•Graphene oxide-coated biochar nanocomposites (GO-BC) were synthesized.•Sorption capacity of SMT onto GO-BC increased by 1.14 times compared to biochar (BC).•Chemical aging can significantly improve sorption performance of BC and GO-BC.•The main sorption mechanism for SMT was π-π electron-donor-acceptor interaction.Significant concerns have been raised over antibiotics pollution in aquatic environments in recent years. In this study, sorption of sulfamethazine (SMT) by novel graphene oxide-coated biochar nanocomposites (GO-BC) based on graphene oxide (GO) with bamboo sawdust biochar (BC) was investigated. In comparison with the original BC, the sorption capacity of GO-BC for SMT increased by 1.14 times. Sorption of SMT onto GO-BC was proved to be dominantly by chemisorption, and Freundlich isotherm described the sorption adequately. It was found that variation of pH and ionic strength obviously affected the sorption of SMT, and GO-BC had a good sorption effect on SMT at pH 3.0–6.0 and lower ionic strength. Obvious enhancement (by 30%) in sorption of SMT on GO-BC was observed, which might be attributed to the increase of functional groups on the surface of GO-BC. Moreover, the main sorption mechanism for SMT was π-π electron-donor-acceptor interaction, while auxiliary sorption mechanisms were inferred as pore-filling, cation exchange, hydrogen bonding interaction and electrostatic interaction. The results indicated that GO-BC sorption was an efficient way for the removal of SMT.Download high-res image (228KB)Download full-size image

•SAM treatment significantly improved the catalytic property of steel slag.•SAM can selectively dissolve calcium silicate minerals on the surface of steel slag.•SAM modified slag shows high activity and good reusability for alachlor degradation.•The degradation rate decreased along with the increase of initial pH from 2 to 6.0.Significant effort has recently been directed toward the use of advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) to degrade organic pollutants. In this work, an affordable and effective heterogeneous Fenton-like process was proposed and studied. Preparation and utilization of an iron-rich catalyst, salicylic acid–methanol (SAM) modified steel converter slag (SCS), were investigated for the degradation of alachlor in wastewater. Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to assess the morphology and crystal structure of the prepared catalysts. Results showed that SAM modification can selectively remove calcium silicate minerals from surface of SCS. The modification decreased the alkalinity of SCS and led to a prominent decrease in the specific surface areas and iron content, which dramatically improved the catalytic property of SCS. The removal rate of alachlor at initial pH 3.0 in SAM-modified SCS/H2O2 system was 3.07 times of that in SCS/H2O2 system. Further studies showed that this heterogeneous Fenton-like process was more suitable to be performed at relative higher temperature (30–40 °C) and lower initial pH (2.0–3.0). A small decrease (2.1%) was found in the activity of SAM-modified SCS after four runs, indicating a feasible way to utilize SCS and also achieve excellent environmental benefit.Download high-res image (144KB)Download full-size image

•The application of Tween 80-enhanced technologies for soil remediation is reviewed.•Tween 80 improved the performance of soil washing, flushing and other treatments.•The performance of these technologies is largely affected by soil properties.•Further work is required to investigate economic or operational problems.•Possible improvements and outlooks of Tween 80-enhanced technologies are proposed.The occurrence of hydrophobic organic compounds (HOCs) in soil has become a highly significant environmental issue. This problem has been exacerbated by the strong sorption of HOCs to soil and the absence of remediation technologies that have been tested at full-scale. More and more studies show that surfactants are able to solubilize HOCs from the soil, thus to enhance the remediation efficiency. Among these surfactants, Tween 80 has gained particular interest due to its low cost, low polarity, low toxicity and high solubilization capacity. This review aims to highlight the development of Tween 80-enhanced technologies for HOCs removal. Specifically, it provides an overview of HOCs removal by Tween 80-enhanced soil washing, soil flushing and combined treatments (Tween 80 extraction coupling with Fenton processes, electrochemical oxidation, etc.). We present a general and rigorous review on this topic, from the basic understanding of Tween 80-enhanced solubilization of sorbed HOCs to the current new techniques developed until 2016. Besides, possible improvements and outlooks of Tween 80-enhanced technologies are proposed.Download high-res image (168KB)Download full-size image

Magnetic chlorapatite nanoparticles (MNCLAP) was synthesized and used as adsorbent to remove Zn2+, Cd2+ and Pb2+ from aqueous solutions. The synthesized MNCLAP was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive analysis system of X-ray (EDAX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and magnetization curves. Influence of different sorption parameters, such as equilibration time, initial heavy metal concentration, the amount of MNCLAP, pH values and competition adsorption were investigated in this study. Moreover, the desorption experiment was also carried out to explore the adsorption property of MNCLAP. The adsorption kinetic data has a very high correlation coefficient (R2 = 0.9999) with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model, and the Langmuir model was used in describing adsorption isotherms. The maximum adsorption capacities of MNCLAP adsorbent towards Zn2+, Cd2+ and Pb2+ were 1.1769, 1.1022 and 1.1546 mmol g−1, respectively. EDTA solution was the best efficient eluant for heavy metal desorption with 25.94%, 22.95% and 32.84% released rate of Zn2+, Cd2+ and Pb2+, respectively. Experimental results revealed that the prepared MNCLAP combined both the properties of chlorapatite and magnetic material and it showed remarkable advantages in heavy metal removal from aqueous solutions.Download high-res image (160KB)Download full-size image

•Nanoporous gold was used to fabricate the electrochemical aptasensor.•The enhancement of active surface was 9.4-fold by modification of nanoporous gold.•A low detection limit of 0.0036 nM was obtained for Hg2+ detection.•The electrochemical aptasensor could be easily regenerated.•The aptasensor showed an application potential for detecting Hg2+ in drinking water.A simple, practical and reusable electrochemical aptasensor, based on thymine-Hg2+-thymine (T-Hg2+-T) coordination chemistry and nanoporous gold (NPG) for signal amplification, was designed for sensitive and selective detection of mercury ions (Hg2+). The thiol modified T-rich hairpin capture probe was self-assembled onto the surface of the NPG modified electrode for hybridizing with ferrocene-labeled T-rich probe in the presence of Hg2+ via T-Hg2+-T coordination chemistry. As a result, the hairpin capture probe was opened, and the ferrocene tags were close to the NPG modified electrode. Taking advantage of the amplification effect of NPG electrode for increasing the reaction sites of thiol modified capture probe, the proposed electrochemical aptasensor could detect Hg2+ quantitatively in the range of 0.01–5000 nM, with a detection limit as low as 0.0036 nM which is much lower than the maximum contamination level for Hg2+ in drinking water defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Moreover, the proposed electrochemical aptasensor can be regenerated by adding cysteine and Mg2+. The aptasensor was also used to detect Hg2+ from real water samples, and the results showed excellent agreement with the values determined by atomic fluorescence spectrometer. This aptasensor showed a promising potential for on-site detecting Hg2+ in drinking water.

In the present study, sediment was spiked with bisphenol A (BPA) solution to explore the interaction between indigenous bacterial communities and BPA biodegradation in sediment. Results showed that BPA could be adsorbed to the sediment and then biodegraded rapidly. Biodegradation efficiency of BPA in treatments with 10 and 50 mg/L BPA reached 64.3 and 61.8% on the first day, respectively. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis indicated that BPA affected the densities, species, and diversities of bacteria significantly. The response of bacterial community to BPA favored BPA biodegradation by promoting the growth of BPA-reducing bacteria and inhibiting other competitors. According to the results of sequencing, Pseudomonas and Sphingomonas played vital roles in the degradation of BPA. They presented over 73% of the original bacterial community, and both of them were promoted by BPA comparing with controls. Laccase and polyphenol oxidase contributed to the degradation of BPA and metabolic intermediates, respectively. This paper illustrates the rapid biodegradation of BPA induced by the response of indigenous bacterial communities to the BPA stress, which will improve the understandings of BPA degradation in sediment.

•The combination of Fenton process and biotreatment is novel and useful.•Toxicity and biodegradability tests are significant to design a combined system.•No matter which technology at first stage, they would be called combined methods.•Wastewater contains PPCPs or EDCs.•Use of combination system in wastewater and polluted soil.There is a continuously increasing worldwide concern for the development of wastewater and contaminated soil treatment technologies. Fenton processes and biological treatments have long been used as common technologies for treating wastewater and polluted soil but they still need to be modified because of some defects (high costs of Fenton process and long remediation time of biotreatments). This work first briefly introduced the Fenton technology and biotreatment, and then discussed the main considerations in the construction of a combined system. This review shows a critical overview of recent researches combining Fenton processes (as pre-treatment or post-treatment) with bioremediation for treatment of wastewater or polluted soil. We concluded that the combined treatment can be regarded as a novel and competitive technology. Furthermore, the outlook for potential applications of this combination in different polluted soil and wastewater, as well as the mechanism of combination was also discussed.Download high-res image (102KB)Download full-size image

•Beta-cyclodextrin modified magnetic chitosan showed strong self-assemble ability toward phenolic compounds.•More water-compatible imprinting sites were generated in the surface of imprinted layer.•Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second-order kinetic model described the selective adsorption well.•The as-prepared MMIP exhibited higher adsorption capacity and selectivity toward target molecule.Beta-cyclodextrin modified magnetic chitosan molecularly imprinted polymer (MMIP) was successfully synthesized via covalent modification and self-assembly polymerization for selective removal of bisphenol A (BPA) from wastewater. To obtain more water-compatible imprinting sites, chitosan and beta-cyclodextrin were introduced as functional monomer of polymerization process. The provided multifunctional ligand containing –NH2, –OH and hydrophobic cavity enhanced the capture capability toward target molecule. The as-prepared MMIP was evaluated and characterized by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared analysis, x-ray diffraction and vibrating sample magnetometry. Pseudo-second-order kinetic and Langmuir isotherm mode fitted the experimental data better than other models. The optimal adsorption was observed at pH = 6 with the highest binding capacity of 105.5 mg/g at 298 K. The initial adsorption rate of MMIP was 7.062 mg/g min, and adsorption equilibrium was reached in less than 60 min. Moreover, MMIP showed significantly selective binding capacity to BPA over other structurally related phenolic compounds. Regenerative study demonstrated that no obvious decline of removal capacity was observed after several cycles. Therefore, MMIP could be expected to be a promising candidate for selective removal of target pollutant from aqueous solution.Download high-res image (89KB)Download full-size image

Lignolytic fungi initiate lignocellulose decay by producing extracellular oxidative enzymes. For better understanding the enzymatic degradation of lignocellulose by white-rot fungi, we investigated the effect of manganese on the organic matter loss, manganese peroxidase (MnP) activity, and manganese peroxidase gene (mnp) transcription levels during solid-state fermentation of rice straw with Phanerochaete chrysosporium. The results showed that the addition of manganese improved MnP activity and made it reach the peak earlier, promoted fungal growth at the early period (0–9 days), and enhanced the degradation of lignocellulosic waste. The total organic matter loss had a good correlation with fungal biomass during 30 days of cultivation, and manganese amendment promoted the ability of P. chrysosporium to degrade lignocellulose. Quantitative real-time RT-PCR revealed the differential expression of mnp1, mnp2, and mnp3: manganese amendment increased the transcription of mnp1 and mnp2 but not mnp3. The results indicated that manganese stimulated mnp transcription levels and played a post-transcriptional role in MnP production. These findings provide opportunity of development in enzymatic degradation of lignocellulosic waste by P. chrysosporium amended with manganese.

•P. chrysosporium showed good Pb tolerance and could accumulate Pb up to 162.6 mg g−1.•Pb induced oxidative stress by elevating the accumulation of H2O2 and MDA.•P. chrysosporium evolved an antioxidant system including SOD and GSH against ROS.•Pearson correlation analysis revealed the cooperation mechanism for antioxidants.The present work investigated the effect of lead (Pb) on the growth, metal accumulation, oxidative stress, and antioxidant response in Phanerochaete chrysosporium, which is a well-known hyperaccumulating species for heavy metal with appreciable bioaccumulation capacity. Results revealed that P. chrysosporium exhibited a good ability in Pb accumulation and tolerance over a concentration range of 50–100 mg L−1 Pb. The removal rate of Pb decreased with the increasing levels of Pb and reached a maximum of 91.3% at 50 mg L−1. Both extracellular adsorption and intracellular bioaccumulation contributed to the removal of Pb, with the maximum of 123.8 mg g−1 and 162.5 mg g−1 dry weight, respectively. Pb may exert its toxicity to P. chrysosporium by impairing oxidative metabolism, as evidenced by the enhanced accumulation of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and lipid peroxidation product malonaldehyde (MDA). P. chrysosporium evolved an antioxidant system by elevating the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and the level of reduced glutathione (GSH) in response to Pb stress, whereas decreasing the activities of catalase (CAT) and peroxidase (POD). Moreover, Pearson correlation analysis demonstrated a good correlation between oxidative stress biomarkers and enzymatic antioxidants. The preset work suggested that P. chrysosporium exhibited an outstanding accumulation of Pb and tolerance of Pb-induced oxidative stress by the effective antioxidant defense mechanism.

•Invertase and alkaline phosphatase were decreased by high concentration of biochar.•Intensities of dominant bacteria declined when biochar rate was 50 mg kg−1.•pH might be related to the decreases in enzymes activity and microbial abundance.•OM explained the 45% of the variations of microbial community structure by RDA.Owning to the potential in carbon sequestration and other environmental benefits, biochar has been widely used for in-situ environmental remediation. Understanding the biological effects of biochar is essential. The goal of this study was to explore the response of indigenous microbes under the stress of different concentrations of biochar. The results showed that biochar could significantly change physicochemical properties, enzymes activity and microbial community composition depending on biochar concentration and incubation time. When the concentration of biochar was 50 mg kg−1, the activities of invertase and alkaline phosphatase were obviously inhibited. Meanwhile, bacterial 16S rRNA and fungal 18S rRNA coding gene copies were decreased by 74% and 25%, respectively after 90 days of incubation. Additionally, the bacterial community succession occurred and the relative intensity of dominant species decreased when treated with high concentration of biochar. However, the activity of urease and alkaline phosphatase, as well as bacterial and fungal abundance, were increased when sediment was treated with 10 mg kg−1 biochar. Relationships among physicochemical properties, heavy metals and microbes were analyzed by correlation analysis and redundancy analysis (RDA). Correlations between invertase activity and pH value in the experiment were significantly negative. Redundancy analysis showed physicochemical properties and heavy metals explained 92% of the variation in the bacterial DGGE profiles and organic matter content explained the majority (45%) of the variation. This study indicated that indigenous microbes could be affected by biochar either directly or indirectly via changing the physicochemical properties and heavy metals of sediment.

This review provides new insight that calcium plays important roles in plant growth, heavy metal accumulation and translocation, photosynthesis, oxidative damage and signal transduction under cadmium stress.Increasing heavy metal pollution problems have raised word-wide concerns. Cadmium (Cd), being a highly toxic metal, poses potential risks both to ecosystems and human health. Compared with conventional technologies, phytoremediation, being cost-efficient, highly stable and environment-friendly, is believed to be a promising green technology for Cd decontamination. However, Cd can be easily taken up by plants and may cause severe phytotoxicity to plants, thus limiting the efficiency of phytoremediation. Various researches are being done to investigate the effects of exogenous substances on the mitigation of Cd toxicity to plants. Calcium (Ca) is an essential plant macronutrient that involved in various plant physiological processes, such as plant growth and development, cell division, cytoplasmic streaming, photosynthesis and intracellular signaling transduction. Due to the chemical similarity between Ca and Cd, Ca may mediate Cd-induced physiological or metabolic changes in plants. Recent studies have shown that Ca could be used as an exogenous substance to protect plants against Cd stress by the alleviation of growth inhibition, regulation of metal uptake and translocation, improvement of photosynthesis, mitigation of oxidative damages and the control of signal transduction in the plants. The effects of Ca on toxic concentrations of Cd in plants are reviewed. This review also provides new insight that plants with enhanced Ca level have improved resistance to Cd stress.

•Nanoporous Au and Au nanoparticles were used to fabricate the aptasensor.•The chronocoulometric signal was amplified in Pb2+ detection.•The aptasensor could be easily regenerated.•The aptasensor showed a promising potential for detecting Pb2+ in drinking water.The authors herein described an amplified detection strategy employing nanoporous Au (NPG) and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) to detect Pb2+ ions in aqueous solution. The thiol modified Pb2+-specific DNAzyme was self-assembled onto the surface of the NPG modified electrode for hybridizing with the AuNPs labeled oligonucleotide and for forming the DNA double helix structure. Electrochemical signal, redox charge of hexaammineruthenium(III) chloride (RuHex), was measured by chronocoulometry. Taking advantage of amplification effects of the NPG electrode for increasing the reaction sites of capture probe and DNA-AuNPs complexes for bringing about the adsorption of large numbers of RuHex molecules, this electrochemical sensor could detect Pb2+ quantitatively, in the range of 0.05–100 nM, with a limit of detection as low as 0.012 nM. Selectivity measurements revealed that the sensor was specific for Pb2+ even with interference by high concentrations of other metal ions. This sensor was also used to detect Pb2+ ions from samples of tap water, river water, and landfill leachate samples spiked with Pb2+ ions, and the results showed good agreement with the found values determined by an atomic fluorescence spectrometer. This simple aptasensor represented a promising potential for on-site detecting Pb2+ in drinking water.

Among the technologies for heavy metal remediation, bioremediation technology has gained extensive attention because of its low processing costs and high efficiency. The white-rot fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium (P. chrysosporium) which has a good tolerance to heavy metals has been widely used in the heavy metal bioremediation. In order to figure out the molecular mechanisms involved in the oxidative stress of P. chrysosporium against metal toxicity, we examined the effect of Pb2+ on the levels of reactive oxygen species and the production of malondialdehyde. Results showed that P. chrysosporium could adjust Pb-stressed condition by regulating the unique oxidation-antioxidation process in cells and kept a balance between oxidation and antioxidation when it was threatened by a different dose of Pb2+. Investigations into the oxidative stress of P. chrysosporium to lead could not only provide a better understanding of the relationship between lead and oxidative stress in P. chrysosporium, but also offer important informations on the development of fungal-based remediation technologies to reduce the toxic effects of lead.

Zero-valent iron nanoparticles (nZVI) modified with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) as an anionic surfactant were successfully synthesized and applied to Cr (VI) removal. The prepared nanoparticles were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscope (FSEM), energy-dispersive spectrometry (EDS), and Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometer (FT-IR). Meanwhile, the surface charges of the stabilized nanoparticles were also determined. In this study, the kinetics of particle aggregation and sedimentation were investigated. It was found that the modified nanoparticles had great stabilization. Effects of pH, contact time, dosage of nanoparticles, and initial Cr(VI) concentrations on removal efficiency of the heavy metal ions were investigated and optimized. The maximum removal efficiency of Cr(VI) was obtained at pH 3.0 and 25 °C, at the value of 98.919 %. Cr(VI) removal occurred fast, and achieved equilibrium after 120 min. The maximum removal capacity reached up to 253.68 mg g−1 dry nanoparticles at a 300-mg L−1 Cr(VI)-containing sample. Kinetics study showed a rapid removal dynamics fitting pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The equilibrium data was nicely fit to the Freundlich model and indicates the adsorption of Cr(VI) was highly favorable. The obtained results indicated that nZVI modified by SDS could be used as an efficient alternative for removal of heavy metals with enhanced removal capacity and application stability.

A cutinase loaded nanoporous gold-polyethyleneimine (NPG-PEI) was fabricated for the application in simultaneous removal of DEHP and Pb(II) from contaminated water. The thermal stability, acid and alkali resistance, storage stability and reutilization of immobilized cutinase were enhanced. The removal kinetics of DEHP and Pb(II) were described by a pseudo-second-order kinetic model, and the adsorption isotherms for Pb(II) were fitted by a Langmuir model. Pb(II) had a suppression effect on DEHP uptake in the simultaneous removal and DEHP preloading experiments. The overall DEHP removal efficiency was about 90.9%, in which enzymatic hydrolysis contributed about 81.9%, and the enzymatic degradation products of DEHP were mainly non-toxic 1,3-isobenzofurandione (IBF). In simultaneous removal of DEHP and Pb(II) at low concentrations, the cutinase loaded NPG-PEI can be used more than five times before regeneration. Due to its high removal capacity, easy separation and effective reusability, cutinase loaded NPG-PEI presented excellent potential in wastewater treatment.

A novel approach for the removal of phenol by an advanced oxidation process using Fe3O4 nanoparticles (NPs) and oxalate was proposed and investigated, and the influences of oxalate, Fe3O4 NPs and H2O2 dosage on the photodegradation of phenol were reported. No obvious difference is found between ultraviolet light and visible light exposure, confirmed potential photoactinic roles of Fe3O4 NPs in the presence of oxalate under visible light. Furthermore, relatively high dependence of oxalate depletion was observed due to the initiation of the formation of the Fe(III)-carboxylate complexes for photodegradation via a photo-Fenton-like system. Our results also demonstrated that the photodegradation of phenol occurred by a radical mechanism accompanied with the formation of O2˙− and ˙OH radicals, which was further accelerated by the exogenous addition of H2O2. All reactions followed the pseudo-first-order reaction kinetics. The half-life (t1/2) of Fe3O4–oxalate and Fe3O4–oxalate–H2O2 in the system showed higher efficiencies of photo-Fenton-like degradation routes for phenol. The photo-Fenton-like systems showed a relatively high catalytic ability (>99.9%) in the removal of phenol at low phenol concentrations below 50 mg L−1, indicating its potential application in the treatment of low concentration wastewater. The results have demonstrated the feasibility of Fe3O4 NPs as potential heterogeneous photo-Fenton photocatalysts for organic contaminants decontamination in industrial wastewater.

A novel biosorbent was successfully prepared by the immobilization of Phanerochaete chrysosporium with iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) and Ca-alginate, which was confirmed by ESEM, EDS, FTIR and XRD characterization. Optimum biosorption conditions were determined as a function of pH, contact time and initial concentration of Pb(II). The maximum biosorption efficiency of Pb(II) was obtained at pH 5.0 and 35 °C, at the value of 96.03%. The uptake of metal was very fast initially, and achieved equilibrium after 8 h. The maximum biosorption capacity reached up to 185.25 mg g−1 dry biosorbent at a 500 mg L−1 Pb(II)-containing sample. It was obvious that the prepared MNPs-Ca-alginate immobilized P. chrysosporium was capable of removing Pb(II) ions from solution efficiently, in terms of its performance and cost. According to Pearson correlation analysis, biosorption efficiency was mostly controlled by contact time and pH, but initial Pb(II) concentration also have a great effect on biosorption efficiency. While the temperature and biosorbent dosage affected at a lower extent. As a result, this work could provide a potential and unique technique for heavy metals removal by enhanced removal capacity and application stability.Graphical abstractHighlights► A novel biosorbent: MNPs-Ca-alginate immobilized P. chrysosporium was prepared. ► Optimum biosorption conditions were studied as functions of pH, contact time, et al. ► Optimum conditions were further evaluated by Pearson correlation analysis. ► The biosorbents showed admirable capacity and stability for Pb(II) removal.

•Fe3O4 MNPs coated with SiO2 player and reduced glutathione were synthesized.•Fe3O4SiO2-GSH MNPs were efficient nanoadsorbents for magnetic removal of Pb(II).•Coated GSH provided reactive adsorption site including COOH, NH2 and SH.•This adsorption technique provides great promises for Pb(II) wastewater treatment.In this study, a novel nanoadsorbent (Fe3O4SiO2-GSH MNPs) based on iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles (Fe3O4 MNPs), coated with SiO2 shells and further modified via reduced glutathione (GSH), was successfully synthesized and applied for Pb(II) removal. Characterization results suggested that the prepared nanoadsorbents were in uniform size and provided numerous adsorption sites for Pb(II), nanoparticles could be convenient separated with the help of external magnet due to their superparamagnetism. Adsorption results showed that the prepared nanoadsorbents exhibited excellent adsorption capacity, even at a large range of Pb(II) concentrations and ionic strength scope. Kinetic of the Pb(II) adsorption was found to follow pseudo-second-order rate equation. Adsorption isotherm data was best fitted to Freundlich model (R2 = 0.9888–0.9959), and the maximal Pb(II) adsorption capacities were calculated as 298.87, 332.44 and 357.37 mg g−1, at 298, 303 and 308 K, respectively. Based on the efficient Pb(II) adsorption ability and reusability studies, Fe3O4SiO2-GSH MNPs were confirmed to be a promising candidate for Pb(II) removal from industrial effluents.Download high-res image (159KB)Download full-size image

•Composting of 4-nonylphenol-contaminated river sediment was studied.•Inocula of Phanerochaete chrysosporium (Pc) could accelerate 4-NP’s degradation.•4-NP contents in sediment were negatively correlated with Pc’s laccase actives.•Pc increased the activities of catalase and polyphenol oxidase in the sediment.•Composting time was reduced by inocula of Pc into 4-NP contaminated sediment.A composting study was performed to investigate the degradation of 4-nonylphenol (4-NP) in river sediment by inoculating Phanerochaete chrysosporium (Pc). Pc was inoculated into composting Reactor A, C and D, while Reactor B without inocula was used as control. The results showed that composting with Pc accelerated the degradation of 4-NP, increased the catalase and polyphenol oxidase enzyme activities in contaminated sediment. The dissipation half-life (t1/2) of 4-NP in Reactor A, C and D with inocula of Pc were 2.079, 2.558, 2.424 days, while in Reactor B without inocula of Pc it was 3.239 days, respectively. Correlation analysis showed that the contents of 4-NP in sediment in Reactor A and D were negatively correlated with the actives of laccase, whereas no obvious correlation was observed in Reactor B and C. All these findings also indicated that Pc enhanced the maturity of compost, and the best composting C/N ratio was 25.46:1.Download high-res image (72KB)Download full-size image

•Rice straw ferment with P. chrysosporium is efficient for removing of methylene blue.•A decolorization of 84.8% for an initial dye concentration of 0.4 g/L was observed.•The most appropriate temperature is 35 °C and the most appropriate pH is 5.•The maximum dye adsorption amount of the fermented residues reached 51.4 mg/g.The degradation of methylene blue (MB) by semi-solid-state fermentation of agricultural residues rice straw with Phanerochaete chrysosporium and the reutilization of fermented residues was investigated. A maximum decolorization of 84.8% for an initial dye concentration of 0.4 g/L was observed at the optimal operating conditions (temperature 35 °C, pH 5). As compared to the previous results obtained using synthetic materials as substrate, the results in the present study revealed an excellent performance of the bioreactor in decolorizing the wastewater containing MB, which is due to this type of cultivation reproducing the natural living conditions of the white rot fungi. Among the two ligninolytic enzymes that are responsible to the decolorization, manganese peroxidase (MnP) activity was found better correlated with decoloration percentage. Our results also provide a first step to recycling the fermented residues for the removal of MB from aqueous solutions, the maximum adsorption capacity of the fermented residues reached 51.4 mg/g.Download full-size image