Search results for: air pollution
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Analysis of the Usefulness of Cheap Audio Recorders for Spectral Measurement of Environmental Noise
PublicationEnvironmental noise pollution is nowadays one of the most serious health threats. The impact of noise on the human body depends not only on the sound level but also on its spectral distribution. Reliable measurements of the environmental noise spectrum are often hampered by the very high price of top quality measuring devices. This paper explores the possibility of using much cheaper audio recorders for the frequency analysis....
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Calculation methods of interaction of electromagnetic waves with objects of complex geometries
PublicationModeling of the electromagnetic interaction with different homogeneous or inhomo-geneous objects is a fundamental and important problem. It is relatively easy to solve Maxwellequations analytically when the scattering object is spherical or cylindrical, for example. How-ever, when it loses these properties all that is left for us is to useapproximation models, to ac-quire the solution we need. Modeling of complex, non-spherical,...
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Healthier and Environmentally Responsible Sustainable Cities and Communities. A New Design Framework and Planning Approach for Urban Illumination
PublicationAlthough sustainability and sustainable development are both considered necessary practices in various fields today, a recent analysis showed that the Sustainable Development Goal SDG11: Sustainable Cities and Communities established by the United Nations does not address urban illumination and its impact. This oversight is of concern because research carried out in the last 20+ years indicates artificial light at night (ALAN)...
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Seasonal and spatial differences in metal and metalloid concentrations in the snow cover of Hansbreen, Svalbard
PublicationMetals and metalloids in snow on glaciers, depending on the season of deposition, may come from various sources: local rock dust (erosion of the geological substratum), marine aerosol, local human activity (e.g. fuel combustion, waste incineration) and long-range atmospheric transport. Hansbreen glacier, located close to the Polish Polar Station in Svalbard, is a perfect site to study metals and metalloids: it has complex geological...
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Marek Biziuk prof. dr hab. inż.
PeopleCURRICULUM VITAE Marek BIZIUK Born 1947 MSc 1969 GUT PhD 1977 GUT DSc 1994 GUT Professor 2001 Membership of scientific society - Gdansk Scientific Society - Romanian Society of Analytical Chemistry - Engineers and Techniques of...
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LLA : A New Anypath Routing Scheme Providing Long Path Lifetime in VANETs
PublicationVehicular ad-hoc networks (VANETs) are a promising solution to improve the road traffic safety, reduce the environmental pollution, or simply provide the on-board infotainment services. However, these actions are often not possible due to high mobility of vehicles causing frequent failures of VANET links. In this paper, we focus on anypath routing to improve the reliability of multihop VANET communications. In particular, the paper...
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Mercury in Living Organisms: Sources and Forms of Occurrence, Bioaccumulation, and Determination Methods
PublicationMercury (Hg) is a heavy metal with well-known and broadly tested toxicity. Since Hg pollution and its impacts on human health are of global concern, it has become necessary to develop analytical methodologies that will provide tools to obtain reliable analytical information about the levels of Hg in samples, which very often have a complex matrix composition. This chapter summarizes key information on Hg and its chemical forms,...
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Smart heating system for home extending utilization of renewable energy sources
PublicationIn the paper a modern approach to smart home heating is presented. Proposed solution utilizes at least two low-polluting energy source technologies. The main idea is to connect well known ecological energy sources in a way that they can support each other and minimize risks of failure when using single system or even both of them but managed in separate way. Considered energy technologies, used separatelly, have disadvan-tages,...
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4D Reconstruction and Visualisation of Krakow Fortress
PublicationThe specific aim of the European project named "Cultural Heritage Through Time" (CHT2) and reported in this paper is to fully integrate the fourth dimension (4D) into Cultural Heritage studies for analysing structures and landscapes over time. Krakow-the Fortress City (Poland) is the one of four case studies of the CHT2, which are used for the time varying reconstruction, analysis, visualization, and preservation. The goal of...
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Runoff Water
PublicationThis entry summarizes the current state of knowledge on the role of atmospheric pollutants' transport to the surface and transformations of wet deposition on contact with various surfaces. Runoff waters are one of the forms in which precipitation reaches the groundwater and surface water. They are formed when rain or melting snow washes the surfaces of roofs, highways, agricultural areas, or tree canopies. Pollutants present in...
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Treatment Wetland for Overflow Stormwater Treatment: The Impact of Pollutant Particles Size
PublicationThe problem of stormwater treatment in urban areas has become increas- ingly crucial. It has been widely recognized that both mechanical and biological treatment of stormwater is necessary to protect surface water against pollution. Moreover, technology must be applied to ensure effective treatment in changing hydraulic conditions and to serve, to the extent possible, as a retention volume. Treatment wetland (TW) could be...
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WATER LUBRICATED MAIN SHAFT BEARINGS - MODERN SOLUTION FOR HYDROPOWER INDUSTRY - Experimental and theoretical studies
PublicationWater-lubricated bearings are finding increasingly wide use in various branches of industry. As such, they may also be encountered in hydro power industry. They are also increasingly frequently employed in bearing systems of marine shaft propulsions and water pumps [1]. This rising popularity is due to a number of reasons [2]. First of all, their simple construction has direct impact on the level of pricing which is usually quite...
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Use of Brassica plants in the phytoremediation and biofumigation processes
PublicationIn recent decades, serious contamination of soils by heavy metals has been reported. It is therefore a matter of urgency to develop a new and efficient technology for removing contaminants from soil. Another aspect to this problem is that environmental pollution decreases the biological quality of soil, which is why pesticides and fertilizers are being used in ever-larger quantities. The environmentally friendly solutions to these...
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Drinking water safety evaluation in the selected sub-Saharan African countries: A case study of Madagascar, Uganda and Rwanda
PublicationIn the sub-Saharan region of Africa, access to safe drinking water remains limited in many countries. This study provides an overview of the quality of surface water and groundwater in rural and peri-urban areas of Madagascar, Uganda, and Rwanda. Selected physico-chemical parameters, inorganic species (including inorganic ions), and organic pollution indicators, such as total organic carbon, non-ionic surfactants, cationic surfactants, anionic...
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Atmospheric deposition in coniferous and deciduous tree stands in Poland
PublicationThe objective of this study was to assess the transformation of precipitation in terms of quantity and chemical composition following contact with the crown layer in tree stands with varied species composition, to investigate the effect of four predominant forest-forming species (pine, spruce, beech, and oak) on the amount and composition of precipitation reaching forest soils, and to determine the sources of pollution in atmospheric...
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Storm petrels as indicators of pelagic seabird exposure to chemical elements in the Antarctic marine ecosystem
PublicationData on trace element bioavailability in the south-polar marine ecosystem is still scarce, compared to that relating to temperate zones. Seabirds can be used as indicators of ecosystem health and sentinels of environmental pollution, constituting a link between marine and terrestrial environments. Here, we analysed the concentration of 17 elements (with special emphasis on mercury, Hg) in feathers of adults and chicks of two pelagic...
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Heavy Metals in Sediments of Urban Streams: Contamination and Health Risk Assessment of Influencing Factors
PublicationSediments of two urban streams in northern Poland outflowing to the Baltic Sea were assessed to explain the spatial variation in relation to urbanization level of the catchment, the role of retention tanks (RTs) and identification of pollution level. During the 3 month period of investigation sediment samples were collected from the inflow (IN) and outflow (OUT) of six RTs located on streams for flood protection. Six heavy metals...
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The Use of Vegetables in the Biomonitoring of Cadmium and Lead Pollution in the Environment
PublicationLead and cadmium emitted from various anthropogenic sources have the ability to accumulate in tissues of living organisms. The phenomenon of accumulation of metals in the body is harmful and undesirable. On the other hand, the ability of plants to accumulate heavy metals from the individual elements of the environment has been used in biomonitoring of pollution. Leaf and root of vegetables have particular predisposition for accumulating...
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Mercury in Different Feather Types from Great Cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo L.) Inhabiting the Vistula Lagoon Ecosystem in Poland
PublicationTotal mercury levels in different feather types (down, contour, tail and flight) in Great Cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo L.) were determined using CV-AAS. Feathers from Great Cormorants inhabiting the Vistula Lagoon ecosystem have an average Hg level of 7.14 ± 3.99 (μg/g w.w.). Age-dependent concentrations of Hg were statistically significant (ANOVA Kruskal-Wallis, p < 0.0001). There were also significant differences in Hg levels...
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Arctic Freshwater Environment Altered by the Accumulation of Commonly Determined and Potentially New POPs
PublicationChemical composition of Arctic freshwater ecosystems depends on several factors. They include characteristics of the surrounding landscape, its lithology, geomorphology, vegetation, and hydrological features, as well as accumulation of anthropogenic pollution. In the Arctic, the problem of environmental contamination is widespread. That is why research on lakes and river catch-ments in terms of their chemical composition has enjoyed...
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The life cycle cost of a building from the point of view of environmental criteria of selecting the most beneficial offer in the area of competitive tendering
PublicationThe article analyses environmental and ecological criteria of selecting the most beneficial offer in the aspect of LCC. Construction works contracts and the potential method of defining the above criteria, among others, is pondered on (for example by the recommendation of a material, which is supposed to be used, a ban on substances that are harmful for human health as well for the environment). In the relation to the above, it...
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Preliminary estimation of groundwater recharge on Brda river outwash plain
PublicationEstimation of groundwater recharge is one of the most challenging subjects in hydrogeology. It is a critical factor influencing the pollution migration, assessment of aquifer vulnerability to contamination, small-scale groundwater budget calculation, modeling of nutrient cycling and detailed flow path calculations. In Poland an infiltration rate method is widely used, which depends on a system of rate coefficients referring to...
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Place attachment, place identity and aesthetic appraisal of urban landscape
PublicationAs the aesthetic of the Polish cities became a topic of wider discussions, it is important to detect the potentialrole of human-place relations. Two studies (N = 185 & N = 196) were conducted to explore the relationship betweenplace attachment, place identity and appraisal of urban landscape. Satisfaction with urban aesthetic was predicted by twodimensions of place attachment (place inherited and place...
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Traffic-induced vibrations. The impact on buildings and people
PublicationTraffic-induced vibrations have recently been of major concern to engineers as one of the aspects of so called physical environmental pollution. The interest is related to the observations of serious negative effects of such kind of vibrations on buildings and their inhabitants. Traffic-induced vibrations may cause plaster cracks, structural damage and even failure and collapse of the structure. They may also be the reason of serious...
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Roofing Materials as Pollution Emiters - Concentration Changes During Runoff
PublicationThe influence of roofing material on concentration of pollutants in roof runoff waters and changes of pollution concentration in time were investigated. In field studies four roofing material types were taken into consideration - ceramic tile, bituminous membrane, asbestos tile and zinc sheeting. Samples were collected since November 2007 to March 2008, anions, cations, metals, PAHs, pesticides and PCB were determined. The existence...
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Decrease in Photovoltaic Module Efficiency Due to Deposition of Pollutants
PublicationThe deposition of pollutants on the surface of photovoltaic (PV) modules reduce the efficiency that can be achieved in given climatic conditions. This results in the loss of energy yield obtained from the solar installation. A number of factors determine the scale of this problem. The first of these is the amount of impurities deposited, the associated amount of precipitation, and the speed and direction of the wind. A second aspect...
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Miniaturized Solid Phase Extraction techniques for different kind of pollutants analysis: State of the art and future perspectives – PART 1
PublicationSolid Phase Extraction (SPE) has been practiced in a modern form for more than half a century. It was constantly developing, driven by the analysts needs. These needs are coming from the importance to select an appropriate analytical method, which should have satisfactory accuracy, precision and sensitivity. In the case of sorbent-based microextraction techniques, the choice of miniaturized variants that meet these requirements...
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Automatic Detection and Monitoring of Cyanobacterial Blooms in the Context of the Marine Cadastre
PublicationIn the wake of the European and global spatial data infrastructures (SDI) it is important to build information systems which use and serve thematic data in compliance with the INSPIRE Directive. In the context of hydrographic data, the Directive requires EU member states to collect and share information on maritime areas divided into regions and sub-regions, as well as coastal zone management areas. These data are part of recently...
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The impact of the Tri-City Ring Road on surface water of small endorheic wetlands
PublicationThe paper presents the results of the impact of the Tri-City Ring Road on small endorheic catchment basins. Particular attention was paid to pollution discharged from the road to the surface water, as well as changes in hydrological conditions in the vicinity of the road. In the study, surface water samples were analysed in terms of their electrolytic conductivity, pH and content of major minerals. GIS was also used to study transformation...
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Creating Acoustic Maps Employing Supercomputing Cluster
PublicationThe implemented online urban noise pollution monitoring system is presented with regard to its conceptual assumptions and technical realization. A concept of the noise source parameters dynamic assessment is introduced. The idea of noise modeling, based on noise emission characteristics and emission simulations, was developer and practically utilized in the system. Furthermore, the working system architecture and the data acquisition...
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Do the New Requirements for the Use of Energy Efficient Lighting Design Mean the End of Creativity?,
PublicationThis paper addresses issues strongly connected to recent environmental discussions which are currently taking place in Europe, Asia, America, Australia and other parts of the world about global warming, the Greenhouse Effect, light pollution and other negative impacts artificial lighting has on our planet and what can be done about it. The author also attempts to answer indirectly two of the most important questions for lighting...
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Wstępna ocena wielkości stężeń związków azotu i fosforu odprowadzanych z wodami powierzchniowymi do Zatoki Puckiej z terenu gminy Puck
PublicationThe ferilizers used in agriculture negatively affect the surface and groundwater quality. The Bay of Puck is a semi-closed part of the Gulf of Gdańsk, which is particularly vulnerable to eutrophication caused by the inflow of nutrient substances. The Bay is surrounded by the lands intensively used in agriculture. Also a number of touristic resorts is located on its coast. The streams and rivers carry the load of nitrogen and phosphorus...
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One-step recovery of REE oxalates in electro-leaching of spent NdFeB magnets
PublicationRecovery of rare-earth elements (REEs) from spent NdFeB magnets is receiving great attention because of high amount of neodymium and potential risk of environmental pollution. In this study, a novel environment-friendly hydrometallurgical route is proposed for efficient recovery of REEs during electrochemical leaching with sulfuric and oxalic acids. With proper adjustment of the electrolyte composition and operating conditions,...
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Aspects of pollution in Gdansk and gdynia Harbours at the coastal zone of the South Baltic Sea
PublicationOrganotin compounds (OTC), as well as metals, are toxic to many organisms. Even at very low concentrations OTC and metals can have several negative effects. The paper discusses key issues relating to the location of harbours in the coastal zone (including near the river mouths and semi-closed access to the sea) and the pollution of harbour sediments with heavy metals (e.g. zinc, copper, nickel and lead) and organotin derivatives...
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A multi‑criteria approach to investigate spatial distribution,sources, and the potential toxicological effect of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in sediments of urban retention tanks
PublicationBottom sediments deposited in retention tanks (RTs) located on two urban streams (Oliwski and Strzyza) in the central part of Gdansk (Poland) were analysed for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons’ (PAHs) content. PAHs were extracted from samples with methylene chloride, then the extracts were subjected to clean-up applying the solid phase extraction (SPE) method. Quantitative and qualitative determination of 16 PAHs was performed...
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Geographic information system for remote integration of diverse under-water acoustic sensor data
PublicationMaritime and port areas throughout the world are exposed to many different hazards, like pollution, terrorism and natural disasters. Early detection, identification and preparation of appropriateesponse strategies is especially important in the case of semi-enclosed basins like the Baltic Sea, mainly due to the marine ecosystems' continuous absorption of pollutants including oil, heavy metals and chemicals. Many of those agents...
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Novel approach to ecotoxicological risk assessment of sediments cores around the shipwreck by the use of self-organizing maps
PublicationMarine and coastal pollution plays an increasingly important role due to recent severe accidents which drew attention to the consequences of oil spills causing widespread devastation of marine ecosystems. All these problems cannot be solved without conducting environmental studies in the area of possible oil spill and performing chemometric evaluation of the data obtained looking for similar patterns among pollutants and optimize...
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Surface sediments pollution due to shipwreck s/s “Stuttgart”: a multidisciplinary approach
PublicationShipwrecks may pose a serious source of pollution for marine ecosystems. For this reason, it is of great importance to perform a marine ecosystem risk assessment due to plausible wreck presence. One of elements of such an assessment is determining the state of the environment in the vicinity of the wreck. In the work presented, the results of studies on surface sediments samples collected around the s/s Stuttgart ship sunk during...
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A novel method for archiving multibeam sonar data with emphasis on efficient record size reduction and storage
PublicationOver the past few years considerable advances in sonar technology, spatial positioning capabilities and computer processing power have lead to significant improvements in mapping, imaging and technologies of seafloor exploration. Recently, modern multibeam echosounder systems (MBES) capable of recording backscatter data for the whole water column, not just for the seabed, have become available thus providing data allowing for...
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A Model-Based Improved Control of Dissolved Oxygen Concentration in Sequencing Wastewater Batch Reactor
PublicationBiochemical processes at wastewater treatment plant are complex, nonlinear, time varying and multivariable. Moreover, relationships between processes are very strong. One of the most important issues is exerting proper control over dissolved oxygen levels during nitrification phase. This parameter has a very large impact on activity of microorganisms in activated sludge and on quality of pollution removal processes. Oxygen is supplied...
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Concentrations of heavy metals and PCBs in the tissues of European beavers (Castor fiber) captured in northeastern Poland
PublicationEuropean beavers (Castor fiber) from two regions were examined to identify exposure to persistent environmental contaminants. A reference group was comprised of six animals from the Forest Division of Srokowo, and an exposed group was comprised of five animals from the vicinity of a former military airport operated in 1918–1986—both from Warmia land in Poland. 137 Cs in beavers' muscles was considered negligible for the overall...
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Seashore sediment and water chemistry at the Admiralty Bay (King George Island, Maritime Antarctica) – geochemical analysis and correlations between the concentrations of chemical species
PublicationThis study covers water and sediment chemical characteristics by the western shore of Admiralty Bay (King George Island, Antarctica) in 2016. Chemical processes between sediment and water have been described based on the determination of ions, metals, non-metals, and TOC concentrations. Rock weathering is an important source of Fe, Ni, Co, Al in the seashore area. The PCA shows the impact of acidification in the release metals...
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DETERMINATION OF THE EFFECT OF ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS ON THE CORROSION OF WATER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM BASED ON ANALYSIS OF ON-LINE CORROSION MONITORING RESULTS
PublicationCorrosion of water distribution system is a significant issue causing problems with quality, safety and continuity of distribution. The changes of corrosion rates of the water distribution systems in Cracow made of carbon steel were investigated by analysis of online corrosion monitoring system results. Corrosion rates were determined using the linear polarization method. The impact of rain, temperatures, conductivity, dissolved...
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Effect of Microplastics Pollution on Hydrogen Production from Biomass: A Comprehensive Review
PublicationHydrogen production from biomass and organic wastes is considered as a potential alternative energy source and is known as a clean and CO2-free fuel energy carrier. H2 is considered very promising among the other energy sources; therefore, the effective conversion of biomass and organic solid waste to this secondary energy source is urgently sought. As a result, it is of importance to assess the impact of the existence of microplastics...
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Elucidating the impact of enzymatic modifications on the structure, properties, and applications of cellulose, chitosan, starch and their derivatives: a review
PublicationPolysaccharides, as one of the most prominent natural biopolymers, display numerous biological activities and industrial applications. Nevertheless, some polysaccharides lack biological properties or display weak biological activities. Besides, practical usages of polysaccharides still remain challenging because of their poor solubility and inappropriate hydrophilic/hydrophobic balance. Hence, enzymatic or chemical modifications...
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Adaptive stochastic and hybrid nonlinear optimization algorithms for improving the effectiveness of the biological processes at WWTP
PublicationWastewater treatment plays an important factor in the modern world. Insufficient treatment may result in environmental pollution which can further lead to disasters and diseases. However, processes that take place inside wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) are highly complex in nature, therefore it is difficult to design an efficient, optimal control system. The problem regarding biochemical reactions inside Sequential Batch Reactor...
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Investigation of functional layers of solid oxide fuel cell anodes for synthetic biogas reforming
PublicationSolid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are one of the most promising energy conversion devices due to their high efficiency, low pollution and fuel flexibility. Unfortunately, when hydrocarbons are used as a fuel, for example in the form of a biogas, solid carbon can deposit on the anode surface. This process leads to the degradation of the fuel cell performance. A possible solution to this problem is to apply an additional catalytic material,...
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SURFACTANTS IN KLODNICA RIVER (KATOWICE, POLAND). PART I. LINEAR ALKYLBENZENE SULPHONATES (LAS)
PublicationSurfactants are a group of compounds with specific physico-chemical properties and therefore they are used in many spheres of human activity. Surface-active substances undergo various physico-chemical transformations, what enables their migration between different elements of the environment and may lead to its pollution. Selected anionic surfactants were determined in samples of water from the Klodnica river (25 samples) and bottom...
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Solid phase microextraction–comprehensive twodimensional gas chromatography–time-of-flight mass spectrometry: a new tool for determining PAHs in airport runoff water samples
Publicationfundamental aspect of airport operations is the pollution caused by airport runoff waters. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are one of the most important groups of xenobiotics which are commonly found in runoff water originating from airports. Only very limited data on the analysis of airport runoff water have been published until now. Therefore, a reliable and accurate analytical method based on headspace solid-phase microextraction...
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Insights into Seawater Biodegradation of Sustainable Mater-Bi/Poly(ε-caprolactone)-Based Biocomposites Filled with Diisocyanate-Modified Cellulose Particles
Publication: Due to rapid economic growth, the use of plastics in almost all areas of human life has significantly increased over recent decades, leading to massive pollution. Therefore, works dealing with sustainable and biodegradable polymer materials are vital now. Herein, sustainable MaterBi/poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL)-based biocomposites, filled with diisocyanate-modified cellulose particles, were prepared and subjected to 12-week seawater...