Superhydrophilic coatings are essential for applications including antifogging and self-cleaning, yet their performance is frequently compromised by the difficulty in achieving a balance among hydrophilicity, mechanical robustness, and long-term durability. To address this challenge, a novel superhydrophilic coating is developed by incorporating ZnO nanoparticles into polyacrylatelatex (PA) matrices. The formation of stable Zn2+-OOC- coordination bonds between ZnO and the PA matrix endowed the resulting PA@ZnO hybrid latex film with exceptional wettability, exhibiting a remarkably low water contact angle (WCA) of 9.82 degrees, which further decreased to 5.80 degrees within 3 s. Kinetic analysis revealed a rapid wetting rate constant (k) of 0.73 s(-1), accompanied by a similar to 19 % expansion in droplet base radius within 3 s. Furthermore, water uptake tests demonstrated a barrier factor (B) of 4.37, confirming ZnO's efficacy in suppressing water diffusion. The PA@ZnO film exhibited outstanding antifogging capability under both hot-vapor exposure and cold-warm cycling conditions while maintaining high optical transparency (similar to 90 %). Additionally, it exhibited excellent self-cleaning properties against aqueous and oily contaminants, sustained 168 h water resistance, and remarkable mechanical durability, with WCA remaining stable at similar to 20 degrees even after 50 abrasion cycles. These results highlight the potential of PA@ZnO composite coatings for demanding antifogging and self-cleaning applications including aerospace windows, optical lenses, and advanced industrial devices.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a class of crucial air pollutants in China. Composition profiles and toxicities were not further discussed in previous PAH emission inventories, and an accurate quantification of emissions was important for evaluating major driving factors for PAH toxicities in China. In this study, we developed a high-resolution PAH emission inventory in China from 1960 to 2019, with updated emission factors (EFs) in industrial, residential, and transportation sectors. Emissions of priority PAHs totaled 78.7 Gg (51.5 - 134 as the 50% interval) in China in 2019, with industrial (60.6%) and residential (24.1%) sectors dominating total emissions. Total PAH emissions peaked at 1995 and then gradually decreased since the 2000s driven by promotion of air pollution abatement policies. As total PAH emissions decreased, source profiles and composition profiles changed, and PAH toxicities decreased continuously. The decline of PAH emission toxicities was mainly driven by residential energy switching from solid fuels to clean energy, residential stove upgrading, and phasing out beehive coke ovens, while urbanization and residential energy switching from biomass fuels to coal could not effectively reduce PAH emission toxicities.

Emmision of Volatile chemical products (VCPs) China: An Updated High-Resolution Mass Balance-Based Invenotry have emerged as a significant source of organic compound emissions in China, contributing to ozone and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation. Previous work established the VCP emission inventory by the mass balance (MB) method in China from 2000 to 2017, but localized component emissions and spatial variations have not been systematically investigated. This study presents a high-resolution VCP-gridded emission inventory in China, incorporating an updated method for emission estimation, localized source profiles, and spatial allocation. Results reveal that VCP emissions amounted to 13.88 Tg in 2022, dominated by coatings and adhesives. Industrial and domestic VCPs contribute two-thirds and one-third of total VCP emissions, respectively. Oxygenated volatile organic compounds (OVOCs) and aromatics constitute over 70% of total emissions and ozone formation potential (OFP), with aromatics (3.86 Tg, primarily from coatings) contributing 17.45 Tg to OFP. The component emissions of VCPs in China exhibit distinct characteristics compared to the United States, marked by higher contributions of aromatics and N/S-containing compounds. Spatial analysis highlights industrial VCP emissions dispersed across suburban regions, whereas domestic VCP emissions are concentrated in urban cores. Key species like m/p-xylene and methanol align with industrial emissions, whereas ethanol and D5-siloxane match domestic emission patterns, indicative of promising application as industrial and domestic VCP tracers, respectively. The model-ready gridded emission inventory for VCP developed in this study can be used by a chemical transport model to evaluate the impacts of VCP emissions on atmospheric chemistry and secondary pollution at different times and spatial scales in China.

Marine anammox bacteria (MAB) have excellent nitrogen removal capabilities in saline wastewater treatment. Herein, hydrazine was added for the first time to enhance MAB activity in saline wastewater treatment. The ammonium removal efficiency (ARE) and nitrite removal efficiency increased as growing hydrazine dose (1-10 mg/L). When exogenous hydrazine was added with 10 mg/L, ARE reached 100% and MAB was highly enriched and strengthened. However, hydrazine disproportionation was triggered and ARE was reduced at 13 mg/L. The total nitrogen removal rate was also reduced to 0.6 kg/(m3·d). MAB was positively correlated with Marinicella and hydrazine dose. Marinicella was synergized with MAB to remove nitrogen from saline wastewater. Besides, proper hydrazine dose could reduce the nitrate generation and shortened the lag phase of the reaction. This work provided both new insights into the response of MAB to hydrazine and technical support for its practical application in saline wastewater treatment.

Bacteriophages are ubiquitous bacterial viruses that specifically infect and lyse host bacteria. They display remarkable diversity in environments ranging from wastewater to the deep sea. Despite their widespread occurrence, many aspects of phage biology and their roles in nature remain poorly understood. In particular, phages that infect Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) are especially interesting because of their unique biological features related to host lytic capabilities. Only a limited number of P. aeruginosa phages had been documented in the NCBI database. In this study, we isolated a novel phage (P. aeruginosa phage ϕPAE8) from sewage, which demonstrated effective lytic activity against clinically derived antibiotic-resistant P. aeruginosa strains. ϕPAE8 exhibits advantageous physiological traits, including an extended latent period, a high burst size, and notable stability under various stress conditions such as extreme pH, ethanol exposure, and elevated temperature. These characteristics support its potential use in clinical and environmental applications. Therefore, this study also explored the efficacy of bacteriophage ϕPAE8 in controlling multidrug-resistant P. aeruginosa in a sewage environment. All phage-treated groups showed a significant reduction in the number of P. aeruginosa. The most pronounced effect was observed in the treatment group with an MOI of 50. In this group, the bacterial count decreased significantly and rapidly by approximately 3 log10 CFU/mL within 6 h. Even more surprisingly, we found that the impact of different MOIs on the bactericidal effect may have gradually approximated over time. The results highlight the potential of phage-based approaches as an effective strategy for managing antibiotic-resistant bacteria in complex wastewater systems and provide guidance for subsequent practical applications. In summary, this study details the molecular and genomic characteristics of a novel P. aeruginosa phage, contributing to the understanding of viral diversity. More importantly, it underscores the viability of phage-mediated biocontrol in wastewater management. In contrast to chemical disinfectants that may cause secondary pollution, phage-based strategies provide an environmentally friendly approach. These findings establish a conceptual framework to guide future phage bioengineering efforts aimed at combating antimicrobial-resistant pathogens, facilitating their use in medical and water purification settings.

Nitrogen removal mechanisms of marine anammox bacteria (MAB) induced by zero-valent iron (ZVI) were investigated to reveal the differences resulting from nitrate or nitrite under high-salinity (3.5 %) and low-temperature (15 ± 1 °C) stress. The one-time addition of ZVI (20 g) altered the microbial energy metabolism and electron transfer pathways. When nitrate served as the electron acceptor, ZVI-based autotrophic denitrification (ZVI-AD) served as the "engine", providing essential nitrite for MAB through partial nitrate reduction, achieving a total nitrogen removal efficiency (TNRE) of 31.5 %. Conversely, when nitrite was the electron acceptor, marine anammox dominated nitrogen removal, while ZVI-AD acted as a recycler of the anammox by-product (nitrate), establishing a self-coupled nitrogen cycle with a superior TNRE of 94.0 %. Sulfurimonas and Candidatus Scalindua were the core functional microbes, exhibiting different preferences for nitrate and nitrite. Compared to the nitrite-added reactor, Sulfurimonas was enriched more in the nitrate-added reactor. Nevertheless, ZVI significantly promoted the enrichment of Candidatus Scalindua in the nitrite-added reactor, with its relative abundance increasing to 31.3 %. Furthermore, Feammox may have contributed to ammonium removal during the later stage. Overall, the selection of electron acceptors regulated the nitrogen removal mechanisms of ZVI-induced MAB consortia, providing new insights into intensifying nitrogen removal in high-salinity and low-temperature wastewater treatment.

Abstract Cross-feeding, defined as the exchange of metabolites within the microbiome, plays a critical role in the promotion of bacterial activity and growth. Marine anammox bacteria (MAB) possess natural advantages for the treatment of marine wastewater (MW). Herein, the folate-mediated cross-feeding mechanism in MAB-based microbiome was first elucidated under salt stress. The total nitrogen removal rate notably reached 5.2 kg/(m3·d) at the optimal exogenous folate concentration (1.1 mg/L). The stoichiometric ratios of marine anammox (ΔNO2––N/ΔNH4+–N = 1.30, ΔNO3––N/ΔNH4+–N = 0.24) ultimately stabilized around the theoretical values with exogenous folate addition. Besides, exogenous folate markedly enriched the relative abundance of MAB, achieving a remarkable 4.4-fold increase. A metabolic interaction network was elucidated among MAB and their symbionts. Based on metagenomic analysis, bacteria affiliated with Pseudomonadota and Bacteroidota possessed the genetic potential to supply folate for MAB, which is involved in the Wood–Ljungdahl pathway for CO2 fixation in anammox. In resource exchange, MAB secreted extracellular public goods to them. However, with exogenous folate addition, this resource exchange was substantially weakened. MAB reduced the secretion of extracellular public goods for resource exchange and reallocated more energy toward cellular growth during the metabolic exchange interactions. This weakened cross-feeding interaction was further supported by a marked decrease in extracellular protein concentration. This work deepened the understanding of folate-mediated cross-feeding between MAB and symbiotic bacteria and provided a promising strategy to improve the nitrogen removal through MAB in MW treatment.

A novel bioprocess integrating sulfur-driven autotrophic denitratation with anammox (SdADAx) was developed and operated in a single anaerobic reactor for nitrogen removal from ammonia-laden and carbon-deficient saline wastewater in this study. During the 169-d operation, total nitrogen removal of up to 99% was achieved with a 2.2 S/N mass ratio in the influent, in which most (similar to 98%) was contributed by the anammox process. Most of the influent nitrate was reduced into nitrite in the sulfur-driven autotrophic denitratation (SdAD), resulting in an expected NH4 +-to-NO2 - mole ratio of about 1:1 for the subsequent anammox process. Compared to nitritation by promoting ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and suppressing nitrite-oxidizing bacteria, SdAD is more stable and easier to achieve, particularly in ammonia-laden saline wastewater. High-throughput sequencing analysis indicates that marine anammox bacteria (22.8%) and sulfur-oxidizing bacteria (10.7%) are the dominant microbes coexisting in the SdADAx reactor. The functional enzymes for the anammox process (hydrazine dehydrogenase and hydrazine synthase) and nitrate reduction (nitrate reductase) were highly detected, while nitrite reductase was at a low gene level based on metagenomic analysis. Finally, the underlying mechanism was also proposed to improve our understanding of the SdADAx process. The novel SdADAx process indicates a new direction for nutrient removal from ammonia-laden and carbon-deficient saline wastewater.

The shift to online shopping is reshaping the retail industry worldwide. However, its role in low-carbon development is unclear due to incomplete analyses. Herein, analyzing China's retail data across 16 merchandise categories (1990-2023), we revealed that the emission intensity (EI; carbon dioxide emissions per item purchased) of online shopping was on average 4-fold higher than that of traditional shopping when scaling up in the early 2000s. However, the EI of online shopping decreased by 34% between 2000 and 2023, primarily due to improved operational efficiencies, whereas that of traditional shopping tripled, largely due to increased consumer car use. This has led to a convergence of current EI values between online (0.227 kg) and traditional shopping (0.182 kg). Future mitigation scenario analysis revealed considerable potential for reducing online shopping emissions, underscoring the transition to online shopping as a feasible strategy for achieving low-carbon development in the retail industry.

This work first unraveled the response mechanism of marine anammox bacteria (MAB)-dominated anammox process to Zn(II) in treating saline wastewater. Low Zn(II) doses (⩽ 3 mg/L) enhanced MAB activity, with the highest total nitrogen removal rate (TNRR) of 1.33 kg/(m3·d) achieved at 3 mg/L Zn(II). Additionally, the relative abundance of MAB (Candidatus Scalindua) sharply increased from 9.2

The extensive application of pesticides in agricultural cultivation and crop maintenance has resulted in their widespread occurrence and accumulation across diverse environmental media. This study screened >52 target pesticides occurs in both surface and groundwater, including 16 carbamates, 8 triazines, 6 triazoles, 4 chloroacetanilides, 3 neonicotinoids, 3 pyrazoles, 2 morpholines, and 10 other types of pesticides within the Wulong River Basin, situated on the Shandong Peninsula in China. The target pesticides in surface water ranged from below the limit of quantification (LOQ) to 111.2 ng/L, whereas in groundwater, they ranged from below LOQ to 148.1 ng/L. 63 % (p < 0.05) of the target pesticides follow the migration rule, where the concentration in surface water appears exceeded groundwater. 37 % overcome the pesticide properties and aquifer intrinsic vulnerability and show higher values in groundwater. The risk quotient values for imidacloprid and atrazine exceeded 1 at 86 % of the sampling sites, indicating a high level of chronic ecological risk to aquatic organisms. The assessment of pesticide mixtures posed 15 % to 24 % higher risk levels to aquatic organisms compared to individual pesticides. While the non-carcinogenic risks associated with groundwater across all age groups were below the threshold of 1, there was a significant potential carcinogenic risk, particularly for children, warrants due attention. This study provides a new perspective for the systematic analysis of surface-groundwater systems and identify the exposure potential of pesticides in different water bodies and generate priority levels for risk assessment.

Ultraviolet C light-emitting diodes (UV C LEDs) have demonstrated effectiveness in disinfection applications and proven suitability at scale for disinfection of municipal wastewater and drinking water. Technological advances in materials design and electrical efficiency have made high-intensity light delivery by UV C LEDs a reality and now poise these traditionally disinfection systems to serve a dual purpose for targeted remediation of trace organic contaminants (TrOCs). This work investigated the effectiveness of UV C light emission tailoring on the photodegradation dynamics of select TrOCs. Degradation kinetics and quantum yields of target compounds under 275 nm irradiation were governed by molar absorbance and chemical structure, and kinetics followed estrone (E1) > tryptophan > caffeine ≈ pCBA > urea. Secondary experiments compared the efficacy of a 275 nm UV LED and a medium-pressure mercury vapor (MP UV) system for photodegradation of two steroid estrogens, E1 and 17β-estradiol (17β-E2). Use of the 275 nm UV LED system substantially reduced fluence requirements and, in the case of 17β-E2, energy requirements, to achieve 90% degradation of the target compounds. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analysis of an E1 photodegradation product showed that the UV C LED system was more effective in eliminating both E1 and its associated photoproduct as compared to the MP UV system. This work demonstrates the effective use of UV LEDs for tailored photolysis of TrOCs and provides evidence for their use potential in applications outside of water disinfection.

The residential sector in China is a major contributor to light-absorbing carbonaceous aerosols, including black carbon and brown carbon, which have significant impacts on climate change. This study developed a province-level inventory of optical emissions of carbonaceous aerosols from the residential sector in China from 1960 to 2019. The inventory was based on activity data from the PKU-GEMS database and absorption emission factors derived from laboratory-based combustion experiments, which reduced uncertainties associated with traditional mass-based methods relying on mass absorption efficiency. The dataset provided annual light absorption at the ultraviolet region (370 nm) and the infrared region (880 nm), offering valuable insights into the spatial and temporal trends of optical emissions from residential carbonaceous aerosols. This inventory would support more accurate evaluations of radiative forcing impacts of carbonaceous aerosols.

The regulation of metal ion valence states to optimize catalytic performance has emerged as a critical direction in precious metal catalyst research. Achieving uniform dispersion of noble metal nanoparticles while constructing strong metal-support interactions represents a pivotal strategy to suppress active component migration or leaching, thereby enhancing catalytic efficiency. In this study, we developed a green reduction strategy using PEG-400 to successfully achieve homogeneous dispersion of silver nanoparticles within the mesopores of ZSM-5 zeolite, denoted as AgNPs/ZSM-5. Under mild reaction conditions (25 degrees C, 1 atm), the AgNPs/ZSM-5 catalyst demonstrated exceptional catalytic performance in the reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP), achieving complete degradation of 500 ppm 4-NP within 4 min with an apparent rate constant (k) of 1.20 min(-)(1) . Remarkably, the catalyst maintained high conversion rates (>85 %) after 16 consecutive cycling tests, showcasing outstanding structural stability and recyclability. These results indicate that the AgNPs/ZSM-5 system not only exhibits superior catalytic activity in nitroaromatic reduction reactions but also holds broad application potential for diverse precious metal-catalyzed processes, particularly in environmental remediation and fine chemical synthesis.

Ecosystem services (ES) are key benefits that humans derive from natural ecosystems, including provisioning, regulating, and cultural services. As urbanization accelerates globally, urban green spaces (UGS), increasingly recognized for their role in improving environmental quality and enhancing human well-being, provide essential ES that help mitigate the effects of urbanization. However, the factors influencing public preferences for these services, particularly environmental knowledge and religiosity, remain underexplored. This study seeks to bridge this gap by examining how environmental knowledge and religiosity shape public preferences for ecosystem services, with a particular focus on regulating services (e.g., air quality improvement, carbon sequestration) and cultural services (e.g., outdoor recreation, aesthetic enjoyment). A survey of 1236 respondents conducted in China reveals that both environmental knowledge and religiosity significantly enhance preferences for regulating services, especially in relation to air quality improvement (M = 4.33) and carbon sequestration (M = 4.26). Furthermore, higher education levels correlate with stronger preferences for ecosystem services, and coastal residents exhibit greater preferences for these services compared with inland residents. This study emphasizes that disseminating environmental knowledge through education and religious practices can significantly enhance public awareness of ecosystem services and foster greater support for green infrastructure investments. Policy recommendations include the adoption of targeted communication strategies in urban green space planning to enhance public engagement and support.

Both soil organic carbon (SOC) and iron (Fe) oxide content, among other factors, drive the formation and stability of soil aggregates. However, the mechanism of these drivers in greenhouse soil fertilized with organic fertilizer is not well understood. In a 3-year field experiment, we aimed to investigate the factors which drive the stability of soil aggregates in greenhouse soil. To explore the impact of organic fertilizer on soil aggregates, we established four treatments: no fertilization (CK); inorganic fertilizer (CF); organic fertilizer (OF); and combined application of inorganic and organic fertilizers (COF). The application of organic fertilizer significantly enhanced the stability of aggregates, that is it enhanced the mean weight diameter, geometric mean diameter and aggregate content (%) of >0.25 mm aggregate fractions. OF and COF treatments increased the concentration of SOC, especially the aliphatic-C, aromatic-C and polysaccharide-C components of SOC, particularly in >0.25 mm aggregates. Organic fertilizer application significantly increased the content of free Fe (Fed), reactive Fe (Feo), and non-crystalline Fe in both bulk soil and aggregates. Furthermore, non-crystalline Fe showed a positive correlation with SOC content in both bulk soil and aggregates. Both non-crystalline Fe and SOC were significantly positively correlated with >2 mm mean weight diameter. Overall, we believe that the increase of SOC, aromatic-C, and non-crystalline Fe concentrations in soil after the application of organic fertilizer is the reason for improving soil aggregate stability.

Achieving China’s carbon neutrality goal by 2060 requires a large-scale coal phasedown, but such a transition involves complex trade-offs across economic, employment, and health dimensions. This study develops a plant-level, outcome-based framework to evaluate the distributional impacts of phasedown across four dimensions: stranded asset losses, profit losses, job losses, and health gains under five retirement strategies—health first, economic first, employment first, oldest first, and smallest first. Results show that from 2025 to 2060, the cumulative impacts across the five strategies range from USD 161 to 199 billion in asset losses, USD 112 to 156 billion in electricity losses, USD 19 to 38 billion in job loss, and USD 5 to 25 million health benefits. Among the strategies, the health-first one yields the highest net societal benefit, which is 24% greater than the average. While no strategy perfectly balances all trade-offs, the health-first strategy achieves the greatest health benefits with relatively lower socioeconomic losses. However, the phasedown risks further exacerbating provincial inequalities, as provinces face different risks depending on the strategy chosen. Policymakers should develop region-specific strategies to minimize the uneven burdens of coal retirement across China.

In this work, a simple one-step hydrothermal method was employed to synthesize recyclable magnetic heterojunction N-TiO2/Fe3O4/rGO (NTFG) nanocomposites for the activation of peroxydisulfate (PDS) and H2O2 in the removal of the emerging contaminant tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH). Under visible irradiation, the TCH removal rate in the NTFG/PDS/Vis system was nearly complete at 99.9% (the kinetic rates of 0.1531 min(-1)) compared to 98.8 % in the NTFG/H2O2/Vis system (the kinetic rates of 0.1133 min(-1)). The excellent catalytic activities of both systems were attributed to the special 3D structure of magnetic heterojunction N-TiO2/Fe3O4 (NTF) nanoparticles uniformly dispersed on wrinkled rGO, which promoted interfacial contact between different components. The incorporation of rGO and the formation of a direct Z-scheme heterojunction between the N-TiO2 and Fe3O4 broadened the visible-light response range and effectively prevented the recombination of photogenerated electrons and holes. Encouragingly, rGO functions as an electron transfer medium to expedite electron transfer, while Fe(III)/Fe(II) cycling on the surface of NTFG further enhances the activation of PDS in the NTFG/PDS/Vis system. For the NTFG/H2O2/Vis system, rGO not only decomposed H2O2 through an electron transfer mechanism but also effectively promoted Fe(III)/Fe(II) cycling in the Fenton process. Both systems maintained high TCH removal rates after five cycles (the NTFG/PDS/Vis system for 98.2 % while the NTFG/ H2O2/Vis system for 91.9 %), demonstrating NTFG reusability and magnetic recoverability. Additionally, the NTFG/PDS/Vis system demonstrates a broader pH application range and greater ability to interfere with higher concentrations of humic acid (HA). In both systems, center dot OH, O-2(center dot-) , and h(+) are key active species during TCH degradation, while SO4 center dot- being particularly significant in the NTFG/PDS/Vis system. Furthermore, possible degradation pathways for TCH in both systems have been proposed, and importantly, the biotoxicity of its intermediates has significantly decreased. The synthesis of NTFG provides new insight into the design of new magnetic heterojunctions with high performance and recyclability.

Agricultural intensification produces indirect emissions beyond ammonia volatilization from activities such as machinery usage, food processing, transportation, storage and energy inputs. Here we integrate an input-output analysis with air quality modelling approaches, showing that attributable mortality from indirect emissions has risen sixfold in China over the past 37 years. Indirect emissions now account for one-quarter of air pollution-related attributable mortality associated with food consumption. We find a marked redistribution of the indirect health burden, with low-income groups experiencing an additional 58% attributable deaths compared with their expected food consumption burdens, which were initially associated with the food consumption of high-income groups. Targeted strategies using abatement approaches could halve the indirect health burden, thereby mitigating the environmental impact of food consumption amid agricultural intensification.