• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.245-254
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• 2017

This study investigates methyl orange (MO) degradation by an ultrasonically dispersed nano-metallic particle (NMP) assisted advanced Fenton process. The NMPs were synthesized from the leachate of automobile-shredder residue. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy were performed for the prepared NMPs. Various parameters, such as the effects of the NMP dosage, the pH value of the solution, the initial concentration of MO, and the amount of $H_2O_2$ on the degradation efficiency of MO were studied. The MO degradation efficiency could be increased by approximately 100% by increasing the dosages of the NMPs and $H_2O_2$ to certain limits, after which in both cases the degradation efficiency was reduced when an excess amount was added. The MO degradation efficiency was found to be 100% at pH 2.0 and 2.5 with the 10 mg/L of initial concentration of the MO. The degradation of MO by ultrasonically dispersed NMPs was appropriate with the pseudo-first-order kinetics.

• Asian Journal of Business Environment
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.17-24
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• 2022

Purpose: This study aims to determine the effect of economic agents, such as the amount of government expenditure on the environment, households, manufacturing industry, and shipping activities; on environmental degradation in Indonesia. Research design, data, and methodology: This study is conducted with 264 observations from panel data of 33 provinces during 2010-2017. Environmental degradation is measured by using the environmental quality index collected from Indonesian Ministry of Forestry and Indonesian Central Bureau of Statistics. Three testing models are used to test the panel data, namely Common Effect Model (CEM), Fixed Effect Model (FEM), and Random Effect Model (REM). Results: The research findings show that the amount of government expenditure on the environment, households, and shipping activities have a negative and significant effects on environmental degradation, while the number of manufacturing industry has positive and significant effect on environmental degradation. Unlike the previous studies, the result also shows that government expenditure on environmental has a positive and significant effect on environmental quality index. Conclusion: It can be concluded that even though Indonesian government spent a low budget on environment, their environmental regulation has succeeded both in reducing environmental degradation and increasing the environmental quality as indicated by Indonesian environmental quality index.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.201-207
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• 2016

The hazards associated with the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are known to be recalcitrant by their structure, but white rot fungi are capable of degrading recalcitrant organic compounds. Phlebia brevispora KUC9045 isolated from Korea was investigated its efficiency of degradation of four PAHs, such as phenanthrene, anthracne, fluoranthene, and pyrene. And the species secreted extracellular laccase and MnP (Manganese dependent peroxidase) during degradation. P. brevispora KUC9045 demonstrated effective degradation rates of phenanthrene (66.3%), anthracene (67.4%), fluoranthene (61.6%), and pyrene (63.3%), respectively. For enhancement of degradation rates of PAHs by the species, Remazol Brilliant Blue R (RBBR) was preferentially supplemented to induce ligninolytic enzymes. The biodegradation rates of the three PAHs including phenanthrene, fluoranthene, and pyrene were improved as higher concentration of Remazol Brilliant Blue R was supplemented. However, anthracene was degraded with the highest rate among four PAHs after two weeks of the incubation without RBBR addition. According to the previous study, RBBR can be clearly decolorized by P. brevispora KUC9045. Hence, the present study demonstrates simultaneous degradation of dye and PAHs by the white rot fungus. And it is considered that the ligninolytic enzymes are closely related with the degradation. In addition, it indicated that dye waste water might be used to induce ligninolytic enzymes for effective degradation of PAHs.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.27 no.12
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• pp.1205-1214
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• 2018

During the past few decades, significant increase in the consumption of coffee has led to rapid increase in the production of coffee waste in South Korea. Spent coffee waste is often treated as a general waste and is directly disposed without the necessary treatment. Spent Coffee Grounds (SCGs) can release several organic contaminants, including caffeine. In this study, leaching tests were conducted for SCGs and oxidative degradation of caffeine were also conducted. The tested SCGs contained approximately 4.4 mg caffeine per gram of coffee waste. Results from the leaching tests show that approximately 90% of the caffeine can be extracted at each step during sequential extraction. Advanced oxidation methods for the degradation of caffeine, such as $UV/H_2O_2$, photo-Fenton reaction, and $UV/O_3$, were tested. UV radiation has a limited effect on the degradation of caffeine. In particular, UV-A and UV-B radiations present in sunlight cause marginal degradation, thereby indicating that natural degradation of caffeine is minimal. However, $O_3$ can cause rapid degradation of caffeine, and the values of pseudo-first order rate constants were found to be ranging from $0.817min^{-1}$ to $1.506min^{-1}$ when the ozone generation rate was $37.1g/m^3$. Additionally, the degradation rate of caffeine is dependent on the wavelength of irradiation.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.97-104
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• 2022

With a small particle size, specific surface area and chemical nature, Pd/Cu-Fe nanocomposites can efficiently remove the organic compounds. In order to understand the applicability for in situ remediation of contaminated groundwater, the degradation of p-nitrophenol by Pd/Cu-Fe nanoparticles was investigated. The degradation results demonstrated that these nanoparticles could effectively degrade p-nitrophenol and near 90% of degradation efficiency was achieved by Pd/Cu-Fe nanocomposites for 120 min treatment. The efficiency of degradation increased significantly when the Pd content increased from 0.05 wt.% and 0.10 wt.% to 0.20 wt.%. Meanwhile, the removal percentage of p-nitrophenol increased from 75.4% and 81.7% to 89.2% within 120 min. Studies on the kinetics of p-nitrophenol that reacts with Pd/Cu-Fe nanocomposites implied that their behaviors followed the pseudo-first-order kinetics. Furthermore, the batch experiment data suggested that some factors, including Pd/Cu-Fe availability, temperature, pH, different ions (SO42-, PO43-, NO3-) and humic acid content in water, also have significant impacts on p-nitrophenol degradation efficiency. The recyclability of the material was evaluated. The results showed that the Pd/Cu-Fe nanoparticles have good recycle performance, and after three cycles, the removal rate of p-nitrophenol is still more than 83%.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.411-419
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• 2012

In this study, Ibuprofen (IBP) degradation by the photo catalytic process was investigated under various parameters, such as UV intensity, optimum dosage of $TiO_2$, alkalinity, temperature and pH of bulk solution. The pseudo-first order degradation rate constants were in the order of $10^{-1}$ to $10^{-4}min^{-1}$ depending on each condition. The Photocatalytic IBP degradation rate increased with an increase in the applied UV power. At high UV intensity a high rate of tri-iodide ($I_3{^-}$) ion formation was also observed. Moreover, in order to avoid the use of an excess catalyst, the optimum dosage of catalyst under the various UV intensities (30 and 40 W/L) was examined and ranged from approximately 0.1 $gL^{-1}$. The photo catalytic IBP degradation rate was changed depending on the alkalinity and temperature and pH in the aqueous solution. This study demonstrated the potential of photo catalytic IBP degradation under different conditions.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.946-951
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• 2005

Biodegradation of the endocrine-disrupting chemical di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP) was investigated using a bacterium, Pseudomonas fluorescens B-1, isolated from mangrove sediment. The effects of temperature, pH, salinity, and oxygen availability on DBP degradation were studied. Degradation of DBP was monitored by solid-phase extraction using reversed-phase HPLC and UV detection. The major metabolites of DBP degradation were identified as mono-n-butyl phthalate and phthalic acid by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and a pathway of degradation was proposed. Degradation by P. fluorescens B-1 conformed to first-order kinetics. Degradation of DBP was also tested in seawater by inoculating P. fluorescens B-1, and complete degradation of an initial concentration of $100{\mu}g/l$ was achieved in 144 h. These results suggest that DBP is readily degraded by bacteria in natural environments.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.10
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• pp.1311-1323
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• 2012

In the present work, current knowledge on the potential fate, microbial degradation, and toxicity of hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX) was thoroughly reviewed, focusing on the toxicological assessment of a variety of potential RDX degradation pathways in bacteria and fungi. The present review on microbial degradation pathways and toxicities of degradation intermediates suggests that, among aerobic RDX degradation pathways, the one via denitration may be preferred in a toxicological perspective, and that among anaerobic pathways, those forming 4-nitro-2,4-diazabutanal (NDAB) via ring cleavage of 1-nitroso-3,5-dinitro-1,3,5-triazinane (MNX) may be toxicologically advantageous owing to its potential mineralization under partial or complete anoxic conditions. These findings provide important information on RDX-degrading microbial pathways, toxicologically most suitable to be stimulated in contaminated fields.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.21 no.7
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• pp.845-853
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• 2012

Diethyl phthalate (DEP) is widely spread in the natural environment as an endocrine disruption chemicals (EDs). Therefore, in this study, ultrasound (US) and ultraviolet (UVC), including various applied power density (10-40 W/L), UV wavelengths (365 nm, 254 nm and 185 nm) and frequencies (283 kHz, 935 kHz) were applied to a DEP contaminated solution. The pseudo-first order degradation rate constants were in the order of $10^{-1}$ to $10^{-4}\;min^{-1}$ depending on the processes. Photolytic and sonophotolytic DEP degradation rate also were high at shortest UV wavelength (VUV) due to the higher energy of photons, higher molar absorption coefficient of DEP and increased hydroxyl radical generation from homolysis of water. Sonolytic DEP degradation rate increased with increase of applied input power and the dominant reaction mechanism of DEP in sonolysis was estimated as hydroxyl radical reaction by the addition of t-BuOH, which is a common hydroxyl radical scavenger. Moreover, synergistic effect of were also observed for sonophotolytic degradation with various UV irradiation.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2018

The degradation of methylene blue (MB) in an aqueous solution by nano-metallic particles (NMPs) was studied to evaluate the possibility of applying NMPs to remove MB from the wastewater. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used to characterize the synthesized NMPs before and after the reaction. The effects of the NMP dosage, the initial pH, the initial concentration of MB and the amount of $H_2O_2$ on the MB degradation outcomes were studied. The highest removal rate of MB was achieved to be 100% with an initial MB concentration of 5 mg/L, followed by 99.6% with an initial concentration of 10 mg/L under the following treatment conditions: dose of NMP of 0.15 g/L, concentration of $H_2O_2-100mM$ and a temperature of $25^{\circ}C$. The SEM analysis revealed that the nano particles were not spherical in shape. FTIR spectra shows occurrence of metal oxides on the surfaces of the NMPs. The XPS analyses results represent that Fe, Zn, N, Ca, C and O were occurred on the surfaces of the NMPs. The degradation of MB was suitable for the pseudo-first-order kinetics.