Two marine species of bacteria were isolated that are capable of degrading organometallic contaminants: Pseudomonas balearica, which decomposes methylmercury; and Shewanella putrefaciens, which decomposes tributyltin. P. balearica decomposed 97% of methylmercury (20.0 μg/L) into inorganic mercury after 3 h, while S. putrefaciens decomposed 88% of tributyltin (55.3 μg Sn/L) in real wastewater after 36 h. These data indicate that the two bacteria efficiently decomposed the targeted substances and may be applied to real wastewater.
After prohibition of use of organic tin compounds, new antifouling agents have been used as substitute paints. In 2009, this lab re-conducted the same research from 2006 that focused on concentrations of chlorothalonil, dichlofluanid, and Irgarol in the major bays of Korea, in order to assess changes in concentrations. Among the new antifouling agents detected in 2006, chlorothalonil, dichlofluanid, and Irgarol 1051 were detected up to 4.19, 61.69, and 23.80 ng/L, respectively. However, in 2009, up to 67.96, 74.79, and 67.64 ng/L were detected. Compared to 2006, there were apparent increases in the concentration of all three compounds in all areas where the research was conducted. These results indicate the need for further research regarding the hazards of these compounds.
Gold nanoparticles were synthesized in the presence of ionic liquid [Bmin][CF3SO3] with humic acid for 90 s under microwave irradiation. The resulting gold nanoparticles were confirmed by UV-visible spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. The catalytic effect of gold nanoparticles was investigated for the oxidation of 2-hydroxybenzyl alcohol to produce 2-hydroxybenzaldehyde in the presence of 3-chloroperoxybenzoic acid and hydrogen peroxide in methanol. The reaction was completed after 160 min using these gold nanoparticles as a catalyst and the product was identified by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with UV-visible detector.
Based on the increase of the global interest in climate change, various political and technological efforts are being made in Korea in order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, considered to be one of the main causes of greenhouse gas effects. Low energy and low carbon technologies with high reusability that enhance the performance of architectural materials have been developed in the architectural construction field [1]. This study has developed an FS insulation panel using recycled resources, and has verified the enhancement of economic efficiency, reduction of carbon dioxide emissions, and enhanced energy performance of the developed insulating panel. The results of the analysis have confirmed a 1.2t reduction of carbon dioxide emissions and a 7.3% increase in energy performance in comparison to standard insulators based on the existing legislative standards. Furthermore, cost effectiveness was also seen as the cost increased by 72% with a 10 year return period.
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