Effects of contrasting tillage managements on the vertical distribution of plant- and microbial-derived carbon in rice paddy.

Soil microbial necromass is considered a persistent component of soil organic carbon (SOC), constituting the final product of the microbial carbon pump (MCP). However, the mechanisms involved in the effects of tillage and rice residue managements on the vertical distribution of microbial necromass and plant residues in rice paddy soils remain unclear, limiting knowledge of SOC sequestration mechanisms. Therefore, we estimated microbial- and plant-derived C by biomarker amino sugars (AS) and lignin phenols (VSC) at the 0-30 cm soil depth, as well as their relationships with SOC contents and mineralization in a rice paddy soil under contrasting tillage practices, namely no-tillage (NT), reduced tillage (RT), and conventional tillage (CT). The results showed that the SOC contents in the rice paddy soil were positively correlated with soil AS and VSC contents. The NT resulted in significantly higher (P < 0.05) AS (expressed as per kilogram soil) at the 0-10 cm and 10-30 cm soil depths by 45-48 % than RT and CT. However, microbial-derived C contents and SOC mineralization were not significantly changed by NT. In contrast, the plant-derived C contents in the total SOC decreased significantly under the NT scenario, suggesting the consumption of plant-derived C even with more rice residue inputs (at the 0-10 cm soil depth). In summary, 5-year short-term NT management with more rice residue mulch on the soil surface in rice paddy maintained a low plant-derived C content (at a sampling date before rice transplanting), suggesting a different mode of C sequestration, except for the protection of plant-derived C under anaerobic conditions.

Enhancement of Oxidation Efficiency of Elemental Mercury by CeO2/TiO2 at Low Temperatures Governed by Different Mechanisms.

This study aims to investigate the photothermal oxidation removal of Hg0 in simulated flue gases using photothermal catalysts at relatively low temperatures of 120-160 °C in two phases: the first phase applied the sol-gel method to prepare TiO2 and CeO2/TiO2 photothermal catalysts and characterized surface properties by specific surface area analysis, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The second phase investigated the effects of operating parameters on Hg0 oxidation efficiency at lower temperatures of 100-160 °C. The operating parameters included reaction temperatures and modified concentrations of CeO2. Experimental results indicated that TiO2 prepared by the sol-gel method was mainly in the anatase phase. XPS analysis showed that Ce mostly existed in the form of Ce4+. The content of surface-chemisorbed oxygen increased with the modification amount of CeO2. Photothermal catalytic oxidation results indicated that CeO2/TiO2 had a much higher oxidation efficiency of Hg0 at 120-160 °C than neat TiO2, which increased from 30-60 to >90%. 7%CeO2/TiO2 not only had the best photothermal performance but also maintained high efficiency at a relatively higher reaction temperature of 160 °C.