The weathering process of polyethylene microplastics in the paddy soil system: Does the coexistence of pyrochar or hydrochar matter?

This study is based on a particular test site to simulate the weathering process of microplastics (MPs) in paddy soil. A substantial amount of plastic waste, especially MPs, inevitably accumulates in agricultural soil due to the high consumption and short average use of plastics. Recently, MP pollution has become a global environmental concern. However, insight into the soil weathering process of MPs in paddy soil, particularly in the presence of biochar, is lacking. In this study, the physicochemical properties of polyethylene (PE) MPs were determined through a 24-week weathering system conducted in paddy soil, paddy soil with pyrochar, or hydrochar. Moreover, the sorption of original and weathered PE MPs toward three typical pollutants (cadmium/Cd, bisphenol A/BPA, and dimethyl phthalate/DMP) was investigated. The surface of PE MPs was fractured, 1.1-fold rougher, yellow-colored (11.7 units), and 1.8-fold more oxidized after paddy soil weathering. In addition, the crystallinity, negative charge, and stronger hydrophilicity of weathered PE MPs increased compared to original PE MPs. Weathering in a pyrochar or hydrochar system caused fissures, extensive destruction of amorphous areas, and accelerated chemical or bio-oxidation processes for PE MPs, resulting in a more noticeable change in roughness (1.4-2.2-fold), yellow color (12.7-13.7), crystallinity (1.2-1.5-fold), and oxygen content (2.5-3.6-fold). Weathered PE MPs facilitated the sorption with Cd and BPA, attributed to larger specific surface area, abundant polar functional groups, and increased negatively charged sites. However, sorption of DMP to PE MPs was highly influenced by their hydrophobicity, resulting in decreased hydrophobic partition sorption on weathered PE MPs. Overall, paddy soil weathering affected the properties of PE MPs and enhanced sorption of Cd and BPA but reduced sorption of DMP. The coexistence of biochar exacerbated the paddy soil weathering effect. The insight gained from this study assists in better understanding the weathering process of PE MPs in agricultural soils.

Polarization dependence of the quasi-Talbot effect of the high-density grating.

Diffractions by the one-dimensional high-density grating in the near field with TM and TE polarization illuminations are studied, and the diffraction intensity distributions are calculated with the finite-difference time-domain technique. The calculation results show that the diffractions of the high-density grating with different polarization illuminations are different. The quasi-Talbot image of the grating depends on the polarization of the incident wave, and the existence condition of the quasi-Talbot image of the grating in the near field also changes with the polarization of the incident wave. We present explanations based on the vector distribution of the energy flow density. These studies on the polarization dependence of the quasi-Talbot imaging of the high-density grating are helpful for the application of the grating to near-field photolithography.

1,2,4-Diazaphospholide complexes of yttrium(iii), dysprosium(iii), erbium(iii), and europium(ii,iii): synthesis, X-ray structural characterization, and EPR analysis.

Several structurally characterized heteroleptic, charge-separated heterobimetallic, and polymeric alkali metal ate complexes of 1,2,4-diazaphospholide Y(iii), Dy(iii), Er(iii), Eu(iii), and Eu(ii) were prepared via the reaction of MCl3 and K[3,5-R2dp] in varied ratios at 200-220 °C (M = Y, Dy, Er, Eu; R = tBu, Ph).