Tongji University

About: Tongji University is a education organization based out in Shanghai, China. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Computer science & Population. The organization has 76116 authors who have published 81176 publications receiving 1248911 citations. The organization is also known as: Tongji & Tóngjì Dàxué.

Enhanced Reactivity and Electron Selectivity of Sulfidated Zerovalent Iron toward Chromate under Aerobic Conditions.

Abstract: When zerovalent iron (ZVI) is used in reductive removal of contaminants from industrial wastewater, where dissolved oxygen (DO) competes with target contaminant for the electrons donated by ZVI, both the reactivity and the electron selectivity (ES) of ZVI toward target contaminant are critical. Thus, the reactivity and ES of two sulfidated ZVI (S-ZVI) samples, synthesized by ball-milling with elemental sulfur (S-ZVIbm) and reacting with Na2S (S-ZVINa2S), toward Cr(VI) under aerobic conditions were investigated. Sulfidation appreciably increased the reactivity of ZVI and the ratio of the rate constants for Cr(VI) removal by S-ZVIbm or S-ZVINa2S to their counterparts without sulfur fell in the range of 1.4–29.9. ES of S-ZVIbm and S-ZVINa2S toward Cr(VI) were determined to be 14.6% and 13.3%, which were 10.7- and 7.5-fold greater than that without sulfidation, respectively. This was mainly ascribed to the greater improving effect of sulfidation on the reduction rate of Cr(VI) than that of DO by ZVI. The impr...

The Indian monsoon variability and civilization changes in the Indian subcontinent

Abstract: The vast Indo-Gangetic Plain in South Asia has been home to some of the world’s oldest civilizations, whose fortunes ebbed and flowed with time—plausibly driven in part by shifts in the spatiotemporal patterns of the Indian summer monsoon rainfall. We use speleothem oxygen isotope records from North India to reconstruct the monsoon’s variability on socially relevant time scales, allowing us to examine the history of civilization changes in the context of varying hydroclimatic conditions over the past 5700 years. Our data suggest that significant shifts in monsoon rainfall have occurred in concert with changes in the Northern Hemisphere temperatures and the discharges of the Himalayan rivers. The close temporal relationship between these large-scale hydroclimatic changes and the intervals marking the significant sociopolitical developments of the Indus Valley and Vedic civilizations suggests a plausible role of climate change in shaping the important chapters of the history of human civilization in the Indian subcontinent.

Response of Anaerobic Granular Sludge to a Shock Load of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles during Biological Wastewater Treatment

Abstract: The increasing use of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) in consumer and industrial products highlights a need to understand their potential environmental impacts. In this study, the response of anaerobic granular sludge (AGS) to a shock load of ZnO NPs during anaerobic biological wastewater treatment was reported. It was observed that the extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) of AGS and the methane production were not significantly influenced at ZnO NPs of 10 and 50 mg per gram of total suspended solids (mg/g-TSS), but they were decreased when the dosage of ZnO NPs was greater than 100 mg/g-TSS. The visualization of EPS structure with multiple fluorescence labeling and confocal laser scanning microscope revealed that ZnO NPs mainly caused the decrease of proteins by 69.6%. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis further indicated that the C–O–C group of polysaccharides and carboxyl group of proteins in EPS were also changed in the presence of ZnO NPs. The decline of EPS induced by ZnO NPs...