Efficient electrocatalytic reduction of nitrate to ammonia over fibrous SmCoO3 under ambient conditions.

We report SmCoO3 nanofibers as an efficient catalyst for nitrate reduction to ammonia. This catalyst achieves a large NH3 yield of 14.4 mg h-1 mgcat.-1 and a high faradaic efficiency of 81.3% at -1.0 V vs. RHE in 0.1 M PBS with 0.1 M NaNO3, and it also displays excellent electrochemical durability and structural stability. Theoretical calculations indicate that Sm-O and Co-O bonds have an incredibly low adsorption energy of -0.1 eV, which can significantly reduce the applied potential and hence enhance the catalytic activity.

[Microbial Community Structure of Activated Sludge for Total Nitrogen Upgrading Project].

The activated sludge of a biochemical unit (WLK_OD) and an advanced denitrification unit (WLK_AD) were collected from a municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), in which the TN concentration of effluent was less than 1.5 mg·L-1, and their microbial community structure and function profiles were analyzed using 16S rRNA gene high-throughput sequencing. The microorganisms in WLK_AD had lower evenness compared with that in WLK_OD, which was attributed to environmental selection. Furthermore, PCoA revealed that different incoming wastewaters had an impact on microbial community structure. At the phylum level, Proteobacteria (70.11%) was enriched in WLK_AD. At the genus level, Thauera, Flavobacterium, Hydrogenophaga, and Zoogloea served as distinct-dominant denitrifying bacteria in WLK_AD; however, Trichococcus (3.50%) and Terrimonas (1.10%) were enriched in WLK_OD. Through the comparison between groups (P<0.05), the biomarkers detected in each WWTP were different. Furthermore, the results of the co-occurrence network showed that the bacteria from module I had a higher proportion in WLK_AD; the bacteria from module II had a higher proportion in WLK_OD, and they were common microorganisms in WWTPs, implying that wastewater environments drpve the differences in the microbial community structure. Among the types of environmental parameters, the removal efficiency of COD and TN had the greatest impact on the microbial community by the RDA. The removal efficiency of COD was positively correlated with the dominant bacteria from WLK_OD, such as Saccharibacteria, Thermomarinilinea, Terrimonas, and Comamonas; the removal efficiency of TN was positively correlated with the denitrifying bacteria from WLK_AD, such as Dokdonella, Thauera, Flavobacterium, and Zoogloea. WLK_AD was enriched with Novosphingobium, Dokdonella, Thauera, and Sphingomonas, which synergistically removed TN, leading to the TN of the effluent being less than 1.5 mg·L-1. Moreover, based on the results of function prediction, WLK_AD had a higher proportion of genes that could code the denitrification enzymes.

Petrochemical and municipal wastewater treatment plants activated sludge each own distinct core bacteria driven by their specific incoming wastewater.

Microorganisms in activated sludge from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) form complex networks to convert a wide variety of pollutants, thus ensuring water purification and environmental protection. In this study, activated sludge samples were collected from three full-scale WWTPs: a petrochemical WWTP (PWWTP), a municipal WWTP treating domestic wastewater (MWWTP_D), and a municipal WWTP treating a mixture of domestic wastewater and multiple industrial effluents (MWWTP_I+D). These samples were analyzed by high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA gene PCoA and CPCoA indicated that the samples from three WWTPs were separated, suggesting that each WWTP had unique microbiome characters (P < 0.05). This was also evidenced by the different predominant bacteria (PDB), biomarkers, and key nodes of co-occurrence network in the three WWTPs. Microorganisms with all three above mentioned characteristics were defined the core bacteria, specifically: Georgfuchsia, Thauera and GP4 in PWWTP, Phaeodactylibacter and Hyphomicrobiuml in MWWTP_D, and Otheakwangia, Terrimonas, Phenylobacterium, etc. in MWWTP_I + D. Furthermore, in accordance with the functional profile prediction, the functional groups in PWWTP metabolized aromatic compound, sulfur compounds and heavy metal typically present in petrochemical wastewater. In contrast, the microbiome in MWWTP_D was represented by the population breaking down macromolecular biodegradable organic matter and the nitrogen nutrients that constitute the vast majority of domestic wastewater pollutants. Both functional groups coexist in MWWTP_I + D. These results revealed that the specific composition of incoming wastewaters produced distinct ecological niches and modulated the ecological structure of activated sludge microbial communities in real-world WWTPs. However, the generalization of the results of this study will require further research.