Hasil untuk "Environmental engineering"

Mingzheng Ge, Chunyan Cao, Jianying Huang et al.

Haowei Pan, Jing Ma, Ji Ma et al.

Developing high-performance film dielectrics for capacitive energy storage has been a great challenge for modern electrical devices. Despite good results obtained in lead titanate-based dielectrics, lead-free alternatives are strongly desirable due to environmental concerns. Here we demonstrate that giant energy densities of ~70 J cm−3, together with high efficiency as well as excellent cycling and thermal stability, can be achieved in lead-free bismuth ferrite-strontium titanate solid-solution films through domain engineering. It is revealed that the incorporation of strontium titanate transforms the ferroelectric micro-domains of bismuth ferrite into highly-dynamic polar nano-regions, resulting in a ferroelectric to relaxor-ferroelectric transition with concurrently improved energy density and efficiency. Additionally, the introduction of strontium titanate greatly improves the electrical insulation and breakdown strength of the films by suppressing the formation of oxygen vacancies. This work opens up a feasible and propagable route, i.e., domain engineering, to systematically develop new lead-free dielectrics for energy storage.Dielectrics with high capacitive energy storage density are essential for modern electrical devices and pulsed power systems. Here, the authors realised superior energy storage performance in lead-free bismuth ferrite-based relaxor ferroelectric films through domain engineering.

Jun Di, J. Xia, Huaming Li et al.

H. Son, Injin Cho, S. Joo et al.

Widespread utilization of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) has caused a variety of environmental and health problems; thus, the enzymatic degradation of PET can be a promising solution. Although PE...

Muhammad Usman, Muhammad Usman, James M. Byrne et al.

Priya I. Hora, Sarah G. Pati, P. McNamara et al.

Quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) are active ingredients in over 200 disinfectants currently recommended by the U.S. EPA for use to inactivate the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) virus. The amounts of these compounds used in household, workplace, and industry settings has very likely increased, and usage will continue to be elevated given the scope of the pandemic. QACs have been previously detected in wastewater, surface waters, and sediments, and effects on antibiotic resistance have been explored. Thus, it is important to assess potential environmental and engineering impacts of elevated QAC usage, which may include disruption of wastewater treatment unit operations, proliferation of antibiotic resistance, formation of nitrosamine disinfection byproducts, and impacts on biota in surface waters. The threat caused by COVID-19 is clear, and a reasonable response is elevated use of QACs to mitigate spread of infection. Exploration of potential effects, environmental fate, and technologies to minimize environmental releases of QACs, however, is warranted.

E. Tullo, A. Finzi, M. Guarino

This paper reviews the environmental impact of current livestock practices and discusses the advantages offered by Precision Livestock Farming (PLF), as a potential strategy to mitigate environmental risks. PLF is defined as: "the application of process engineering principles and techniques to livestock farming to automatically monitor, model and manage animal production". The primary goal of PLF is to make livestock farming more economically, socially and environmentally sustainable and this can be obtained through the observation, interpretation of behaviours and, if possible, individual control of animals. Furthermore, adopting PLF to support management strategies, may lead to the reduction of the environmental impact of farms. Currently, few studies reported PLF efficacy in reducing the environmental impact, however further studies are necessary to better analyze the actual potential of PLF as a mitigation strategy. Literature shows the potentiality of the application of PLF, as the introduction of PLF in farms can lead to a reduction of Greenhouse gases (GHG) and ammonia (NH3) emission in air, nitrates and antibiotics pollution in water bodies, phosphorus, antibiotics and heavy metals in the soil.

Yuwen Zhou, Shiyi Qin, S. Verma et al.

Yingxuan Miao, Yunxuan Zhao, Shuai Zhang et al.

Whilst the photocatalytic technique is considered to be one of the most significant routes to address the energy crisis and global environmental challenges, the solar‐to‐chemical conversion efficiency is still far from satisfying practical industrial requirements, which can be traced to the suboptimal bandgap and electronic structure of photocatalysts. Strain engineering is a universal scheme that can finely tailor the bandgap and electronic structure of materials, hence supplying a novel avenue to boost their photocatalytic performance. Accordingly, to explore promising directions for certain breakthroughs in strained photocatalysts, an overview on the recent advances of strain engineering from the basics of strain effect, creations of strained materials, as well as characterizations and simulations of strain level is provided. Besides, the potential applications of strain engineering in photocatalysis are summarized, and a vision for the future controllable‐electronic‐structure photocatalysts by strain engineering is also given. Finally, perspectives on the challenges for future strain‐promoted photocatalysis are discussed, placing emphasis on the creation and decoupling of strain effect, and the modification of theoretical frameworks.

Ruijie Yang, Liang Mei, Yingying Fan et al.

As a fascinating visible‐light‐responsive photocatalyst, zinc indium sulfide (ZnIn2S4) has attracted extensive interdisciplinary interest and is expected to become a new research hotspot in the near future, due to its nontoxicity, suitable band gap, high physicochemical stability and durability, ease of synthesis, and appealing catalytic activity. This review provides an overview on the recent advances in ZnIn2S4‐based photocatalysts. First, the crystal structures and band structures of ZnIn2S4 are briefly introduced. Then, various modulation strategies of ZnIn2S4 are outlined for better photocatalytic performance, which includes morphology and structure engineering, vacancy engineering, doping engineering, hydrogenation engineering, and the construction of ZnIn2S4‐based composites. Thereafter, the potential applications in the energy and environmental area of ZnIn2S4‐based photocatalysts are summarized. Finally, some personal perspectives about the promises and prospects of this emerging material are provided.

Bo Wu, Feifei Liu, Wenwen Fang et al.

Sulfur as a macroelement plays an important role in biochemistry in both natural environments and engineering biosystems, which can be further linked to other important element cycles, e.g. carbon, nitrogen and iron. Consequently, the sulfur cycling primarily mediated by sulfur compounds oxidizing microorganisms and sulfur compounds reducing microorganisms has enormous environmental implications, particularly in wastewater treatment and pollution bioremediation. In this review, to connect the knowledge in microbial sulfur metabolism to environmental applications, we first comprehensively review recent advances in understanding microbial sulfur metabolisms at molecular-, cellular- and ecosystem-levels, together with their energetics. We then discuss the environmental implications to fight against soil and water pollution, with four foci: (1) acid mine drainage, (2) water blackening and odorization in urban rivers, (3) SANI® and DS-EBPR processes for sewage treatment, and (4) bioremediation of persistent organic pollutants. In addition, major challenges and further developments toward elucidation of microbial sulfur metabolisms and their environmental applications are identified and discussed.

Chunxiang Qian, Wenxiang Du, Yudong Xie et al.

With the growing demand for large-scale infrastructure development in China—such as deep-sea, deep-underground, and urban subsurface projects—combined with the widespread use of general-purpose raw materials, there is an urgent need for more precise crack control technologies in concrete. This need stems from the imperative to reduce unnecessary material consumption and environmental impact caused by excessive safety margins. To address this, a set of governing equations that account for the mutual feedback between temperature and humidity was first proposed. A non-constant form of the diffusion coefficient was introduced, alongside latent heat terms and unsteady-state heat source terms, to establish a hygrothermal coupling model. This model was further enhanced by incorporating the effects of creep relaxation, reinforcement constraint, structural restraint, and thermal conduction characteristics of formwork, thereby forming a comprehensive multi-field coupling evaluation framework that encompasses the temperature field, moisture content field, strain field, and cracking index field. Subsequently, the proposed theoretical framework was applied to representative engineering scenarios, including large-scale concrete foundation slabs, bridge bearing platforms, large-area long-span side walls and prefabricated tunnel segments. The accuracy and reliability of the model were validated through comparisons between simulation results and field-monitored data. The results demonstrate that this method effectively overcomes the technical limitations of traditional concrete crack prediction models, particularly those relying on constant parameter assumptions and decoupled field interactions. It offers a practical and robust approach for engineering applications, providing a novel perspective for precision crack control in concrete and contributing to the broader goals of sustainability and resource efficiency.

Lei Zhang

The quantum threat to cybersecurity has accelerated the standardization of Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC). Migrating legacy software to these quantum-safe algorithms is not a simple library swap, but a new software engineering challenge: existing vulnerability detection, refactoring, and testing tools are not designed for PQC's probabilistic behavior, side-channel sensitivity, and complex performance trade-offs. To address these challenges, this paper outlines a vision for a new class of tools and introduces the Automated Quantum-safe Adaptation (AQuA) framework, with a three-pillar agenda for PQC-aware detection, semantic refactoring, and hybrid verification, thereby motivating Quantum-Safe Software Engineering (QSSE) as a distinct research direction.

Alexander Korn, Lea Zaruchas, Chetan Arora et al.

Large Language Models, particularly decoder-only generative models such as GPT, are increasingly used to automate Software Engineering tasks. These models are primarily guided through natural language prompts, making prompt engineering a critical factor in system performance and behavior. Despite their growing role in SE research, prompt-related decisions are rarely documented in a systematic or transparent manner, hindering reproducibility and comparability across studies. To address this gap, we conducted a two-phase empirical study. First, we analyzed nearly 300 papers published at the top-3 SE conferences since 2022 to assess how prompt design, testing, and optimization are currently reported. Second, we surveyed 105 program committee members from these conferences to capture their expectations for prompt reporting in LLM-driven research. Based on the findings, we derived a structured guideline that distinguishes essential, desirable, and exceptional reporting elements. Our results reveal significant misalignment between current practices and reviewer expectations, particularly regarding version disclosure, prompt justification, and threats to validity. We present our guideline as a step toward improving transparency, reproducibility, and methodological rigor in LLM-based SE research.

Alexandra González, Xavier Franch, Silverio Martínez-Fernández

Integrating Artificial Intelligence into Software Engineering (SE) requires having a curated collection of models suited to SE tasks. With millions of models hosted on Hugging Face (HF) and new ones continuously being created, it is infeasible to identify SE models without a dedicated catalogue. To address this gap, we present SEMODS: an SE-focused dataset of 3,427 models extracted from HF, combining automated collection with rigorous validation through manual annotation and large language model assistance. Our dataset links models to SE tasks and activities from the software development lifecycle, offering a standardized representation of their evaluation results, and supporting multiple applications such as data analysis, model discovery, benchmarking, and model adaptation.

Mairieli Wessel, Daniel Feitosa, Sangeeth Kochanthara

Rising publication pressure and the routine use of generative AI tools are reshaping how software engineering research is produced, assessed, and taught. While these developments promise efficiency, they also raise concerns about skill degradation, responsibility, and trust in scholarly outputs. This vision paper employs Design Fiction as a methodological lens to examine how such concerns might materialise if current practices persist. Drawing on themes reported in a recent community survey, we construct a speculative artifact situated in a near future research setting. The fiction is used as an analytical device rather than a forecast, enabling reflection on how automated assistance might impede domain knowledge competence, verification, and mentoring practices. By presenting an intentionally unsettling scenario, the paper invites discussion on how the software engineering research community in the future will define proficiency, allocate responsibility, and support learning.

Yu Lu, K. Gu, Zhengtao Shen et al.

Use of biochar as a soil amendment for climate change mitigation and environmental remediation has been intensively studied over the past decade, yet the growing interest in biochar for geo-environmental applications is primarily motivated by its active interactions with soil in terms of engineering properties. The addition of biochar can significantly alter the physical, hydrological, and mechanical properties of soils, but the diverse biochar characteristics and soil properties lead to the fact that a generalized conclusion on the impact of biochar on soil engineering properties is difficult to reach. Considering that the effects of biochar on soil engineering properties at multi scales could also potentially affect the applications of biochar in other fields, this review intends to provide a comprehensive and critical overview of biochar implications for soil engineering properties. Based on the physicochemical properties of biochar pyrolyzed from varying feedstocks and pyrolysis temperatures, this review analyzed the physical, hydrological, and mechanical performances of biochar-amended soils and the underlying mechanisms. Among others, the analysis releases that the initial state of biochar-amended soil requires special attention when evaluating the effect of biochar on soil engineering properties, yet it is usually neglected in the current studies. The review closes with a brief overview of the potential impacts of engineering properties on other soil processes, and future needs and opportunities for further development of biochar in geo-environmental engineering from academia to practice.

Amol U. Pawar, Ignasia H. Mahardika, Young S. Son et al.

ABSTRACT Achieving carbon neutrality is urgent due to the critical issue of climate change. To reach this goal, the development of new, breakthrough technologies is necessary and urgent. One such technology involves efficient carbon capture and its conversion into useful chemicals or fuels. However, achieving considerable amounts of efficiency in this field is a very challenging task. Even in natural photosynthesis occurring in plant leaves, the CO2 conversion efficiency into hydrocarbons cannot exceed a value of 1%. Nevertheless, recently few reports show comparable higher efficiency in CO2 to gaseous products such as carbon monoxide (CO), but it is hard to find selective liquid fuel products with a high value of solar to liquid fuel conversion efficiency. Herein, a NiFe‐assisted hybrid composite dark cathode is employed for the selective production of solar‐to‐liquid fuels, in conjunction with a BiVO4 photoanode. This process results in the generation of significant amounts of formaldehyde, ethanol, and methanol selectively. The primary objective of this study is to design and optimize a novel photoelectrochemical (PEC) system to produce solar‐to‐liquid fuels selectively. This study shows the enhancement of the solar‐to‐fuel conversion efficiency over 1.5% by employing a hybrid composite cathode composed of NiFe‐assisted reduced graphene oxide (rGO), poly(4‐vinyl)pyridine (PVP), and Nafion.

Karine Sartelet, Jules Kerckhoffs, Eleni Athanasopoulou et al.

Mapping urban pollution is essential for assessing population exposure and addressing associated health impacts. High urban concentrations are due to the proximity of sources such as traffic or residential heating, and to urban density with the presence of buildings that reduce street ventilation. This urban complexity makes fine-scale mapping challenging, even for regulated pollutants such as NO2 and PM2.5. In this study we apply state-of-the-art empirical and deterministic modeling approaches to produce high-resolution (<100 m) pollution maps across five European cities (Paris, Athens, Birmingham, Rotterdam, Bucharest). These methodologies enable full-city mapping capturing intra-urban gradients of concentrations. Depending on the methodology, regulated pollutants (NO2, PM2.5) and/or emerging pollutants (black carbon (BC) and ultrafine particles (UFP characterized here by particulate number concentration PNC)) are considered. For deterministic modelling, different approaches are presented: a multi-scale Eulerian modelling chain down to the street scale with chemistry/aerosol dynamics at all scales, multi-scale hybrid models with Eulerian regional dispersion and Gaussian subgrid dispersion, and a Gaussian-based model. Empirical land use regression models were developed based upon mobile monitoring.To compare the relative performance of the methodologies and to evaluate their performance and limitations, the modelling results are compared to fixed measurement stations. We introduce a standardized metric to quantify spatial and seasonal variability and assess each method’s capacity to reproduce fine-scale urban heterogeneity. We also evaluate how data assimilation affects both concentration accuracy and variability representation—particularly relevant for emerging pollutants where measurement data are sparse. We confirm established seasonal and spatial patterns: spatial variability is more pronounced for PNC, NO2 and BC than PM2.5, and concentrations are higher during the winter periods. We also observe reduced spatial variability in winter for PM2. 5 (linked to residential heating) and for BC in cities with significant wood burning emissions. This study adds unique value by evaluating these patterns using fixed measurement stations, and quantifying them across entire urban areas at very fine spatial resolution (<100 m). Furthermore, important methodological strengths and limitations are pointed out, providing practical guidance for the selection and improvement of urban exposure mapping methods, supporting the implementation of the new EU Air Quality Directive.

I. Made Wahyu Wijaya, I. G. D. Yudha Partama, I. Ketut Sumantra, Kailas Deoram Ahire and Fransiskus Vebrian Kenedy

This study explores the spatiotemporal variations in nitrogen and phosphorus pollutants in the Tukad Badung River, an essential water source for Bali’s communities, increasingly impacted by agricultural, domestic, and industrial discharges. Bi-daily sampling at six strategically selected sites along the river’s 18-kilometer stretch revealed substantial fluctuations in water quality, with downstream sites consistently exhibiting elevated pollutant concentrations. Ammonia concentrations varied from 1.5 to 4.2 mg.L-1, nitrate levels ranged from 5.0 to 11.6 mg.L-1, and total phosphorus concentrations spanned 0.5 to 2.5 mg.L-1, all of which were highest during afternoon sampling, likely due to reduced flow and increased anthropogenic inputs. Total suspended solids (TSS) exhibited temporal and spatial variability, ranging from 80 to 127 mg.L-1, with the highest concentrations observed at midstream sites, suggesting localized sedimentation from human activities. The nutrient dynamics displayed marked temporal variations, with concentrations rising during afternoon hours, reflecting shifts in human activity and changes in river flow conditions. Furthermore, the study assessed nutrient recovery technologies, such as precipitation and adsorption, which were able to recover up to 80% of extractable nutrients. These findings not only characterize the pollution trends but also highlight the potential of nutrient recovery techniques in reducing dependency on synthetic fertilizers. This research emphasizes the need for integrated watershed management and adaptive recovery strategies to mitigate nutrient pollution and enhance the sustainability of river ecosystems for future generations.