The consumption and production of antibiotics in China rank highest in the world. As such, the occurrence of antibiotics in environmental media of China has raised significant concerns. Rivers play an important role in the sustainable development of China's economy and society, possibly causing high levels and detection frequencies of antibiotics in the aquatic environment of rivers in China. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the distribution and risk level of antibiotics in rivers. From south to north, China has seven major rivers vertically and horizontally. They are Yangtze River, Yellow River, Hai River, Liao River, Huai River, Songhua River and Pearl River. In this review, we made an extensive literature survey and published all studies on antibiotic concentrations in seven river systems of China from 2010 to 2020 were sorted out to provide a clear draw of the distribution characteristics of antibiotics. We found that 70 antibiotics have been detected in the seven major river systems. 13 typical antibiotics in surface waters of seven river systems were systematically reviewed and ecological risk assessment was conducted. The occurrence frequencies of high-risk antibiotics in surface waters followed the rank order: ETM–H₂O > CIP > OFX > SMX > NOR. The RQ_s values of seven rivers decreased in the order of Hai River (1.58–18 094.3) > Liao River (1.14–290.23) > Pearl River (2.11–118.25) > Yangtze River (0.3–64.78) > Yellow River (7.56–35.45) > Songhua River (0.03–22.26) > Huai River (1.87–20.83).

The magnetic chitosan/sludge biochar composite adsorbent was prepared using chitosan, Fe₃O₄, and sludge biochar as raw materials. The composite adsorbent was able to achieve rapid solid–liquid separation under an applied magnetic field. The morphology and microstructure of the composite adsorbent were characterized by FTIR, XRD, SEM, VSM, and BET analysis. The adsorption performance of the composite adsorbent on Cu²⁺ was investigated through static adsorption experiments, and the effects of adsorbent dosage, initial concentration of Cu²⁺, initial pH of the solution, and adsorption temperature on the adsorption efficiency of Cu²⁺ were discussed. The results showed that chitosan and Fe₃O₄ were successfully loaded on sludge biochar. When the initial concentration of Cu²⁺ was 30 mg/L, the dosage of the magnetic chitosan/sludge biochar composite material was 0.05 g, the adsorption time was 180 min, pH was 5, and the temperature was room temperature, the maximum removal rate of Cu²⁺ reached 99.77%, and the maximum adsorption capacity was 55.16 mg/g. The adsorption kinetics and adsorption isotherm data fitted well with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Langmuir adsorption isotherm model, indicating that the adsorption process was chemisorption with monolayer coverage.

We developed a Cu-based electrocatalyst from pig manure-derived biochar for efficient CO ₂ reduction, achieving 87.14% faradaic efficiency and 44.80% multicarbon product selectivity.

Photocatalytic reduction of CO2 into multi-carbon (C2+) products is a promising but challenging pathway for carbon recycling, primarily hindered by the high kinetic barrier of C–C coupling and inefficient charge dynamics. This review systematically elaborates on the recent advances in photocatalyst development, focusing on key material systems including metal oxides, sulfides, Cu-based materials, graphitic carbon nitride, metal organic frameworks, and covalent-organic frameworks. It highlights the structure-activity relationships within these materials that govern the reaction pathway and selectivity. Furthermore, a systematic evaluation of performance-enhancing strategies, including defect engineering, doping engineering, heterojunction construction, and plasmonic effects, highlights their ability to precisely modulate electronic structures and reaction microenvironments, thereby promoting efficient C–C coupling. Finally, this review provides a critical discussion of current limitations and future research frontiers, offering perspectives on product verification, in-situ mechanistic studies, bifunctional synergy, and reactor design for practical application.

Antibiotic wastewater pollution is a serious environmental problem. This study prepared three types of P-doped biochar (P-CB, P-WB, and P-BB) from corn straw (CB), wheat straw (WB), and bamboo (BB) using phosphoric acid activation at 800 °C. Characterization by SEM, XRD, FTIR, and N₂ adsorption confirmed that high-temperature H₃PO₄ activation drastically reduced the specific surface area but transformed the original microporous framework into a mesopore-dominated structure (average pore diameter 12–15 nm). Adsorption experiments showed that all P-doped biochars enhanced norfloxacin (NOR) removal, with P-CB performing best: 87.14% removal within 30 min at C₀ = 50 mg·L⁻¹ and a maximum adsorption capacity of 305.5 mg·g⁻¹ at higher concentration. Kinetics followed a pseudo-second-order model (R² > 0.9982), and isotherms fitted the Freundlich model (R² = 0.9764–0.9855). Thermodynamics indicated a spontaneous and exothermic process, suggesting that the macroscopic driving force is dominated by physisorption. Mechanism analysis revealed that the synergistic effect of mesopore-dominated diffusion, graphitic π-π sites (from enhanced aromatization at 800 °C), and P-anchored chemisorption overrides the loss of specific surface area, enabling rapid and high-capacity adsorption. Optimal adsorption occurred at pH 5–9, while coexisting anions had a mild inhibitory effect. These findings demonstrate that high-temperature P-doping offers a strategy to rebalance pore architecture and surface functionality rather than simply maximizing specific surface area for efficient antibiotic removal from wastewater.

The photoactive nanocomposites TiO₂/Sn⁴⁺ with various ratios of Sn⁴⁺ were prepared by a sol-gel method. Their morphology and crystal structure were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), respectively. The effect of various parameters such as amount of doped Sn⁴⁺ ions, catalyst loading, initial pollutant concentration, pH value, H₂O₂ concentration on photocatalytic degradation performance were analyzed and optimized. The optimal experimental conditions obtained through orthogonal experiments that highest value was obtained at 3%-Sn⁴⁺ doping amount, catalyst dosage 1.5 g/L, initial chemical oxygen demand(COD) concentration 600 mg/L, initial ammonia nitrogen(NH₄⁺-N) concentration 50 mg/L, H₂O₂ 3%, and pH = 8. The photocatalytic degradation rates of NH₄⁺-N and COD reached 87.54% and 75.32%, respectively.