Unveiling the mechanisms of peracetic acid activation by iron-rich sludge biochar for sulfamethoxazole degradation with wide adaptability.

Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) based on peracetic acid (PAA) has been extensively concerned for the degradation of organic pollutants. In this study, metallic iron-modified sludge biochar (Fe-SBC) was employed to activate PAA for the removal of sulfamethoxazole (SMX). The characterization results indicated that FeO and Fe2O3 were successfully loaded on the surface of the sludge biochar (SBC). Fe-SBC/PAA system achieved 92% SMX removal after 30 min. The pseudo-first-order kinetic reaction constant of the Fe-SBC/PAA system was 7.34 × 10-2 min-1, which was 2.4 times higher than the SBC/PAA system. The degradation of SMX was enhanced with increasing the Fe-SBC dosage and PAA concentration. Apart from Cl-, NO3- and SO42- had a negligible influence on the degradation of SMX. Quenching experiments and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) techniques identified the existence of reactive species, of which CH3C(O)OO•, 1O2, and O2•- were dominant reactive species in Fe-SBC/PAA system. The effect of different water matrices on the removal of SMX was investigated. The removal of SMX in tap water and lake water were 79% and 69%, respectively. Four possible pathways for the decay of SMX were presented according to the identification of oxidation products. In addition, following the ecological structure-activity relationship model (ECOSAR) procedure and the germination experiments with lettuce seeds to predict the toxicity of the intermediates. The acute and chronic ecotoxicity of SMX solution was dramatically diminished by processing with Fe-SBC/PAA system. In general, this study offered a prospective strategy for the degradation of organic pollutants.

Enhanced volatile fatty acid production from waste activated sludge by urea hydrogen peroxide: performance and mechanisms.

Anaerobic acidogenesis of waste activated sludge (WAS) presents significant potential for resource recovery and waste treatment. However, the slow hydrolysis of WAS limits the efficiency of this approach. In this study, we applied urea hydrogen peroxide (UHP) pretreatment to enhance WAS hydrolysis and investigated the effects of operating parameters on volatile fatty acid (VFA) production and the associated mechanisms. Results demonstrated that UHP significantly improved WAS hydrolysis and VFA production, with a three-fold increase in soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) compared to the control group. UHP dosage emerged as the most critical factor for VFA production, with the maximum VFA concentration increasing from 1127.6 to 8800.9 mg COD per L as UHP dosage ranged from 0 to 6 mmol g-1 VSS (Volatile suspended solids). At an optimal UHP dosage of 4 mmol g-1 VSS, both the unit oxidant promotion efficiency (ΔVFAs/ΔUHP) and the maximum VFA concentration reached relatively high levels, at 35.3 mg COD per mmol and 7527.3 mg COD per L, respectively. UHP pretreatment generated alkaline conditions, H2O2, ·OH and free ammonia, which collectively disrupted the extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) structure, transforming unextractable EPS into extractable forms and promoting the release of organic matter during both the pretreatment and fermentation stages. Excitation-emission matrix (EEM) analysis revealed that UHP increased the concentration of easily utilizable organic matter, providing more substrates for acidogenic bacteria and enhancing VFA production. Furthermore, weak alkaline conditions and high free ammonia concentrations in the UHP group facilitated VFA accumulation by preventing rapid acidification and suppressing methanogen activity. This study offers valuable insights into the potential of UHP pretreatment for enhancing WAS hydrolysis and VFA production, with promising applications in wastewater treatment and resource recovery.

Research progress on enhancing the performance of autotrophic nitrogen removal systems using microbial immobilization technology.

The autotrophic nitrogen removal process has great potential to be applied to the biological removal of nitrogen from wastewater, but its application is hindered by its unstable operation under adverse environmental conditions, such as those presented by low temperatures, high organic matter concentrations, or the presence of toxic substances. Granules and microbial entrapment technology can effectively retain and enrich microbial assemblages in reactors to improve operating efficiency and reactor stability. The carriers can also protect the reactor's internal microorganisms from interference from the external environment. This article critically reviews the existing literature on autotrophic nitrogen removal systems using immobilization technology. We focus our discussion on the natural aggregation process (granulation) and entrapment technology. The selection of carrier materials and entrapment methods are identified and described in detail and the mechanisms through which entrapment technology protects microorganisms are analyzed. This review will provide a better understanding of the mechanisms through which immobilization operates and the prospects for immobilization technology to be applied in autotrophic nitrogen removal systems.

Sludge ratio affects the start-up performance and functional bacteria distribution of a hybrid CANON system.

To investigate the effect of sludge ratio on the hybrid CANON system, autotrophic nitrogen removal sludge was inoculated with different granule/floc ratios to initiate the CANON system, and maintained the sludge ratio during the operation process. The start-up performances were compared, and the distribution characteristics of functional bacteria were investigated. The results show that the Equivalent system (granules:flocs = 1:1-1:1.5) successfully started-up on day 19, and the nitrogen removal rate (NRR) reached 0.299 kgN m-3·d-1 on day 63. At the same time, it was less affected by the load shock than High-granules and High-flocs systems. Therefore, the Equivalent system had the strongest start-up performance. The activities of the functional bacteria conformed to spatial heterogeneity, unlike the abundance. With the increased floc proportion, the difference in the activity and abundance of anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing bacteria (AAOB) between the granules and flocs increased, while there was a decrease in the difference in aerobic ammonium-oxidizing bacteria (AOB). However, the abundance of Nitrosomonas in the granules was higher than in the flocs when the proportion of flocs was higher than 50%. This study provides new ideas and insights for the fast start-up of the CANON system and can conform to the varying needs of engineering applications.

Isolation of a Novel Microcystin-Degrading Bacterium and the Evolutionary Origin of mlr Gene Cluster.

The mlr-dependent biodegradation plays an essential role in the natural attenuation of microcystins (MCs) in eutrophic freshwater ecosystems. However, their evolutionary origin is still unclear due to the lack of mlr gene cluster sequences. In this study, a Sphingopyxis sp. strain X20 with high MC-degrading ability was isolated, and the mlrA gene activity was verified by heterologous expression. The whole sequence of the mlr gene cluster in strain X20 was obtained through PCR and thermal asymmetric interlaced (TAIL)-PCR, and then used for evolutionary origin analyses together with the sequences available in GenBank. Phylogenetic analyses of mlr gene clusters suggested that the four mlr genes had the same origin and evolutionary history. Genomic island analyses showed that there is a genomic island on the genome of sphingomonads that is capable of degrading MCs, on which the mlr gene cluster anchors. The concentrated distribution of the mlr gene cluster in sphingomonads implied that these genes have likely been present in the sphingomonads gene pool for a considerable time. Therefore, the mlr gene cluster may have initially entered into the genome of sphingomonads together with the genomic island by a horizontal gene transfer event, and then become inherited by some sphingomonads. The species other than sphingomonads have likely acquired mlr genes from sphingomonads by recently horizontal gene transfer due to the sporadic distribution of MC-degrading species and the mlr genes in them. Our results shed new light on the evolutionary origin of the mlr cluster and thus facilitate the interpretation of characteristic distribution of the mlr gene in bacteria and the understanding of whole mlr pathway.

Effect of graphene oxide on the bioactivities of nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria in aerobic granular sludge.

With the widespread application of graphene oxide (GO), it would be inevitably released into wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and get involved in the biochemical process. So far, there are controversies on the effects of low GO concentration (0.05-0.1 g/L) on the nitrogen removal process. Therefore, this study essentially investigates any potential effects of GO on wastewater microbial communities functions. In present study, the nitrifying and denitrifying batch tests were introduced to investigate the influence of 0.06 g/L of GO on bacteria. The results showed that GO could be easily combined with the aerobic granular sludge (AGS), and NH4+-N was sharply absorbed, which directly promoted the bioactivities of ammonium oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and nitrite oxidizing bacteria (NOB) and extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) production. The influence of GO on the denitrifying bacteria was negligible, which resulted in the stable EPS production. Furthermore, as inferred from the near maximum chemical reaction rates, there were no obvious changes on the microbial community functions during nitrogen removal process.

Effect of granular activated carbon on the aerobic granulation of sludge and its mechanism.

The granulation of activated sludge and effect of granular activated carbon (GAC) was investigated under the alternative anaerobic and aerobic conditions. The results showed that GAC accelerated the granulation, but had no obvious effect on the bacterial community structure of granules. The whole granulation process could be categorized into three phases, i.e. lag, granulation and granule maturation phase. During lag period GAC provided nuclei for sludge to attach, and thus enhanced the morphological regularization of sludge. During granulation period the granule size increased significantly due to the growth of bacteria in granules. GAC reduced the compression caused by the inter-particle collisions and thus accelerate the granulation. GAC has no negative effect on the performance of SBR, and thus efficient simultaneous removal of COD, nitrogen and phosphorus were obtained during most of the operating time.

[Characteristics and Mechanism of Biological Nitrogen and Phosphorus Removal Granular Sludge Under Carbon Source Stress].

In SBR reactor, the mature granular sludge fed with sodium acetate was gradually cultivated with different carbon sources (sodium acetate/glucose ratio was 1:0, 3:1, 1:1, 1:3 and 0:1, in terms of COD, respectively). During the five stages, the physical, biochemical properties, extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), phosphorus fractions and nitrogen and phosphorus removal efficiency of granular sludge were studied. 705 days' experimental results were showed as follows. At stage Ⅳ, the granular sludge had the smallest diameter of 0.5 mm; moreover the phosphorus release/uptake rate, denitrification rate and the total phosphorus (TP) content were the lowest. While at stages Ⅰ and Ⅱ, the phosphorus release/uptake and denitrification rates were the highest, meanwhile, the TP content reached up to 72.36 mg·g-1, and the EPS content was about 350 mg·g-1, as a result, the nitrogen and phosphorus removal efficiencies were both over 94%. Nevertheless at stage Ⅴ, the biochemical rates were slightly slower than values of stages Ⅰ and Ⅱ, simultaneously the TP, glycogen and EPS contents in sludge were maintained at 69.60 mg·g-1, 224.18 mg·g-1 and 200 mg·g-1, respectively, while high nitrogen and phosphorus removal efficiency was obtained. During all stages, Ca-P was the main phosphorus fraction, and inorganic phosphorus(IP) was closely related to phosphorus removal of granular sludge.

[Development and succession of biological soil crusts and the changes of microbial biomasses].

Biological soil crusts (BSCs) play important ecological roles in vegetation and ecological restoration in desert regions, and different crust developmental and successional stages have different ecological functions. In this experiment, the BSCs in Shapotou region (at southeast edge of Tengger Desert) were investigated to study crust development and succession through field investigation, microscopic observation combined with quantitative analysis of microbial biomasses. The results showed that BSCs in this region generally developed and succeeded from algal crusts, lichen crusts to moss crusts. With the development and succession of BSCs, crust photosynthetic biomass gradually increased, while microalgal biomass showed a first increasing and then decreasing trend. Among the crust algae (cyanobacteia), Microcoleus vaginatus, as the first dominant species, occupied the most algal biomass and reached a maximum of 0.33 mm3 x g(-1) crusts in algal crusts; while Scytonema javanicum and Nostoc sp. have their maximal biomasses in the later lichen crusts. In addition, it was found that the heterotrophic microbial biomass began to increase in algal crusts, and then decreased in lichen crusts; followed by another increase and the increase achieved the maximum at last in moss crusts. Through the correlation analysis, it was found that bacterial biomass significantly positively correlated with crust organic carbon and Na+ content, while fungal biomass positively correlated with K+ and Na+ content (P < 0.05). In conclusion, this study investigated the developmental and successional patterns of BSCs in Shapotou region, and discussed the effects of crust development and succession on several microbial biomasses from the point of view of environmental adaptation and functional requirement, which may be helpful for us to understand crust development and succession, and provide theoretical and practical significances for crust maintenance and management in ecological restoration of desertification regions.

[Development and succession of artificial biological soil crusts and water holding characteristics of topsoil].

In order to understand the improving effects of cyanobacterial inoculation on water retention of topsoil in desert regions, this work focused on the development and succession of biological soil crusts and water holding characteristics of topsoil after cyanobacterial inoculation in Qubqi Desert. The results showed that after the artificial inoculation of desert cyanobacteria, algal crusts were quickly formed, and in some microenvironments direct succession of the algal crusts to moss crusts occurred after 2-3 years. With the development and succession of biological soil crusts, the topsoil biomass, polysaccharides content, crust thickness and porosity increased, while the soil bulk density decreased. At the same time, with crust development and succession, the topsoil texture became finer and the percents of fine soil particles including silt and clay contents increased, while the percents of coarse soil particles (sand content) decreased proportionately. In addition, it was found that with crust development and succession, the water holding capacity and water content of topsoil showed an increasing trend, namely: moss crust > algal crusts > shifting sand. The water content (or water holding capacity) in algal and moss crusts were 1.1-1.3 and 1.8-2.2 times of those in shifting sand, respectively. Correlation analysis showed that the water holding capacity and water content of topsoil were positively correlated with the crust biomass, polysaccharides content, thickness, bulk density, silt and clay content; while negatively correlated with the porosity and sand content. Furthermore, stepwise regression analysis showed that the main factor affecting water content was the clay content, while that affecting water holding capacity was the porosity.

[Isolation, identification and characterization of a microcystin-degrading bacterium Paucibacter sp. strain CH].

A bacterium capable of degrading microcystin (MC), strain CH, was isolated from the sediment of Lake Chaohu, China. Strain CH was tentatively identified as Paucibacter sp. based on the analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences. Paucibacter sp. strain CH can use microcystin LR (MCLR) as the sole carbon and energy sources, and 11.6 microg x mL(-1) of MCLR was degraded to below the detection limit within 10 hours with the first-order reaction rate constant of 0.242 h(-1). The optimum temperature and initial pH for MC degradation were 25-30 degrees C and pH 6-9, respectively. A novel intermediate product containing the Adda residue was detected during the degradation of MCLR, which is different from those produced by strain ACM-3962, and Adda was recognized as the final product of the degradation process. Furthermore, no homologue to any of the four genes, mlrA, mlrB, mlrC and mlrD previously associated with the degradation of MCLR by strain ACM-3962 was found in strain CH. These findings suggest that Paucibacter sp. strain CH mighe degrade MC through a different pathway from that of strain ACM-3962.

Fates of Microcystis aeruginosa cells and associated microcystins in sediment and the effect of coagulation process on them.

During toxic Microcystis aeruginosa blooms, large amounts of cells can enter sediment through natural settlement, and coagulation treatment used to control water blooms can enhance the accumulation of cells. However, the current understanding of the fates of these cells and associated microcystins (MCs), as well as the effect of coagulation treatment on these factors, is limited. The results of the present study show that Microcystis aeruginosa cells in sediment were steadily decomposed under experimental conditions, and that they completely disappeared within 28 days. The major MCs released from settled cells were immediately degraded in sediment, and microbial degradation may be the main mechanism involved in this process. Coagulation treatment with PAC (polyaluminium chloride) + sepiolite can efficiently remove Microcystis aeruginosa cells from the water column and prevent their re-invasion. Furthermore, coagulation treatment with PAC + sepiolite had no significant effect on the release and decomposition of MCs and, thus, will not enhance the MCs pollution. However, coagulation treatment can accelerate the nutrient cycle by enhancing the settlement of cells. More attention should be paid to the effect on nutrient cycle when coagulation treatment is used for restoration of aquatic ecosystems.

An effective pathway for the removal of microcystin LR via anoxic biodegradation in lake sediments.

Aerobic biodegradation has been considered to be the main attenuation mechanism for microcystins, but the role of anoxic biodegradation remains unclear. We investigated the potential for anoxic biodegradation of microcystin and the effects of environmental factors on the process through a series of well-controlled microcosm experiments using lake sediments as inocula. Microcystin LR could be degraded anoxically from 5mgL(-1) to below the detection limit at 25 degrees C within 2 days after a lag phase of 2 days. The rate was highly dependent on temperature, with a favorable temperature range of 20-30 degrees C. The addition of glucose or low levels of NH(4)-N had no effect on the anoxic biodegradation of microcystin, whereas the addition of NO(3)-N significantly inhibited the biodegradation at all experimental concentrations, and the inhibition increased with increasing amount of NO(3)-N-amended. Adda (3-amino-9-methoxy-2,6,8-trimethyl-10-phenyl-deca-4,6-dienoic acid), a previously reported nontoxic product of aerobic degradation of microcystin, was identified as the anoxic biodegradation product. This is the first report of Adda as a degradation product of microcystin under anoxic conditions. No other product containing Adda residue was detected during the anoxic degradation of microcystin. These results strongly indicated that anoxic biodegradation is an effective removal pathway of microcystin in lake sediments, and represents a significant bioremediation potential.

[Anaerobic biodegradation of microcystin by bacterial community from sediment of Dianchi Lake].

Aerobic biodegradation has been identified as the main attenuation mechanism for microcystin, but the role of anaerobic microcystin biodegradation remains unclear. To elucidate this process, we assessed the potential for anaerobic microcystin LR biodegradation by sediment microbial community from Dianchi Lake and evaluated the effects of environmental factors and additional nutrient sources on the rates of anaerobic biodegradation. The results showed that microcystin LR was rapidly degraded from 5 mg/L to below detection limit within 2 days, demonstrating that the indigenous microorganisms can efficiently degrade microcystin LR under anaerobic conditions and can use microcystin LR as a sole nitrogen source. The rates of anaerobic microcystin LR biodegradation increased with increasing incubation temperature within the experimental range of 15-30 degrees C. Anaerobic microcystin LR biodegradation was slower (pH = 5.0) or even ceased (pH = 3.0) at acidic pH, but there was no difference in the rates at neutral (pH = 7.0) and alkaline (pH 9.0, 11.0) conditions. The addition of glucose decreased pH of the culture by producing acidic compounds and therefore significantly inhibited the anaerobic biodegradation of microcystin LR, but with the addition of NO3-, this inhibition disappeared. NO3- amendment also retarded the biodegradation of microcystin LR, demonstrating that NO3- was not used as a terminal electron acceptor. These findings suggest that anaerobic biodegradation might be another main attenuation mechanism for microcystin LR in sediments and present a significant bioremediation potential.

Rapid quantification of total microcystins in cyanobacterial samples by periodate-permanganate oxidation and reversed-phase liquid chromatography.

Microcystins (MCs) comprise a family of more than 80 related cyclic hepatotoxic heptapeptides. Oxidation of MCs causes cleavage of the chemically unique C20 beta-amino acid (2S, 3S, 8S, 9S)-3-amino-9-methoxy-2,6,8-trimethyl-10-phenyldeca-4,6-dienoic acid (Adda) amino to form 2-methyl-3-methoxy-4-phenylbutanoic acid (MMPB), which has been exploited to enable analysis of the entire family. In the present study, the reaction conditions (e.g. concentration of the reactants, temperature and pH) used in the production of MMPB by oxidation of cyanobacterial samples with permanganate-periodate were optimized through a series of well-controlled batch experiments. The oxidation product (MMPB) was then directly analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection. The results of this study provided insight into the influence of reaction conditions on the yield of MMPB. Specifically, the optimal conditions, including a high dose of permanganate (> or = 50 mM) in saturated periodate solution at ambient temperature under alkaline conditions (pH approximately 9) over 1-4 h were proposed, as indicated by a MMPB yield of greater than 85%. The technique developed here was applied to determine the total concentration of MCs in cyanobacterial bloom samples, and indicated that the MMPB technique was a highly sensitive and accurate method of quantifying total MCs. Additionally, these results will aid in development of a highly effective analytical method for detection of MMPB as an oxidation product for evaluation of total MCs in a wide range of environmental sample matrices, including natural waters, soils (sediments) and animal tissues.

Kinetic study of the 2-methyl-3-methoxy-4-phenylbutanoic acid produced by oxidation of microcystin in aqueous solutions.

Microcystins (MCs) are a family of related cyclic hepatotoxic heptapeptides, of which more than 70 types have been identified. The chemically unique nature of the C20 beta-amino acid, (2S,3S,8S,9S)-3-amino-9-methoxy-2,6,8-trimethyl-10-phenyldeca-4,6-dienoic acid (Adda), portion of the MCs has been exploited to develop a strategy to analyze the entirety. Oxidation of MCs causes the cleavage of MC Adda to form 2-methyl-3-methoxy-4-phenylbutanoic acid (MMPB). In the present study, we investigated the kinetics of MMPB produced by oxidation of the most-often-studied MC variant, MC-LR (L = leucine, R = arginine), with permanganate-periodate. This investigation allowed insight regarding the influence of the reaction conditions (concentration of the reactants, temperature, and pH) on the conversion rate. The results indicated that the reaction was second order overall and first order with respect to both permanganate and MC-LR. The second-order rate constant ranged from 0.66 to 1.35 M/s at temperatures from 10 to 30 degrees C, and the activation energy was 24.44 kJ/mol. The rates of MMPB production can be accelerated through increasing reaction temperature and oxidant concentration, and sufficient periodate is necessary for the formation of MMPB. The initial reaction rate under alkaline and neutral conditions is higher than that under acidic conditions, but the former decreases faster than the latter except under weakly acidic conditions. These results provided new insight concerning selection of the permanganate-periodate concentration, pH, and temperature needed for the oxidation of MCs with a high and stable yield of MMPB.

[Preparative purification and characterization of [Dha7] microcystin RR].

One variant of microcystins was isolated and purified with cyanobacteria natural bloom as the starting material, which was collected in Dianchi Lake, China. The separation protocol involved extraction of cyanobacterial cells by 75% aqueous methanol, isolation by reversed-phase flash chromatography, and purification by reversed-phase semipreparative HPLC. The structure and purity of purified microcystin was identified with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, UV spectrophotometer, and analytical HPLC. The purified microcystin was assigned as [Dha7]MCRR (purity > 95%), which was a demethylated variant of MCRR. The structure of purified microcystin was identified as cyclo-(Ala-Arg-MeAsp-Arg-Adda-Glu-Dha) with molecular weight of 1023. There was a maximum absorbance at 239 nm in its UV spectrum (200-300 nm). This variant of microcystins occurred frequently, and sometimes could become the main variant in waterbloom from Dianchi Lake.

[Subchronic toxic effects of fish muscle-bound MCLR].

Subchronic oral gavage toxicity of MCLR in water and in fish muscle was examined in male Balb/C mice for 13 weeks to assess the safety of aquatic products. The results showed that the liver coefficient (p < 0.05), the activities of ALT and AST (p < 0.01) increased significantly and distinct centrilobular to midzonal hepatucellular occurred after oral gavage of dissolved MCLR at a dose of 68.75 microg/kg (body weight), but neither influence on the activities of BUN and Cr nor histological changes on kidney were observed at any time point. In contrast, the administration of fish muscle-bound MCLR at the same dose resulted in no obvious subchronic toxicity in mice, except that the increase of liver coefficient (p < 0.05) and the activity of ALT (p < 0.01) can be observed only at the first week. It was concluded that the toxicity of fish muscle-bound MCLR was much lower than that of dissolved MCLR.

[Chemical characteristics of nitrogen and phosphorus in the sediments of the typical bays in Dianchi Lake and calculation of their dredging layers].

The sediments of Haidong bay and Macun bay in Dianchi Lakes' experimental area were studied. The sediment column was cut in every 3cm, and the following items are tested, such as total phosphorus, phosphorus species, which include labile phosphate, Fe,Al-P, Ca-P and residual-P, total nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen, nitrite nitrogen, ammonium nitrogen. The results showed that the loads of nitrogen and phosphorus of these two bays increased quickly in recent years. The Fe, Al-P was the largest component in all the P-forms and the content of ammonium nitrogen in these two bays less than that of other lakes. The layer of 9 to 12 centimeters of the two bays was polluted less than the rests. It indicated that these years more and more wastewater was inflow in these two bays. At the same time, the distribution of each testing items showed another low value between 24 to 39 centimeters. So considering feasibility and economic restriction, we can set the 24 - 39 centimeters depth as a dredging layer.

Kinetics of the oxidation of MCRR by potassium permanganate.

The occurrence of the microcystins in the water bodies, especially in drinking water resources, has received considerable attentions. In situ chemical oxidation is a promising cost-effective treatment method to remove MC from water body. This research investigated the reaction kinetics of the oxidation of MCRR by permanganate. Experimental results indicate that the reaction is second order overall and first order with respect to both permanganate and MCRR, and has an activation energy of 18.9 kJ/mol. The second-order rate constant ranges from 0.154 to 0.225 l/mg/min at temperature from 15 to 30 degrees C. The MCRR degradation rates can be accelerated through increasing reaction temperature and oxidant concentration. The reaction under acid conditions was slightly faster than under alkaline conditions. The half-life of the reaction was less than 1min, and more than 99.5% of MCRR was degraded within 10min.