A novel adsorbent based nanostructured bismuth oxyiodide (BiOI) microspheres combining the highly effective adsorption and green photocatalytic regeneration were fabricated by a facile and rapid low-temperature chemical bath method. The resultant products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), Nitrogen adsorption-desorption measurements, and UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). The BiOI microspheres displayed remarkable performance towards removal of Rhodamine B (RhB) and Cr (VI) from aqueous solution, showing a maximum adsorption capacity reached up to 40.78 mg g-1 and 38.01 mg g-1, respectively. The kinetics and equilibrium of adsorption process were found to follow the pseudo-second-order kinetic and Langmuir isotherm models. Notably, the BiOI microspheres have excellent photocatalytic regeneration capability due to their intrinsically prominent photoresponse in visible light region. By meaning of providing a new insight into the design of new generation adsorbent that could combine adsorption and solar-driven photocatalysis, the synthesized BiOI microspheres are very promising for the large-scale industrial application for water treatment.

Mn-doped CeO2 flower-like microstructures have been synthesized by a facile one-step composite-hydroxide-mediated method. The structure, morphology, optical and the surface properties of Mn doped CeO2 have been investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The XRD results confirmed the successful incorporation of Mn into the CeO2 lattice through the formation of face-centered cubic solid solution. The photocatalytic activities of the catalysts were evaluated by measuring the photodegradation efficiency of Rhodamine B (RhB) under ultraviolet light irradiation. With an optimal molar ratio of 1% in Mn/CeO2 the highest rate photodegradation was achieved under the experimental conditions. The enhanced photocatalytic activity can be attributed to the incorporation of multivalent Mn in CeO2 promoted the separation of photogenerated charges, inhibited the recombination of photogenerated carriers, and thus prolonged the charges lifetime to participate in the photocatalytic reaction.

Abstract: The social vulnerability approach has been recognized as one of the most important tools for exploring contexts and coping strategies in relation to contemporary disasters. However, social vulnerability is such a multi-faceted and complex construct that scholars from different fields have not reached consensus on how best to measure it, and discussions on this issue continue. Some scholars consider that this approach can manifest the role of human agency. However, given a lack of historical observations, interpreting the causes of disasters through event-based perspectives cannot easily reflect the institutional mechanism behind disaster events. Thus, this study applies a social fragmentation concept to represent the opposite of social integration and depicts the trend of social fragmentation based on historical data from 1983-2011 in the Chiayi County, Taiwan. Furthermore, this study overlays the trend of social fragmentation and the flood map at the township level using the GIS technique. Four types of social fragmentation are identified, namely “continuous high social fragmentation,” “transformed social fragmentation,” “fluctuating social fragmentation” and “continuous low social fragmentation”. The study suggests that the social fragmentation approach can play a supplementary role in measuring the social vulnerability indicator.

Resumen: El enfoque de la vulnerabilidad social ha sido reconocido como una de las herramientas más importantes para explorar contextos y estrategias de afrontamiento en relación con los desastres contemporáneos. Sin embargo, la vulnerabilidad social es un constructo tan multifacético y complejo que estudiosos de diversas disciplinas no han llegado a un consenso sobre la mejor manera de medirlo y continúa el debate sobre dicha cuestión. Algunos estudiosos consideran que este enfoque puede manifestar el papel de la intervención humana. Sin embargo, dada la falta de observaciones históricas, interpretar las causas de los desastres a través de perspectivas basadas en eventos no puede reflejar el mecanismo institucional detrás de tales eventos. Así, el presente estudio aplica el concepto de fragmentación social para representar lo opuesto de la integración social. Asimismo, muestra la tendencia de la fragmentación social con base en datos históricos de 1983 a 2011 en el condado de Chiayi, Taiwán. Por otra parte, se superpone a la tendencia de la fragmentación social y elabora un mapa de inundación a nivel municipal mediante la técnica de SIG. Se identifican cuatro tipos de fragmentación social, a saber: “ fragmentación social alta continua,” “fragmentación social transformada,” “fragmentación social fluctuante” y “fragmentación social baja continua”. El estudio sugiere que el enfoque de la fragmentación social puede desempeñar un papel complementario en la medición del indicador de vulnerabilidad social.

Cu2(OH)PO4 microstructures were synthesized by the hydrothermal method using three different types cupric salts (Cu (NO3)2, CuSO4, Cu(CH3COO)2) as raw materials. The X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and UV-visible-NIR absorption spectra were used to characterize the as-obtained products. The different anions (SO42-, CH3COO-, NO3-) have different shapes and polarities, which can generate different interactions in reaction bath, induced the difference of structure and morphology of the prepared Cu2(OH)PO4. The Cu2(OH)PO4 microstructures prepared form Cu(NO3)2•3H2O showed the best photocatalytic activity induced by near-infrared light to degrade 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) solution. Our work suggests that the active morphological surfaces as well as different coordination environments for the metal ions has an important influence on the photocatalytic performance of Cu2(OH)PO4 microstructure.