Publications related to Combination of UV absorbance and electron donating capacity to assess degradation of micropollutants and formation of bromate during ozonation of wastewater effluents

Influence of Ventilation on Formation and Growth of 1-20 nm Particles via Ozone-Human Chemistry

Dusan Licina, Shen Yang, Marouane Merizak, Meixia Zhang

Ozone reaction with human surfaces is an important source of ultrafine particles indoors. However, 1-20 nm particles generated from ozone-human chemistry, which mark the first step of particle formation and growth, remain understudied. Ventilation and indo ...

Amer Chemical Soc2024

Oxidation processes and me

Urs von Gunten

This publication summarizes my journey in the field of chemical oxidation processes for water treatment over the last 30+ years. Initially, the efficiency of the application of chemical oxidants for micropollutant abatement was assessed by the abatement of ...

Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd2024

Nanocluster aerosol formation via ozone chemistry on worn clothing: Influence of environmental parameters

Dusan Licina, Shen Yang

Nanocluster aerosols (NCA, particles

Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd2024

Nanocluster Aerosols from Ozone-Human Chemistry Are Dominated by Squalene-Ozone Reactions

Dusan Licina, Shen Yang

Nanocluster aerosols (NCAs,

Amer Chemical Soc2024

Squalene Depletion in Skin Following Human Exposure to Ozone under Controlled Chamber Conditions

Shen Yang

A major component of human skin oil is squalene, a highly unsaturated hydrocarbon that protects the skin from atmospheric oxidants. Skin oil, and thus squalene, is continuously replenished on the skin surface. Squalene is also quickly consumed through reac ...

Amer Chemical Soc2024

Monitoring an Emergent Pathogen at Low Incidence in Wastewater Using qPCR: Mpox in Switzerland

Tamar Kohn, Timothy R. Julian

Wastewater-based epidemiology offers a complementary approach to clinical case-based surveillance of emergent diseases and can help identify regions with infected people to prioritize clinical surveillance strategies. However, tracking emergent diseases in ...

2024

Microbial genome collection of aerobic granular sludge cultivated in sequencing batch reactors using different carbon source mixtures

Aline Sondra Adler, Christof Holliger, Pilar Natalia Rodilla Ramírez, Laetitia Janine Andrée Cardona, Jaspreet Singh Saini, Ruizhe Pei

Aerobic granular sludge (AGS) consists of a microbial consortium that has an important role in wastewater treatment. This study investigates AGS microorganisms cultivated in a laboratory-scale sequencing batch reactor. Metagenomic sequencing was conducted ...

Amer Soc Microbiology2024

In Situ Synthesis of CuxO/N Doped Graphdiyne with Pyridine N Configuration for Ammonia Production via Nitrate Reduction

Sophia Haussener, Roberto Valenza, Jian Li

Electroreduction of nitrate to ammonia provides an interesting pathway for wastewater treatment and valorization. Cu-based catalysts are active for the conversion of NO3− to NO2− but suffer from an inefficient hydrogenation process of NO2−. Herein, CuxO/N- ...

2024

Characterization of low-temperature plasmas generated by dielectric barrier discharges for bacterial inactivation

Lorenzo Ibba

Low-temperature plasmas (LTPs) at atmospheric pressure hold great promise for disinfection and sterilization applications. When compared to traditional sterilization technologies like autoclaving, LTPs may offer several benefits, including reduced energy c ...

EPFL2024

Treeline displacement may affect lake dissolved organic matter processing at high latitudes and altitudes

Hannes Markus Peter

Climate change induced shifts in treeline position, both towards higher altitudes and latitudes induce changes in soil organic matter. Eventually, soil organic matter is transported to alpine and subarctic lakes with yet unknown consequences for dissolved ...

Nature Portfolio2024

Characterization of a flexible a-Si:H detector for in vivo dosimetry in therapeutic x-ray beams

Sylvain Dunand, Nicolas Würsch, Jonathan Emanuel Thomet, Luca Massimiliano Antognini, Matthew James Large

BackgroundThe increasing use of complex and high dose-rate treatments in radiation therapy necessitates advanced detectors to provide accurate dosimetry. Rather than relying on pre-treatment quality assurance (QA) measurements alone, many countries are now ...

Wiley2024

Formation of carbonyl compounds during ozonation of lake water and wastewater: Development of a non-target screening method and quantification of target compounds

Urs von Gunten, Joanna Maria Houska

Ozonation of natural waters is typically associated with the formation of carbonyl compounds (aldehydes, ketones and ketoacids), a main class of organic disinfection byproducts (DBPs). However, the detection of carbonyl compounds in water and wastewater is ...

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD2023

Critical Review on Bromate Formation during Ozonation and Control Options for Its Minimization

Urs von Gunten

Ozone is a commonly applied disinfectant and oxidantin drinkingwater and has more recently been implemented for enhanced municipalwastewater treatment for potable reuse and ecosystem protection. Onedrawback is the potential formation of bromate, a possible ...

AMER CHEMICAL SOC2023

Mechanistic insights on interactions of dissolved organic matter with chemical oxidants: quantification of reactive sites and identification of oxidation byproducts

Joanna Maria Houska

Chemical oxidants including ozone (O3), chlorine (HOCl/OCl-) and chlorine dioxide (ClO2) are applied for disinfection of drinking water. To cope with water scarcity and the increased risks associated with the presence of micropollutants, water treatment sy ...

EPFL2023

Ozonation of lake water and wastewater: Identification of carbonous and nitrogenous carbonyl-containing oxidation byproducts by non-target screening

Urs von Gunten, Joanna Maria Houska

Ozonation of drinking water and wastewater is accompanied by the formation of disinfection byproducts (DBPs) such as low molecular weight aldehydes and ketones from the reactions of ozone with dissolved organic matter (DOM). By applying a recently develope ...

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD2023

Evaluation of the role of superoxide radical as chain carrier for the formation of hydroxyl radical during ozonation

Gang Yu, Urs von Gunten, Yan Wang

Superoxide radicals (O-2(center dot-)) have been suggested as an important chain carrier in the radical chain reaction that promotes ozone (O-3) decomposition to hydroxyl radicals ((OH)-O-center dot) during ozonation. However, due to the difficulty in meas ...

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD2023

Oxidative Water Treatment: The Track Ahead

Urs von Gunten, Yun Ho Lee

Chemical oxidation has been applied in municipal water treatment for more than a century, initially for disinfection. In the early decades, chlorine disinfection was adopted in the fight against waterborne disease. However, the oxidative properties of chlo ...

2023

Modelling the coupled mercury-halogen-ozone cycle in the central Arctic during spring

Jenny Thomas, Julia Schmale, Ivo Fabio Beck, Hélène Paule Angot

Near-surface mercury and ozone depletion events occur in the lowest part of the atmosphere during Arctic spring. Mercury depletion is the first step in a process that transforms long-lived elemental mercury to more reactive forms within the Arctic that are ...

2023

A Survey of Industrial N-nitrosamine Discharges in Switzerland

Florian Frédéric Vincent Breider, Caroline Gachet Aquillon, Urs von Gunten

N-nitrosamines are formed during different industrial processes and are of significant concern due to their carcinogenic and mutagenic properties. This study reports concentrations of N-nitrosamines in eight different industrial wastewater treatment plants ...

2023

Why five decades of massive research on heterogeneous photocatalysis, especially on TiO2, has not yet driven to water disinfection and detoxification applications? Critical review of drawbacks and challenges

César Pulgarin, Julian Andrés Rengifo Herrera

For fifty years, heterogeneous photocatalysis has been considered as having potential to remove organic and microbiological pollutants from water under either artificial UV light or sunlight irradiation. However, after tens of thousands of published resear ...

Elsevier Science Sa2023