Simultaneous Removal of Antibiotics and Heavy Metals with Poly(Aspartic Acid)-Based Fenton Micromotors

The discharge of diverse pollutants has led to a complex water environment and posed a huge health threat to humans and animals. Self-propelled micromotors have recently attracted considerable attention for efficient water remediation due to their strong localized mass transfer effect. However, a single functionalized component is difficult to tackle with multiple contaminants and requires to combine different decontamination effects together. Here, we introduced a multifunctional micromotor to implement the adsorption and degradation roles simultaneously by integrating the poly(aspartic acid) (PASP) adsorbent with a MnO₂-based catalyst. The as-prepared micromotors are well propelled in contaminated waters by MnO₂ catalyzing hydrogen peroxide. In addition, the catalytic ramsdellite MnO₂(R-MnO₂) inner layer is decorated with Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles to improve their catalytic performance, contributing to an excellent degradation ability with 90% tetracycline (TC) removal in 50 minutes by enhanced Fenton-like reactions. Combining the attractive adsorption capability of poly (aspartic acid) (PASP), the composite micromotors offer an efficient removal of heavy metal ions in short time. Moreover, the designed micromotors are able to simultaneously remove antibiotic and heavy metals in mixed contaminants circumstance just in single treatment. This multifunctional micromotor with distinctive decontamination ability exhibits a promising prospective in treating multiple pollutants in the future.     

Heavy tails for an alternative stochastic perpetuity model

In this paper we consider a stochastic model of perpetuity-type. In contrast to the classical affine perpetuity model of Kesten (1973) and Goldie (1991) all discount factors in the model are mutually independent. We prove that the tails of the distribution of this model are regularly varying both in the univariate and multivariate cases. Due to the additional randomness in the model the tails are not pure power laws as in the Kesten–Goldie setting but involve a logarithmic term.     

Evaluation of an activated carbon from olive stones used as an adsorbent for heavy metal removal from aqueous phases

The performance of a microporous activated carbon prepared chemically from olive stones for removing Cu(II), Cd(II) and Pb(II) from single and binary aqueous solutions was investigated via the batch technique. The activated carbon sample was characterized using N₂ adsorption–desorption isotherms, SEM, XRD, FTIR, and Boehm titration. The effect of initial pH and contact time were studied. Adsorption kinetic rates were found to be fast and kinetic experimental data fitted very well the pseudo-second-order equation. The adsorption isotherms fit the Redlich–Peterson model very well and maximum adsorption amounts of single metal ions solutions follow the trend Pb(II) > Cd(II) > Cu(II). The adsorption behavior of binary solution systems shows a relatively high affinity to Cu(II) at the activated carbon surface of the mixture with Cd(II) or Pb(II). An antagonistic competitive adsorption phenomenon was observed. Desorption experiments indicated that about 59.5% of Cu(II) and 23% of Cd(II) were desorbed using a diluted sulfuric acid solution.     

Haezendonck–Goovaerts risk measure with a heavy tailed loss

Recently Haezendonck–Goovaerts (H–G) risk measure has received much attention in (re)insurance and portfolio management. Some nonparametric inferences have been proposed in the literature. When the loss variable does not have enough moments, which depends on the involved Young function, the nonparametric estimator in Ahn and Shyamalkumar (2014) has a nonnormal limit, which challenges interval estimation. Motivated by the fact that many loss variables in insurance and finance could have a heavier tail such as an infinite variance, this paper proposes a new estimator which estimates the tail by extreme value theory and the middle part nonparametrically. It turns out that the proposed new estimator always has a normal limit regardless of the tail heaviness of the loss variable. Hence an interval with asymptotically correct confidence level can be obtained easily either by the normal approximation method via estimating the asymptotic variance or by a bootstrap method. A simulation study and real data analysis confirm the effectiveness of the proposed new inference procedure for estimating the H–G risk measure.     

Sharper asset ranking from total drawdown durations

The total duration of drawdowns is shown to provide a moment-free, unbiased, efficient and robust estimator of Sharpe ratios both for Gaussian and heavy-tailed price returns. We then use this quantity to infer an analytic expression of the bias of moment-based Sharpe ratio estimators as a function of the return distribution tail exponent. The heterogeneity of tail exponents at any given time among assets implies that our new method yields significantly different asset rankings than those of moment-based methods, especially in periods large volatility. This is fully confirmed by using 20 years of historical data on 3449 liquid US equities.     

Efficient Intersystem Crossing and Long-lived Charge-Separated State Induced by Through-Space Intramolecular Charge Transfer in a Parallel Geometry Carbazole-Bodipy Dyad

The design of efficient heavy atom-free triplet photosensitizers (PSs) based on through bond charge transfer (TBCT) features is a formidable challenge due to the criteria of orthogonal donor-acceptor geometry. Herein, we propose using parallel (face-to-face) conformation carbazole-bodipy donor-acceptor dyads (BCZ-1 and BCZ-2) featuring through space intramolecular charge transfer (TSCT) process as efficient triplet PS. Efficient intersystem crossing (Φ_Δ=61 %) and long-lived triplet excited state (τ_T=186 μs) were observed in the TSCT dyad BCZ-1 compared to BCZ-3 (Φ_Δ=0.4 %), the dyad involving TBCT, demonstrating the superiority of the TSCT approach over conventional donor-acceptor system. Moreover, the transient absorption study revealed that TSCT dyads have a faster charge separation and slower intersystem crossing process induced by charge recombination compared to TBCT dyad. A long-lived charge-separated state (CSS) was observed in the BCZ-1 (τ_CSS=24 ns). For the first time, the TSCT dyad was explored for the triplet-triplet annihilation upconversion, and a high upconversion quantum yield of 11 % was observed. Our results demonstrate a new avenue for designing efficient PSs and open up exciting opportunities for future research in this field.     

Surface modification of date palm activated carbonaceous materials for heavy metal removal and CO2 adsorption

In this study, high surface area activated carbon (AC) was prepared from a local palm tree (Phoenix Dactylifera) using a variety of metal carbonates activators and finally achieved an excellent S_BET of 2700 m²/g when Cs₂CO₃ was used as an activating agent at a temperature of 600 °C. Surface modification of AC was carried out using various nitrogen transporting agents, resulting in N-doped ACs with nitrogen content varying from 4.0 to 11.4 %, depending on the functionalizing agents and activators used. The bimodal (presence of micro- as well as meso-porosity) ACs with such excellent surface properties were studied for their CO₂ uptake capacity at two different temperatures (0 and 25 °C) by isotherms recorded at pressure 1 bar and showed a remarkable uptake ability of 3.52 mmol/g (at 25 °C) and 5.6 mmol/g (at 0 °C), respectively. Also, batch experiments with variable pH, contact time, adsorbate concentrations, adsorbent dose, and temperatures were evaluated to understand the mechanism of sorption phenomena of Cr(VI) and Pb(II) achieving > 99.9 % removal capacity by the prepared ACs. Depending on the heavy metal ions being investigated, it was revealed that the pH of the solution and the amount of adsorbent had a direct impact on the total adsorption ability. Nitrogen atoms doped into the carbon frameworks were found to enhance the adsorption in the case of Pb(II) while the removal of Cr(VI) appeared to be unaffected. Maximum adsorption for Cr(VI) was observed at pH 2 and was determined to follow Freundlich isotherm while that of Pb(II) was observed at pH 7 and follows Langmuir isotherm. Best adsorption was found at an adsorbate concentration of 10 ppm and an adsorbent dose of 10 g/L. Kinetic modeling parameters showed the applicability of pseudo-second-order model perfectly.     

便携式X射线荧光光谱仪在污染场地中重金属检测的应用

为探究便携式X射线荧光光谱法(Portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometry method, PXRF)测定结果的不确定度, 应用PXRF法和传统实验室方法对湖南某典型有色金属污染场地及周边土壤中的重金属进行测定,通过建立线性回归模型对比分析两种方法的测定数据,探究了PXRF法测定数据的准确程度和置信区间。结果表明,PXRF法原位、异位测定值与传统实验室方法测定值均能呈现较好的线性相关性,As、Cu、Pb、Cd等元素的决定性系数(R2)均大于0.70,其检测数据质量均能达到定量水平;PXRF法与实验室方法测定值间比率的置信区间结果显示,Cd元素的准确性最好,其次为Pb、Cu、As,比率置信区间分别为(0.57, 1.89)、(0.38, 2.22)、(0.31, 2.25)、(0.20, 4.53)。由此可见,PXRF法是一种方便快捷且相对准确的土壤重金属现场检测方法,可广泛地应用于污染场地调查和土壤修复工程实践中。     

Selective sensing of CrVI and FeIII ions in aqueous solution by an exceptionally stable TbIII-organic framework with an AIE-active ligand

We herein report a new lanthanide metal-organic framework (MOF) that exhibits excellent chemical stability, especially in the aqueous solution over a wide pH range from 1 to 14. In contrast to many reported lanthanide MOFs, this Tb-based MOF emits cyan fluorescence inherited from the integrated AIE-active ligand, rather than Ln³⁺ ions. More remarkably, its fluorescence signal features a highly selective and sensitive “turn-off” response toward CrO₄²⁻, Cr₂O₇²⁻ and Fe³⁺ ions, highlighted with the low detection limits down to 68.18, 69.85 and 138.8 ppm, respectively. Thus, the exceptional structural stability and sensing performance render this material able to be a superior luminescent sensor for heavy metal ions in wastewater.     

Cr(VI) and Cu(II) removal from aqueous solution in fixed bed column using rice bran; experimental,statistical and GA modelling

Rice bran, a green and low-cost adsorbent, is used for Chromium (VI) and Copper (II) remotion from its aqueous solution. The influence of different process parameters in a fixed-bed on the removing efficiency has been investigated. The results show that the removal efficiency is higher at a minimum flow rate, low metal ion concentration, and higher bed height. The adsorption studies show that the rice bran has a better affinity to Chromium (VI) than Copper (II). Different kinetic models are used for the prediction of the column performance. This study shows that rice bran could be a potential and eco-friendly adsorbent for chromium (VI) and copper (II) removal and is suitable for developing countries like India. Multiple linear regression and ANN-based genetic algorithm modelling have been applied successfully to predict both metal ions' percentage removal separately.