Mesoporous bimetallic Fe/Co was prepared as a Fenton-like catalyst to degrade the tetracycline hydrochlorides (TC). The nanocasting strategy with KIT-6 as a hard template was carried out to synthesize the mesoporous bimetallic catalyst. The mesoporous bimetallic Fe/Co catalyst was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method. The results showed that the catalyst has significant nanofeatures; the surface area, pore size, and particle size were 113.8 m²g⁻¹, 4 nm, and 10 nm, respectively. In addition, the effects of the operating parameters, such as the iron-to-cobalt ratio, pH, H₂O₂, and initial TC concentrations on its catalytic performance were investigated. The best operating parameters were as follows: iron-to-cobalt ratio = 2:1 to 1:1, pH = 5–9, H₂O₂: 30 mmol, initial TC less than 30 mg/L. Furthermore, the mesoporous bimetallic Fe/Co showed a good performance for degrading TC, achieving a removal rate of 86% of TC after 3 h under the reaction conditions of H₂O₂ = 30 mmol, mesoporous bimetallic Fe/Co = 0.6 g/L, TC = 30 mg/L, pH = 7.0, and temperature = 25.5 °C. The mesoporous bimetallic Fe/Co catalyst shows good stability and reusability. This work demonstrated that mesoporous bimetallic Fe/Co has excellent catalytic efficiency, smaller amounts of leached ions, and wider pH range, which enhance its potential applications.

As the world focuses on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and recovering energy from sewage, technologies that can recover energy and reuse wastewater are becoming increasingly important. Anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) technology has recently attracted attention, as it can achieve energy recovery and yields high-quality effluent. However, the large-scale commercial application of AnMBRs requires that certain barriers be overcome, including membrane pollution and dissolved methane recovery. In this review article, we summarize the basic principles of anaerobic wastewater digestion and discuss the excellent performance of AnMBRs for wastewater treatment. Various factors, membrane types, and pollution are discussed, and control strategies for dealing with membrane pollution are put forward. In addition, a variety of new AnMBRs are described that may better control membrane pollution. Finally, future research directions for AnMBRs are presented to promote the large-scale integrated application of AnMBRs for industrial wastewater treatment.

The elemental composition and the UV–visible spectroscopic properties of dissolved fulvic acids (FA) extracted from salined fluvo-aquic soils in the Hetao Irrigation District were examined to evaluate the humification degree of FA and salinisation processes of soils. Composite soil samples of different depths (0–20, 20–40, 40–60, 60–80 cm) were collected from four native halophyte soils [communities Salicornia europaea (CSE), Suaeda glauca (CSG), Kalidium foliatum (CKF), Sophora alopecuroides (CSA)] and two furrow-irrigated fields [corn (CFD), wheat (WFD)] along a saline impact gradient. Seven humification indices (HIXs: C/N, SUVA, E2/E3, E2/E4, S275–295, S350–400, and S250–400), deduced from elemental analysis and UV–visible spectroscopy of FAs, were used to evaluate the humification degree. The humification degree of FA from the WFD soil was the highest, followed by CFD, CSA, CKF, CSG, and CSE. There were significant relationships between the seven HIXs (P < 0.05). The exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP) exhibited close correlations with the seven HIXs, and the humification degree increased with decreasing ESP. The HIX can not only indicate the humification degree of soil organic matter but also characterise the salinisation processes of soils.