Jiaxing University

Overcoming the sluggish water dissociation kinetics in alkaline media and seawater remains a critical challenge for scalable green hydrogen production, requiring the development of efficient water-splitting electrocatalysts. Here, we conducted an Ru-Co/TiO₂ catalyst, which features an oxygen-vacancy-rich titanium dioxide (TiO₂) support anchoring ruthenium (Ru) and cobalt (Co) species, for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in alkaline electrolytes. Comprehensive spectroscopic analyses reveal that the microwave-induced oxygen vacancies facilitate the effective anchoring and high dispersion of Ru-Co bimetallic sites while concurrently enhancing electronic interactions. This markedly reduces the kinetic barrier for water dissociation to adsorbed hydrogen intermediates and optimizes the hydrogen adsorption/desorption behavior, thereby synergistically boosting HER activity. Far surpassing its single-metal counterparts, the resulting Ru-Co/TiO₂ maintain stable operation for over 100 h, delivering remarkably low overpotentials at 10 mA cm^-2: 51 mV in 1.0 M KOH, 69 mV in alkaline seawater, and 293 mV in natural seawater. This work demonstrates general and scalable approaches that integrate support defect engineering with trace-level bimetallic modulation, providing valuable insights into the design of low-noble-metal, high-performance electrocatalysts for practical water and seawater electrolysis.

Composting is a key pathway for microplastics (MPs) to enter soils via organic waste. Based on 635 records from 99 studies, MP abundance was higher in sludge-based and mixed composts than in plant-derived materials. Meta-analysis of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) found that primary clarification removed the most MPs. Among secondary treatments, MBR sludge had the highest MP levels - 68.53% higher than SBR and 5.6% higher than CAS. The machine-learning models (random forest with SHAP and partial dependence) were used to resolve actionable process levers with R² > 0.72 for WWTP process technologies and >0.77 for scenario prediction. Two parameters dominated: total plastic removal rate (TPR) and daily treatment capacity (DTC), with an operational window (TPR ≈ 92.5-96% and DTC <300,000 m³/d) minimizing downstream MP burdens. Finally, Scenario projections suggest two mitigation pathways: source control to reduce influent loads and performance-based upgrades to sludge handling.

Alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEOs) in waterborne coatings (WBCs) pose substantial health and environmental risks due to their estrogenic degradation metabolites, necessitating robust analytical methods to meet stringent regulations. Conventional liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) methods often suffer from congener separation difficulties and severe matrix interference. To overcome these limitations, we developed an analytical procedure based on facile one-pot cleavage technique using aluminum iodine (AlI₃) generated in-situ for the reliable quantification of APEOs in WBCs. The method integrates three core innovations: (1) rapid dehydration with MgCl₂ (1.5 × the mass of sample water) to prevent moisture-induced AlI₃ decomposition; (2) efficient, one-pot AlI₃-mediated cleavage under ultrasonic irradiation (85 °C, 20 min) for quantitative APEOs-to-alkylphenol (AP) conversion; and (3) simple, quantitative AP isolation via tert-butyl methyl ether (BME) extraction. Validated using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), the method exhibited excellent linearity (R² > 0.999), low limits of quantification (3.0 mg/kg for OPEO₁₀, 9.0 mg/kg for NPEO₁₀), satisfactory recoveries (92.9-107.4%) and relative standard deviations (RSDs) ≤ 11.8%. Compared to routine LC-MS methods, this approach effectively mitigates matrix effects, reduces analytical cost, and offers a greener alternative suitable for batch analysis. Application to 20 real WBC samples confirmed its reliability in quantifying APEOs across concentration ranges, from low-level contaminants to high-load formulations. Overall, this integrated strategy enables sensitive, rapid and accurate APEO analysis, presenting a promising new avenue for screening these contaminants in complex sample matrices such as WBCs.