{"title":"","authors":"Jun-du Zhou, Wen-hui An, Lu-ming Ma and Yan Liu*, ","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":7008,"journal":{"name":"ACS ES&T engineering","volume":"5 6","pages":"XXX-XXX XXX-XXX"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-06-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/acsestengg.4c00952","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144423931","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yihe Miao, Roman Selyanchyn, Yuhang Liu, Zixin Zhang, Shigenori Fujikawa* and Lijun Yu*,
{"title":"Critical Review on Feasibility and Challenges of Coupling Direct Air Capture with Renewable Energy","authors":"Yihe Miao, Roman Selyanchyn, Yuhang Liu, Zixin Zhang, Shigenori Fujikawa* and Lijun Yu*, ","doi":"10.1021/acsestengg.5c00184","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestengg.5c00184","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Direct air capture (DAC) of CO<sub>2</sub> is attracting more and more attention due to its indispensable role in achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 globally. The large-scale development and deployment of DAC rely heavily on renewable energy to ensure its sustainability and economic feasibility. The feasibility of coupling DAC with renewable energy will ultimately determine its potential as a viable negative emission technology for climate change mitigation. This review examines three representative DAC technology pathways and provides a comprehensive perspective on their integration with renewable energy sources. While current research primarily focuses on the necessity and conceptual feasibility of DAC-renewable integration, limited studies explore specific operational strategies to effectively manage fluctuations and intermittency in the renewable energy supply. Thus, this review aims to bridge the gap between DAC as an energy-intensive process and renewable energy sources, highlighting key challenges and future research directions for optimizing DAC systems in renewable energy-driven frameworks.</p>","PeriodicalId":7008,"journal":{"name":"ACS ES&T engineering","volume":"5 7","pages":"1614–1629"},"PeriodicalIF":6.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144808055","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Xianfeng Li, Qiaoying Wang*, Xingzhong Cao, Jie Zhang, Zhichao Wu and Zhiwei Wang,
{"title":"Boric Acid’s Dual Role in Controlling Interfacial Polymerization for High-Performance Reverse Osmosis Membranes with Enhanced Water Permeability and Contaminant Sieving","authors":"Xianfeng Li, Qiaoying Wang*, Xingzhong Cao, Jie Zhang, Zhichao Wu and Zhiwei Wang, ","doi":"10.1021/acsestengg.5c00258","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestengg.5c00258","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Microelectronics manufacturing generates substantial wastewater, containing toxic contaminants. Although the reverse osmosis (RO) membrane is a promising treatment technology, its suboptimal water permeance and limited rejection of low-molecular weight (MW) organic contaminants restrict its practical application. Herein, we present a simple approach for developing RO membranes fabricated via interfacial polymerization with boric acid as an additive, which enhances the water permeance and superior removal efficiency for low-MW contaminants in microelectronic wastewater. The boric acid-modified RO membranes exhibited a remarkable increase in water permeance up to ∼4.2 L/(m<sup>2</sup>·h·bar), a 3-fold enhancement compared to the pristine membrane thanks to the formation of smoother and thinner polyamide (PA) layers. Meanwhile, owing to the denser PA layers, the modified membranes reached a 2–18% higher removal efficiency for common low-MW contaminants in microelectronic wastewater compared to the commercial membranes. The penetration of organic substances through the modified membranes in real wastewater was decreased by 50% with respect to that of the commercial membranes. The hydrogen bonding interaction between the amine monomer and boric acid, along with the buffering effect of boric acid, collectively promoted the formation of denser and thinner PA layers. This study offers valuable insights into the development of RO membranes for the recovery of microelectronic wastewater or analogous effluents containing low-MW contaminants from the perspective of interfacial polymerization regulation.</p>","PeriodicalId":7008,"journal":{"name":"ACS ES&T engineering","volume":"5 9","pages":"2347–2357"},"PeriodicalIF":6.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145036478","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ke Zhao, Abdelkader Labidi, Haitao Ren, Hong Kang, Tianqi Huang, Jenyuk Lohwacharin, Huiqi Zheng, Amin Zhou* and Chuanyi Wang*,
{"title":"Micro-Nano Bubbles Induced Piezocatalysis with Barium Titanate/Polyvinylidene Fluoride Membrane: Synergistic Mechano-Optical Enhancement for Tetracycline Degradation","authors":"Ke Zhao, Abdelkader Labidi, Haitao Ren, Hong Kang, Tianqi Huang, Jenyuk Lohwacharin, Huiqi Zheng, Amin Zhou* and Chuanyi Wang*, ","doi":"10.1021/acsestengg.5c00204","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestengg.5c00204","url":null,"abstract":"<p >The pollution of antibiotics to the environment has attracted more and more attention from society. Therefore, it is necessary to develop effective and practical methods to degrade antibiotics. In this study, micronano bubbles (MNBs) were employed as mechanical stress to induce piezoelectric potential in barium titanate/polyvinylidene fluoride (BTO/PVDF) composite membranes, enhancing piezo-photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline (TC). Under the synergistic piezo-photocatalytic effects, the system achieved 93% TC removal within 1.5 h, with a quasi-first-order reaction rate constant (k) of 0.022 min<sup>−1</sup>. This value is 5.9-fold and 2-fold higher than those of standalone MNBs and BTO/PVDF systems, respectively. Finite element simulation analysis determined the influence of MNBs on the induced potential and piezoelectric field distribution in the composite membrane, indicating that the MNBs’ environment met the pressure conditions for BTO/PVDF to generate induced potential. Remarkably, changes in photocurrent and impedance data showed that MNBs not only enhanced light absorption but also reduced membrane impedance, improving carrier separation efficiency. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and free radical scavenging results showed that the contribution of hydroxyl radicals (•OH) in the degradation process was more significant. Therefore, the piezoelectric effect induced by MNBs is expected to provide a new idea for the treatment of antibiotic wastewater.</p>","PeriodicalId":7008,"journal":{"name":"ACS ES&T engineering","volume":"5 9","pages":"2305–2315"},"PeriodicalIF":6.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145036428","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Harmita Golwala, Nadia Fernandez Yarte, Michael A. Saldana and Adam L. Smith*,
{"title":"Mobilized Colistin Resistance Gene Dynamics across Incremental Colistin Selective Pressure during Mainstream Anaerobic Treatment","authors":"Harmita Golwala, Nadia Fernandez Yarte, Michael A. Saldana and Adam L. Smith*, ","doi":"10.1021/acsestengg.5c00243","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestengg.5c00243","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Colistin, also known as polymyxin E, is an antimicrobial agent effective against various Gram-negative bacteria. The broad dissemination of colistin resistance over the past decade is concerning, given its importance as a last resort for treating carbapenem-resistant <i>Enterobacteriaceae</i> infections. Mobilized colistin resistance (<i>mcr</i>) genes were first discovered in 2015, and now 10 genes (<i>mcr-1–10</i>) have been identified worldwide. The present work aims to examine the response of <i>mcr</i> genes to increasing colistin selective pressure and associated shifts in the microbial community in anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBRs) treated with low-strength wastewater. Colistin was added at incremental concentrations of 10, 50, and 100 μg/L for 10 d each to a bench-scale AnMBR in comparison to a control AnMBR without colistin addition. Quantification of <i>mcr-1–10</i> using novel duplex-droplet digital PCR assays revealed the positive detection of <i>mcr-1, mcr-2, mcr-3, mcr-4, mcr-5, mcr-6, mcr-9</i>, and <i>mcr-10</i> in biomass and membrane biofilm samples. While the abundance of <i>mcr</i> genes in the biomass and biofilm of AnMBR was generally unaffected by influent colistin concentration, all <i>mcr</i> genes were below the detection limit in the effluent. However, DNA- and RNA-based amplicon sequencing indicated a distinct shift in microbial community structure of the biomass, biofilm, and effluent upon exposure to colistin. Relative abundance and activity of <i>Rectinema</i> spp., <i>Sulfurospirillium</i> spp., <i>Pseudomonas</i> spp., and <i>Dechloromonas</i> spp. were significantly affected by colistin exposure.</p>","PeriodicalId":7008,"journal":{"name":"ACS ES&T engineering","volume":"5 9","pages":"2339–2346"},"PeriodicalIF":6.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/acsestengg.5c00243","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145036427","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Xun Guan, Dimin Fan, Yongchang Yu, Gregory V. Lowry, Guangbin Li, Anthony Danko and Xitong Liu*,
{"title":"Effects of Calcium and Natural Organic Matter on the Transport and Remobilization of Colloidal Activated Carbon in Saturated Porous Media: Insights from Force Spectroscopy","authors":"Xun Guan, Dimin Fan, Yongchang Yu, Gregory V. Lowry, Guangbin Li, Anthony Danko and Xitong Liu*, ","doi":"10.1021/acsestengg.5c00106","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestengg.5c00106","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Colloidal activated carbon (CAC) is a promising technology for the in situ remediation of groundwater impacted by perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The long-term performance of an engineered CAC barrier will depend, in part, on the emplacement and remobilization of CAC particles within aquifer media. We here explored the influence of calcium ions (Ca<sup>2+</sup>) and Suwanee River natural organic matter (SRNOM) on CAC deposition and remobilization within saturated sand columns. Our results showed that the presence of Ca<sup>2+</sup> (e.g., >5 mM) under high ionic strength conditions (100 mM) enhanced CAC deposition and subsequently reduced its remobilization upon the introduction of a low ionic strength solution (i.e., DI water). A combination of cation bridging and electrostatic screening, driven by Ca<sup>2+</sup>, contributed to the increased retention of CAC in the sand column. In contrast, when SRNOM was present at concentrations above 5 mg/L, CAC exhibited reduced deposition under high ionic strength conditions (100 mM), followed by markedly enhanced remobilization upon flushing with a low ionic strength solution. This behavior is primarily driven by increased electrosteric repulsion at the CAC–sand interface when the sand surfaces are coated by NOM. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) force measurements showed that under the same ionic strength, Ca<sup>2+</sup> increased the work of adhesion between CAC and silica surfaces, whereas NOM decreased it. Our work underscores the critical influence of both the presence and concentration of Ca<sup>2+</sup> and NOM on the deposition and remobilization behaviors of CAC, providing valuable insights into the engineering design and practical implementation of in situ CAC sorptive barriers for effective PFAS remediation.</p>","PeriodicalId":7008,"journal":{"name":"ACS ES&T engineering","volume":"5 9","pages":"2181–2190"},"PeriodicalIF":6.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145036426","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Hui-Xuan Wang, Hefei Wang, Jinle Cui, Zi-Xin Qi, Ruofei Jin and Tian Tian*,
{"title":"Synergistic Interaction between Ammonia-Oxidizing and Nitrite-Oxidizing Bacteria Enhances Stability of Partial Nitrification Systems Under Nitrite Shock Loading","authors":"Hui-Xuan Wang, Hefei Wang, Jinle Cui, Zi-Xin Qi, Ruofei Jin and Tian Tian*, ","doi":"10.1021/acsestengg.5c00166","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestengg.5c00166","url":null,"abstract":"<p >The inhibition of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) has long been regarded as a major challenge for achieving stable partial nitrification (PN) process. However, the persistence of NOB, even under inhibitory conditions, suggests its potential functional importance in PN systems. This study comparatively analyzed the response of PN systems from reactor performance to gene expression, under ammonium and nitrite shock loadings to elucidate the hidden role of NOB. Results demonstrated that PN systems exhibited greater resistance to nitrite shock, maintaining a 58.2% ammonium removal efficiency even at a nitrite concentration of 300 mg L<sup>–1</sup>. But this resistance impaired when NOB activity was suppressed. Unlike elevated ammonium, high nitrite concentrations stimulated the expression of <i>amo</i>, <i>hao</i>, <i>nirSK</i>, <i>norBC</i>, and <i>nosZ</i> genes, enhanced ammonia monooxygenase and nitrite reductase activities, and improved the overall activity of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB). Isotopic analysis using <sup>15</sup>N-labeled nitrite revealed the production of <sup>30</sup>N and <sup>29</sup>N, indicating that nitrite reduction mitigated nitrite toxicity to AOB. Notably, NO was identified as a potential signaling molecular mediating synergistic interactions between AOB and NOB, contributing to support system stability. Overall, this study provides unique insights into the functional role of NOB in improving the resilience and stability of PN systems under stress conditions.</p>","PeriodicalId":7008,"journal":{"name":"ACS ES&T engineering","volume":"5 9","pages":"2238–2247"},"PeriodicalIF":6.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145036425","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}