesite: Implications for inhibition of Pb releasing.

The mobility and bioavailability of Pb can be significantly reduced by Pb-bearing minerals encapsulation in jarosite-group minerals, especially in sulfate-rich environments. However, the kinetic pathways and mechanisms of jarosite-group minerals formations on Pb-bearing mineral surfaces are not well understood. Here, time-resolved heterogeneous (Na, Pb)-jarosite nucleation and growth on anglesite were explored to gain insights into the encapsulation mechanisms. The initial dissolution of anglesite were clearly distinguished, and for the first time, the facet-specific heterogeneous nucleation of (Na, Pb)-jarosite on anglesite was demonstrated. Density functional theory calculations revealed higher adsorption energies and electronic interactions of FeSO4+ complex on anglesite (020), (140), (110) facets, attributed to the preferential nucleation of (Na, Pb)-jarosite on these facets, which resulted in effective passivation of the facets resistant to dissolution. An interpretation was proposed where (Na, Pb)-jarosite grew via a particle-attachment pathway involving the formation of amorphous intermediate, and subsequently, it transformed to the crystalline phase by solid-state conversion. These observations might improve the mechanistic understanding of interface interactions between slightly soluble Pb-bearing minerals and iron minerals, with implications for Pb immobilization in sulfate-rich environments.

Ab initio calculation of the adsorption of As, Cd, Cr, and Hg heavy metal atoms onto the illite(001) surface: Implications for soil pollution and reclamation.

Elucidating the mechanisms of heavy metal (HM) adsorption on clay minerals is key to solving HM pollution in soil. In this study, the adsorption of four HM atoms (As, Cd, Cr, and Hg) on the illite(001) surface was investigated using density functional theory calculations. Different adsorption configurations were investigated and the electronic properties (i.e., adsorption energy (Ead) and electron transfer) were analyzed. The Ead values of the four HM atoms on the illite(001) surface were found to be As > Cr > Cd > Hg. The Ead values for the most stable adsorption configurations of As, Cr, Cd, and Hg were -1.8554, -0.7982, -0.3358, and -0.2678 eV, respectively. The As atoms show effective chemisorption at all six adsorption sites, while Cd, Cr, and Hg atoms mainly exhibited physisorption. The hollow and top (O) sites were more favorable than the top (K) sites for the adsorption of HM atoms. The Gibbs free energy results show that the illite(001) surface was energetically favorable for the adsorption of As and Cr atoms under the influence of 298 K and 1 atm. After adsorption, there was a redistribution of positions and reconfiguration of the chemical bonding of the surface atoms, with a non-negligible influence around the upper surface atoms. Bader charge analysis shows electrons were transferred from the surface to the HM atoms, and a strong correlation between the valence electron variations and the adsorption energy was observed. HM atoms had a high electronic state overlap with the surface O atoms near the Fermi energy level, indicating that the surface O atoms, though not the topmost atoms around the surface, significantly influence HM adsorption. The above results show illite(001) preferentially adsorbed As among all four investigated HM atoms, indicating that soils containing a high proportion of illite might be more prone to As pollution.

The fragility of liver glycogen from humans with type 2 diabetes: A pilot study.

Liver glycogen is a highly branched glucose polymer found as ß particles (~20 nm in diameter), which can bind together into larger composite α particles. Hepatic α particles have been shown to be structurally fragile (breaking up into smaller particles in certain solvents) in mouse models of diabetes; if occurring in vivo, the resulting small glycogen particles could exacerbate the poor blood-sugar homeostasis characteristic of the disease. Here we tested if this α-particle fragility also occurred in liver glycogen obtained from humans with diabetes. It was found that liver glycogen from diabetic humans was indeed more fragile than from non-diabetic humans, which was also seen in the mouse experiments we ran in parallel. Proteomic analysis revealed three candidate proteins from differentially expressed glycogen proteins (Diabetes/ Non-diabetes) in both human and mouse groups. Identifying these proteins may give clues to the binding mechanism that holds together α particles together, which, being different in diabetic glycogen, is relevant to diabetes prevention and management.

Dual functional sites strategies toward enhanced heavy metal remediation: Interlayer expanded Mg-Al layered double hydroxide by intercalation with L-cysteine.

The discharge of toxic heavy metals poses a serious threat to human health and environment. The existing water purification systems are lack of promising materials for rapid, efficient, and cost-efficient remediation of numerous toxic heavy metals. Herein, we report on the development of L-cysteine (Cys) intercalated Mg-Al layered double hydroxide (MgAl-LDH/Cys) with a loose lamellar porous architecture as an efficient and economically viable adsorbent for Pb(II) and Cd(II) removal. The intercalation with Cys creates dual functionality, i.e., the interlayer expansion accelerates the diffusion of heavy metals, while Cys acts as additional capture sites for heavy metals. Therefore, remarkable high maximum sorption capacities of 279.58 and 135.68 mg g-1 for Pb(II) and Cd(II) were obtained for MgAl-LDH/Cys compared to those for pristine MgAl-LDH (30.15 and 36.77 mg g-1). MgAl-LDH/Cys exhibits also much faster sorption kinetics in comparison with MgAl-LDH. Such enhancements are attributed to the intercalation of the chelating agent Cys in the MgAl-LDH interlayer channels. Moreover, it is proposed that the adsorption mechanisms involve the isomorphous replacement of Mg sites by Cd(II) forming CdAl-LDH, the precipitation of PbS and CdS, and the chelation of sulfhydryl, carboxyl and amine groups toward Cd(II). Altogether, its facile and environmentally friendly fabrication, ultrahigh sorption efficiencies, and rapid kinetics demonstrate that MgAl-LDH/Cys has potential for practical applications in heavy metal remediation.

Highly efficient removal of arsenic (III/V) from groundwater using nZVI functionalized cellulose nanocrystals fabricated via a bioinspired strategy.

Utilizing nanoscale zero valent iron (nZVI) to purify groundwater contaminated by arsenic species [As(III/V)] is an efficient technology, but the fast and severe aggregation of nZVI limits its practical applications. Herein, nZVI was anchored onto the mussel-inspired polydopamine-coated cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs-PDA-nZVI) as an efficient material for As groundwater remediation. In this set, the introduction of nZVI was expected to significantly enhance the arsenic removal property, while cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) endowed nZVI with ultrahigh dispersibility. The batch results showed that the maximum As adsorption capacities of CNCs-PDA-nZVI (i.e., 333.3 mg g-1 and 250.0 mg g-1 for As(III) and As(V), respectively) were ten times higher compared with those of pristine CNCs. The kinetics results revealed that chemical adsorption was dominant for As adsorption. The isotherms indicated that a homogeneous adsorption for As(III) and heterogenous adsorption for As(V) on the surface of CNCs-PDA-nZVI. The removal mechanisms for As by CNCs-PDA-nZVI included adsorption-oxidation, coprecipitation and inner-sphere complexation. Overall, the excellent arsenic removal efficiency makes CNCs-PDA-nZVI a promising material for the remediation of As polluted groundwater, and this in-situ anchoring strategy can be extended to overcome the aggregation bottleneck of other nanoparticles for various applications.

Mechanisms of Pb(II) coprecipitation with natrojarosite and its behavior during acid dissolution.

Lead (Pb) coprecipitation with jarosite is common in natural and engineered environments, such as acid mine drainage (AMD) sites and hydrometallurgical industry. Despite the high relevance for environmental impact, few studies have examined the exact interaction of Pb with jarosite and the dissolution behavior of each phase. In the present work, we demonstrate that Pb mainly interacts with jarosite in four modes, namely incorporation, occlusion, physically mixing, and chemically mixing. For comparison, the four modes of Pb-bearing natrojarosite were synthesized and characterized separately. Batch dissolution experiments were undertaken on these synthetic Pb-bearing natrojarosites under pH 2 to simulate the AMD environments. The introduction of Pb decreases the final Fe releasing efficiency of jarosite-type compounds from 18.18% to 3.45%-5.01%, showing a remarkable inhibition of their dissolution. For Pb releasing behavior, PbSO4 dissolves in preference to Pb-substituted natrojarosite, i.e., (Na, Pb)-jarosite, which primarily results in the sharp increase of Pb releasing concentration (> 40 mg/L). PbSO4 occlusion by jarosite-type compounds can significantly reduce the release of Pb. The results of this study could provide useful information regarding Fe and Pb cycling in acidic natural and engineered environments.

Co-Co3O4 encapsulated in nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes for capacitive desalination: Effects of nano-confinement and cobalt speciation.

Capacitive deionization (CDI) has gained increasing attention as an environmentally friendly and energy-efficient technology for brackish water desalination. However, traditional CDI electrodes still suffer from low salt adsorption capacity and unsatisfactory reusability, which inhibit its application for long-term operations. Herein, we present a facile and effective approach to prepare Co and Co3O4 nanoparticles co-incorporating nitrogen-doped (N-doped) carbon nanotubes (Co-Co3O4/N-CNTs) via a pyrolysis route. The Co-Co3O4 nanoparticles were homogeneously in-situ encapsulated in the inner channels of the conductive CNTs to form a novel and efficient CDI electrode for the first time. The encapsulation of Co-Co3O4 nanoparticles in CNTs not only inhibits the Co leaching but also significantly enhances the desalination capacity. The morphology, structure, and capacitive desalination properties of the Co-Co3O4/N-CNTs were thoroughly characterized to illuminate the nano-confinement effects and the key roles of the interaction between cobalt species in the CDI performance. The co-existing metallic cobalt and cobalt oxides act as the roles of effective active sites in the CDI performance. As a consequence, the optimum Co-Co3O4/N-CNTs electrode displays an outstanding desalination capacity of 66.91 mg NaCl g-1 at 1.4 V. This work provides insights for understanding the nano-confinement effects and the key roles of the interaction between cobalt species on the CDI performance.

Multiple Light-Activated Photodynamic Therapy of Tetraphenylethylene Derivative with AIE Characteristics for Hepatocellular Carcinoma via Dual-Organelles Targeting.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has emerged as a promising locoregional therapy of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The utilization of luminogens with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characteristics provides a new opportunity to design functional photosensitizers (PS). PSs targeting the critical organelles that are susceptible to reactive oxygen species damage is a promising strategy to enhance the effectiveness of PDT. In this paper, a new PS, 1-[2-hydroxyethyl]-4-[4-(1,2,2-triphenylvinyl)styryl]pyridinium bromide (TPE-Py-OH) of tetraphenylethylene derivative with AIE feature was designed and synthesized for PDT. The TPE-Py-OH can not only simultaneously target lipid droplets and mitochondria, but also stay in cells for a long period (more than 7 days). Taking advantage of the long retention ability of TPE-Py-OH in tumor, the PDT effect of TPE-Py-OH can be activated through multiple irradiations after one injection, which provides a specific multiple light-activated PDT effect. We believe that this AIE-active PS will be promising for the tracking and photodynamic ablation of HCC with sustained effectiveness.

Solidification/stabilization of highly toxic arsenic-alkali residue by MSWI fly ash-based cementitious material containing Friedel's salt: Efficiency and mechanism.

Arsenic-alkali residue (AAR) and MSWI fly ash (MFA) are hazardous wastes, which still lack effective treatment methods. In this study, a novel solidification/stabilization (S/S) method for AAR with MFA-based cementitious material (MFA-CM) containing Friedel's salt was proposed. The efficiency and mechanism of S/S was mainly focused. Abundant Friedel's salt as well as a few C-S-H gel and ettringite (AFt) were found as hydration products of MFA-CM. 12% of AAR was well solidified/stabilized by MFA-CM, accompanied by As leaching concentration reducing from 10,687 mg/L to less than 5 mg/L. In order to investigate S/S mechanism of As, removal mechanism of As during co-precipitation synthesis of Friedel's salt was studied. During co-precipitation process, As was successively removed by formation of calcium arsenate precipitates, formation of As-Friedel's salt (replacement of Cl- by AsO43-), and adsorption of Friedel's salt. The S/S mechanism of As by MFA-CM was found to be similar to the removal mechanism of As during co-precipitation. With the prolonging of curing time, As was mainly solidified/stabilized by formation of calcium arsenate precipitates and As-Friedel's salt, and adsorption of Friedel's salt. Thus, this study provides a novel harmless treatment method for highly toxic arsenic-containing wastes by "treating the wastes with wastes".

Synergistic chromium(VI) reduction and phenol oxidative degradation by FeS2/Fe0 and persulfate.

It is a challenge to simultaneously treat the combined pollutants of chromium(VI) (Cr(VI)) and organics (such as phenol) in wastewater. Here, a stable and efficient redox system based on FeS2 sulfidated zero valent iron (FeS2/Fe0) and persulfate (PS) was developed to synchronously remove Cr(VI) and phenol. 100% of phenol (10 mg/L) was oxidized in 10 min and Cr(VI) (20 mg/L) was completely reduced to Cr(III) in 90 min in the FeS2/Fe0+PS system with a pH range of 3.0-9.0, respectively. phenol was selectively oxidized without re-oxidizing Cr(III) in such system. The surface-bound Fe2+ was the major reactive species to synchronously reduce Cr(VI) and oxidize phenol. The mechanisms were elucidated that the phenol degradation was accelerated by the generated Cr(III) complexing with its products, and that SO42-, whose production speed was accelerated by the PS activation to oxidize phenol and FeS2, was conductive to corrode Fe0 to regenerate the surface-bound Fe2+ for reducing Cr(VI) and oxidizing phenol. It is potential to develop a high-performance and large-scaled FeS2/Fe0-based redox platform to remediate the complex pollution of Cr(VI) and organics.

Characteristics, kinetics, thermodynamics and long-term effects of zerovalent iron/pyrite in remediation of Cr(VI)-contaminated soil.

Development of efficient, green and low-cost natural mineral-based reductive materials is promising to remediation of hexavalent chromium(Cr(VI))-contaminated soil. Considering the synergetic effect between pyrite and zerovalent iron (ZVI), an activated pyrite supported ZVI(ZVI/FeS2) with high reducing activity was developed by ball milling activation of natural pyrite and sulfidation of ZVI. The remediation property of ZVI/FeS2 for Cr(VI)-contaminated soil was evaluated with different ZVI/FeS2 dosage, soil-water ratio, initial pH, time and temperature, as well as the stability of Cr. The results showed that ZVI/FeS2 possessed high reduction activity with soil Cr(VI) removal rate up to 99 % even under alkaline condition, and soil with different pH values eventually converged to neutral after 90 days, indicating that ZVI/FeS2 has a good self-regulating alkaline ability. The reduction process conformed to Langmuir-Hinshelwood first-order kinetics and was a spontaneous and endothermic process. The lower activation energy of 17.97 kJ mol-1 (usually 60-250 kJ mol-1) indicated that the reduction reaction of Cr(VI) was particularly easy to occur. The speciation change of Cr in soil within 30 days demonstrated that the Cr in the soil was converted from a readily migratable state to a more stable state, where the Fe-Mn oxide bound fraction reached 85.03 % due to the generation of Cr(III)/Fe(III) co-precipitation. The results of long-term stability experiments showed that the leaching concentrations of Cr(VI) and total Cr decreased significantly after the ZVI/FeS2 treatment and remained stable at very low levels for 180 days. This study provided a sustainable way to fully utilize natural pyrite minerals to obtain iron-bearing reductive materials for feasible, effective and long-term stable immobilization of Cr(VI) in soil.

Stabilization mechanism of arsenic-sulfide slag by density functional theory calculation of arsenic-sulfide clusters.

Stabilization of arsenic sulfur slag (As‒S slag) is of high importance to prevent the release of deadly As pollutants into environment. However, the molecular understanding on the stability of As‒S slag is missing, which in turn restricts the development of robust approach to solve the challenge. In this work, we investigated the structure-stability relationship of As‒S slag with adopting various As‒S clusters as prototypes by density functional theory (DFT). Results showed that the configuration of S multimers-covering-(As2S3)n is the most stable structure amongst the candidates by the analysis of energies and bonding characteristics. The high stability is explained by orbital composition that the 4p-orbital (As) binding with 3p-orbital (S) decreases energy level of highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO). Inspired from the calculations, an excess-S-based hydrothermal method was successfully proposed and achieved to promote the stabilization of As‒S slag. Typically, the As concentration from the leaching test of stabilized As‒S slag is only 0.8 mg/L, which is much lower than the value from other stabilized slag.

Recent progress in understanding the mechanism of heavy metals retention by iron (oxyhydr)oxides.

Heavy metals are widespread toxic environmental pollutants that can generate enormous health and public concern. Iron (oxyhydr)oxides are ubiquitous in both natural and engineered environments and have great retention capacity of heavy metals due to their high surface areas and reactivity. The sequestration of heavy metal by iron (oxyhydr)oxides is one of the most vital geochemical/chemical processes controlling their environmental fate, transport, and bioavailability. In this review, some of the common iron (oxyhydr)oxides are introduced in detail in terms of their formation, occurrence, structure characteristics and interaction with heavy metals. Moreover, the retention mechanisms of metal cations (e.g., Pb, Cu, Cd, Ni, Zn), metal oxyanions (e.g., As, Sb, Cr), and coexisting multiple metals on various iron (oxyhydr)oxides are fully reviewed. Principal mechanisms of surface complexation, surface precipitation and structural incorporation are responsible for heavy metal retention on iron (oxyhydr)oxides, and greatly dependent on mineral species, metal ion species, reacting conditions (i.e., pH, heavy metal concentration, ionic strength, etc.) and chemical process (i.e., adsorption, coprecipitaton and mineral phase transformation process). The retention mechanisms summarized in this review would be helpful for remediating heavy metal contamination and predicting the long-term behavior of heavy metal in natural and engineered environments.

Development and simulation of a struvite crystallization fluidized bed reactor with enhanced external recirculation for phosphorous and ammonium recovery.

Recovering nitrogen and phosphorus from waste water in the form of struvite is an effective way to recycle resources. The insufficient purity of the resulting struvite and the large loss of nitrogen and phosphorus are the challenges at present. Therefore, it is urgent to develop innovative method in struvite crystallization process for efficient nitrogen and phosphorus recovery. This study proposed a crystallization method to reduce the loss of nitrogen and phosphorus by a struvite fluidized bed reactor (FBR) with optimized structure and operation conditions. The properties of struvite obtained under various conditions in the reactor were studied, and the internal operating conditions of the reactor were simulated with COMSOL Multiphysics to verify the effectiveness of the reactor optimization. This reactor achieved stable operation under the conditions of N/P = 1:1 and pH = 9.0. The purity of struvite obtained reached 98.5%, the conversion rate of ammonia nitrogen reached 97.2%, and struvite crystals could grow to 84 µm within 24 h. The simulation results showed that the Venturi tubes installed at multiple locations increased the turbulent energy to 4 × 10-4 m2/s2, which greatly improved the mass transfer efficiency. The trajectory of the crystal particles was consistent with the fluid flow field, which promoted the purification and growth of the crystal. In general, the new FBR with enhanced external recirculation would be a very feasible way to improve crystal growth and crystal purification of struvite, and it could enhance the recovery efficiency of nitrogen and phosphorus with reduced cost.

Synthesis and Hydration Characteristic of Geopolymer Based on Lead Smelting Slag.

Lead smelting slag (LSS) has been identified as general industrial solid waste, which is produced from the pyrometallurgical treatment of the Shuikoushan process for primary lead production in China. The LSS-based geopolymer was synthesized after high-energy ball milling. The effect of unconfined compressive strength (UCS) on the synthesis parameters of the geopolymer was optimized. Under the best parameters of the geopolymer (modulus of water glass was 1-1.5, dosage of water glass (W(SiO2+Na2O)) was 5% and water-to-binder ratio was 0.2), the UCS reached 76.09 MPa after curing for 28 days. The toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) leaching concentration of Zn from LSS fell from 167.16 to 93.99 mg/L after alkali-activation, which was below the limit allowed. Meanwhile, C-S-H and the geopolymer of the hydration products were identified from the geopolymer. In addition, the behavior of iron was also discussed. Then, the hydration process characteristics of the LSS-based geopolymer were proposed. The obtained results showed that Ca2+ and Fe2+ occupied the site of the network as modifiers in the glass phase and then dissociated from the glass network after the water glass activation. At the same time, C-S-H, the geopolymer and Fe(OH)2 gel were produced, and then the Fe(OH)2 was easily oxidized to Fe(OH)3 under the air curing conditions. Consequently, the conclusion was drawn that LSS was an implementable raw material for geopolymer production.

Enhanced adsorption of antimonate by ball-milled microscale zero valent iron/pyrite composite: adsorption properties and mechanism insight.

Ball-milling is considered as an economical and simple technology to produce novel engineered materials. The ball-milled microscale zero valent iron/pyrite composite (BM-ZVI/FeS2) had been synthesized through ball-milling technology and applied for highly efficient sequestration of antimonate (Sb(V)) in aqueous solution. BM-ZVI/FeS2 exhibited good Sb(V) removal efficiency (≥ 99.18%) at initial concentration less than 100 mg Sb(V)/L. Compared to ball-milled zero valent iron (ZVI) and pyrite (FeS2), BM-ZVI/FeS2 exhibited extremely higher removal efficiency due to the good synergistic adsorption effect. BM-ZVI/FeS2 showed efficient removal performance at broad pH (2.6-10.6). Moreover, the coexisting anions had negligible inhibition influence on the Sb(V) removal. The antimony mine wastewater can be efficiently remediated by BM-ZVI/FeS2, and the residual Sb(V) concentrations (< 0.96 µg/L) can meet the mandatory discharge limit in drinking water (5 µg Sb/L). Experimental and model results demonstrated that endothermic reaction and chemisorption were involved in Sb(V) removal by BM-ZVI/FeS2. The XRD and XPS analyses confirmed that the complete corrosion of ZVI occurred on BM-ZVI/FeS2 after Sb(V) adsorption, resulting in the enhanced Sb(V) sequestration. Mechanism analyses showed that the excellent removal performance of BM-ZVI/FeS2 was ascribed to the high coverage of iron (hydr)oxide oxidized from ZVI. Because of the advantages of economical cost, high Sb(V) removal capacity and easy availability, BM-ZVI/FeS2 offers a promising adsorbent for Sb(V) remediation.

Selective removal of Cl- and F- from complex solution via electrochemistry deionization with bismuth/reduced graphene oxide composite electrode.

Electro-adsorption is attracting increasing attention as an emerging technology for removing ionic species from water but suffer from low selectivity. In this work, a bismuth/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposite electrode was fabricated by a facile and green method. Based on this material, an electrode with improved selectivity by electrochemistry deionization system was successfully fabricated. The bismuth nanoparticles were uniformly covered with reduced graphene oxide plates and the ratio of Bi on the whole materials is 79.56%. Bismuth/reduced graphene oxide showed ions selectivity in the order of Cl- > F- ≫ [Formula: see text] . The average Cl- removal capacity can reach as high as 62.59 mg g-1. Moreover, bismuth/reduced graphene oxide electrodes have good regeneration performance. Typically, in the 10 adsorption-desorption multicycles, the salt absorption/desorption capacity of the hybrid capacitive deionization system is stable and reversible. This research opened a hopeful window to design and synthesize effective materials to selectively remove the ionic species to purify the water.