An innovative approach to the composite coatings creation using industrial waste resources
S.L. Fuchs, K.O. Kamalov
Section: Ecologization of industry
Environmental hazard of machinery production and aircraft industry can be reduced by reutilization of electrolytes for deposition of composite electrochemical coatings with enhanced physical properties. Specifically, composites consisting of the nickel matrix and dispersed phase can be obtained. The dispersed phase consists of micro- and nanoparticles which improves coating appearance and enhances performance parameters. Fly ash is formed during the combustion of solid fuel in the Thermal Power Plant (TPP). It is promising as dispersed phase because is consists of spherical particles of various diameters. The fly ash activation in the disposal solution of chemical-nickel plating causes an increase in particle size and weight due to the reduction of nickel over the particle surface and in agglomerates. The TPP-5 (Kirov, Russian Federation) fly ash is used in this study to obtain “nickel–activated fly ash” composite electrochemical coatings (CEC). The introduction of the fly ash coated with chemically-deposited nickel into the matrix obtained by electrochemical platting of nickel is shown to form the CEC with improved wear resistance due to the reduction of internal stresses and the absence of delamination. Dispersed particles embedded into the nickel matrix change its morphology and mechanical characteristics of the coating without changing the appearance. The obtained results demonstrate that the most promising combination for obtaining CEC is the following: the disposal nickel-plating electrolyte containing nickel-coated magnetic fraction of the fly ash with the particle size below 125 µm. The application of the disposal nickel-plating electrolyte solution with a low nickel concentration for fly ash activation makes liquid waste processing easier and cheaper.
Article published in number 1 for 2026 DOI: 10.25750/1995-4301-2026-1-124-133
Views: 4
Biological treatment of industrial wastewater using carriers from secondary resources
E.V. Kalinina, L.V. Rudakova, A.A. Trefilova
Section: Ecologization of industry
The treatment of industrial wastewater containing toxic impurities is a difficult environmental challenge. It can be solved by using a combination of free-floating and carrier-attached reactive sludge in reactors. Biomass carriers are often made from various synthetic materials (polyamide, polyester, polypropylene, polyurethane, polyethylene), sometimes with the addition of organic and mineral components. In this paper we substantiate the expediency of using secondary resources as a carrier of fixed biomass in the process of biological wastewater treatment. We use fine fraction of recycled PET flakes (5–10 mm), light fraction of PET bottle recycling waste (labels) and carbon-synthetic carrier based on residues after thermodesorption of oil-containing waste and low-pressure polyethylene waste. The most effective biomass fixation occurs on light fraction of PET bottles recycling waste (2.25 g/g of carrier) and carbon-synthetic carrier based on residues after thermodesorption of oil-containing waste and low-pressure polyethylene waste (3.5g/g of carrier). Application of these biomass carriers allows increasing the efficiency of oily wastewater treatment in comparison with the technology with free-floating sludge by 7 % for oil products and by 17 % for chemical oxygen demand (COD). This corresponds to a treatment efficiency of 97 % for oil products and 92 % for COD. Thus, the species diversity of free-floating microorganisms of activated sludge increases by almost 2 times as well as the number of higher trophic level microorganisms in the sludge, the sedimentation properties of activated sludge improve and transparency of treated wastewater increases as a result of application in the biological treatment of oily wastewater a biomass carriers on secondary resources base.
Article published in number 1 for 2026 DOI: 10.25750/1995-4301-2026-1-113-123
Views: 14
Mechanisms for coordinated ecologization of operational diesel locomotives
V.V. Tsyganov, A.K. Enaleev, S.A. Savushkin
Section: Ecologization of industry
Environmentally friendly development of railway transport is mainly due to the greening of diesel locomotives. Requirements for their environmental friendliness are traditionally reflected in national and regional standards for permissible emissions of the main harmful substances – nitrogen and carbon oxides, hydrocarbons and solid particles. However, in practice, these standards remain unchanged for decades. During this time, new, more environmentally friendly technologies appear. However, outdated standards sometimes do not stimulate their implementation. For example, to date, neither in Russia nor in the world have mechanisms been developed that would stimulate the use of such technologies to improve the environmental friendliness of already operated locomotives that have long met the specified unchangeable standards. The paper proposes a mechanism for the greening of such locomotives. It includes a procedure for forming standards for classifying the emission indicators of the harmful substances by locomotives into one of four classes. The specified standards depend on the mileage and duration of locomotive operation, as well as on the stage of locomotive construction at which it was created. When forming these standards, both domestic standards and national and regional standards of countries with advanced locomotive construction are used. Then, by combining the specified classes, the environmental class of the locomotive is determined. Depending on the latter, interested parties are stimulated – researchers and developers of innovations, production personnel, ecologists and managers. Thus, the interests of these parties are consistent with the interests of greening railway transport and environmental protection. Examples of determining the environmental classes of domestic and foreign locomotives created at different stages of the development of locomotive construction, depending on the duration of their operation are considered. The obtained results are implemented in the development of the concept of requirements for locomotives of JSC “Russian Railways” in the field of environmental protection.
Article published in number 1 for 2026 DOI: 10.25750/1995-4301-2026-1-134-144
Views: 2
Parameters of autumn migratory stopover of young chaffinches (Fringilla coelebs Linnaeus, 1758) in the Eastern Russian Plain
G.L. Nakul
Section: Population ecology
Over a five-year period, young chaffinches were captured to determine the parameters of their migratory stopover (timing and dynamics of flight, duration of migratory stopover, molting during migration, and the rate of birds’ fat accumulation during migratory stopover) in the taiga zone in the Eastern Russian Plain. The data from the 416 birds’ initial captures were analyzed, only 20 individuals of which were recaptured. The average migratory stopover for young chaffinches lasted 1 day. During the first day the birds lose about 5 % of their average body weight, but in the following days, the losses are restored. The behavioral strategy of young chaffinches at migratory stopovers in the Eastern Russian Plain coincides with the general behavioral strategy of many passerines, regardless of the continent and species. This species is characterized by a combination of post-juvenile molting and autumn migration, which reduces the rate of fat accumulation, but does not prevent an increase in body weight due to other types of tissue. The combination of two costly physiological processes occurs in conditions where the species does not need to make long migration and overcome extensive ecological barriers, and as a result, chaffinches make minimal migratory stopovers. Longer stopovers are much more beneficial for young birds, since they allow them to increase their “fuel” reserves and increase their chances of successfully completing the next migration.
Article published in number 1 for 2026 DOI: 10.25750/1995-4301-2026-1-189-198
Views: 4
Effects of Eisenia fetida population size on Lactuca sativa growth and productivity in model ecosystems
T.I. Zyubanova, O.M. Minaeva, E.E. Akimova, N.N. Tereshchenko
Section: Methodology and research methods. Models and forecasts
Artificial ecosystems are a convenient tool for studying the environmental effect on the functioning and interrelation between different elements in a model biosphere. An increase in the productivity of artificial ecosystems can be associated with the introduction of natural decomposers (earthworms), which alter the qualitative and quantitative composition of the soil microbiota, accelerate the processes of organic matter mineralization, increase the suppressive activity of substrates, and positively affect plant growth and development. In laboratory experiments, we evaluated the effect of a biotic factor (Eisenia fetida population) on model system productivity (Lactuca sativa plants). Earthworms were introduced at 6, 12, 25, 37, and 62 individuals per kg substrate (peat and 10 % of cattle manure). At the experiment’s finish, each plant’s height, leaf area, biomass (fresh and dry), photosynthetic pigment content, and photosystem II photochemical activity parameters were measured; earthworms and cocoons were counted; and the earthworms were weighed as well as worm cast. It was found that earthworms reproduced successfully in all microcosms, increasing their population. The earthworm population’s size in the microcosm affected the lettuce plants’ vegetative growth and physiological and biochemical parameters. The earthworms also significantly affected lettuce productivity and photochemical quenching coefficients. The effect of earthworm population size had a classical ecological form and could be described by an optimum curve (Shelford’s law of tolerance). Maximum plant productivity and vegetative growth were achieved with 25 and 37 earthworms per kg substrate. These data can be extrapolated to the biosphere’s natural elements and can be used to develop artificial ecosystems and increase greenhouse system productivity.
Keywords: earthworm, lettuce, microcosm, photochemical activity of photosystem, photosynthesis, productivity, Shelford’s law of tolerance
Article published in number 1 for 2026 DOI: 10.25750/1995-4301-2026-1-027-035
Views: 13
Ectomycorrhizal symbionts and morpho-anatomical structure of Pinus sylvestris L. fine roots in clear-cuts of blueberry pine forests, middle taiga, the Komi Republic
T.A. Sizonenko, D.M. Shadrin
Section: Population ecology
We studied the features of mycorrhiza formation in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) in the 2008 and 2015 years clear-cuts of the blueberry pine forest of the middle taiga. The data on the morphology, anatomy of ectomycorrhizae, and molecular identification of fungal symbionts were obtained. Using light microscopy we detected 10 subtypes of fungal mantles, the occurrence and richness of which varied across community types and sampling years. Differences in quantitative parameters of the ectomycorrhizal roots were reliable in most cases. At the control site, the parameters characterizing the plant symbiotic component (ectomycorrhizae diameter, root diameter, and stele diameter) were significantly higher than at the nine years clear-cuts. At the same time, parameters of the fungal component (thickness and volume fraction of the fungal mantel, ectomycorrhizae density) were higher at the clear-cuts. For 42 of the 70 samples, we successfully performed fungal DNA isolation, amplification and ITS-region sequencing. Totally we identified 15 mycorrhizal fungi species from five families belonging to the Basidiomycota, and one species of Cenococcum geophilum belonged to the Ascomycota. Two species, Tylospora fibrillosa and Cenococcum geophilum, occurred at all study sites. A high occurrence was also found for Suillus variegatus, which forms tuberculated well-recognised pine ectomycorrhizae. The greatest diversity of mycorrhizal fungi isolated from pine roots and fungal mantel subtypes was found at the 2008 clear-cut. The species most frequently encountered in all study sites were those of the Russulaceae family. The blueberry pine forest and the 2008 clear-cut were the most similar in species composition.
Section: Monitoring of natural and anthropogenically disturbed areas
Due to climate change, the boundaries of the ranges of many plants are shifting both in latitudinal and altitudinal directions. In particular, the forest boundary shifts upward in the mountains. A transect with four sampling plots was laid on the slope of the Ergaki Ridge (Western Sayan), crossing the treeline (upper border) of the forest as it transits from the mountain taiga to the rocky-tundra belt. It has been revealed that Siberian pine (Pinus sibirica Du Tour) plants use various survival strategies when spreading above the treeline, which manifests itself in a change in the shape of the crown form from stem-like to krummholz, as well as seasonal changes in the pigment complex and parameters of chlorophyll fluorescence in needles. In all habitats of P. sibirica, an important parameter for predicting an increase in the needle weight, which, in turn, ensures the productivity of the entire plant, is the maximum rate of non-cyclic electron transfer in the summer. In spring and autumn (in the course of transition from winter dormancy to vegetation and back), the ratio of chlorophylls and carotenoids from forest to mountain-tundra communities decreases in the pigment complex of needles. Siberian pine specimens growing above the treeline and having mechanisms for dissipating excess light energy by light-induced non-photochemical fluorescence quenching have a clear advantage in gaining needle weight over other plants from the same sample plots. For trees from sample plots located in forest environment, a high proportion of nonphotochemical fluorescence quenching is rather a disadvantage. The considered parameters of chlorophyll fluorescence can be used to identify P. sibirica individuals resistant to habitat conditions above the treeline and their subsequent use in breeding to increase the area of woodlands under climate change.
Article published in number 1 for 2026 DOI: 10.25750/1995-4301-2026-1-056-064
Views: 14
Assessment of the hereditary component of fluoride ecotoxic load
V.I. Starichenko
Section: Ecotoxicology
Fluoride is one of the most toxic and widely spread industrial pollutants of the environment. Identifying the hereditary component of fluoride accumulation plays a special role in environmental issues of fluoride pollution, as contributing to maintaining its level across generations. However, the factors of individual variability of fluoride accumulation in mammals, in particular, the hereditary component of accumulation variability, have not been identified. This is due to the methodological features of studying fluoride deposition parameters that are inaccessible in direct environmental observations. An experimental study on laboratory mice allows us to estimate the magnitude of the hereditary component of fluoride deposition. The fluoride accumulation was studied in the progeny of three strains of inbred mice (intrastrain correlation) against the background conditions and following chronic intake of the toxicant. The variant of the family analysis (intrafamily correlation) was also used. It is a classical approach to the hereditary variation of quantitative traits assessment. Fluoride entered the female mice body with food during the whole gestation period and up to the age of 1.5 month of the progeny. The assessment was performed with the control of the animal sex and litter size effect. Individual parameters of fluoride accumulation differed in certain experimental groups by 3–6.5 times. At the same time the specifics of fluoride accumulation was typical of the entire families. Combined hereditary component (intrastrain and intrafamily) of the fluoride accumulation was comparable with the hereditary correlation of morphological characteristics with known hereditary dependence of development (R = 0.50–0.56, p < 0.0001 and R = 0.45–0.53–0.58, p < 0.0001 respectively). Notably, the family component of the variability depending on the analysis option (the entire sample or just the experimental group) is comparable and exceeds the animal’s strain effect by 2–3 times. For background fluoride level the hereditary dependence of its deposition is statistically insignificant. The results obtained can be extrapolated to field rodents.
Article published in number 1 for 2026 DOI: 10.25750/1995-4301-2026-1-177-188
Views: 2
Salt-tolerant plant distribution within floodplain ecosystems due to technogenic soil salinization
O.Z. Eremchenko, E.E. Malyshkina, I.V. Pakhorukov
Section: Remediation and rehabilitation
According to site research, the vegetation that grows in the floodplain ecosystems of the Chyornaya and Lyonva rivers, located in areas affected by potash production waste, is dominated by ruderal annual and perennial herbaceous species. Additionally, obligate (Spergularia salina J. et C. Presl, Triglochin maritimum L.) and facultative halophytes were found. The pedological and ecological factors affecting the growth were analyzed in two distinct areas with salt-tolerant vegetation. The samples were collected ten times during the summer 2022 across four distinct observational intervals. The pH levels and redox potential within the root zone (0–10 cm) were field-measured. Na+, K+, and Cl- content were determined in soil at humidity of 50 %. In the Chernaya River floodplain, the topsoil exhibited a neutral to slightly alkaline pH (7.3–8.4) and weakly reducing conditions (139–282 mV). Salinization was notably absent, as indicated by the measured levels of Na+ activity. In the topsoil of the Lyonva River floodplain, the pH levels varied from 5.4 to 6.9. Moreover Eh varied from reducing (as low as –135 mV) to oxidizing values (468 mV). The soil exhibited both varying degrees of salinization (from mild to severe) as well as its absence. The K+ activity in the soil reached that of Na+, while the Cl– activity exceeded the total activity of the salinizing cations. Through the use of true color satellite imagery obtained during the summer months, it was possible to identify the sparse flora distribution within the floodplain ecosystems. Between 2015 and 2021, the expanse of salt-tolerant vegetation within the Chyornaya River floodplain grew by 1.8 times, totaling 8.7 hectares, and in the Lyonva River floodplain it increased by 1.6 times, reaching 22.2 hectares.
Cd2+ is a heavy metal cation with some typical for heavy metals as well as unique toxic properties for live components of water ecosystems. The objective of this study was to analyze Cd2+-induced expression of genes of some cellular transportation proteins in several tissues of a fish and its possible correlation with Cd accumulation in tissues. Juvenile Cyprinus carpio were treated with Cd2+ at a preliminarily determinated sublethal concentration for Cyprinidae (6.4 mg/L). The expression of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor subunit genes (NR2A, NR2B) and ATP-binding cassette subfamily C member 1 gene (ABCC1) was compared between treated and untreated fish. In addition, cadmium accumulation in the fish tissues was assessed. NR2A gene expression was 16.6-fold upregulated by Cd2+ in the eyes (choroid + retina), which accumulated Cd, and was not upregulated in brain, which didn’t accumulate Cd. This may have been caused by the blocking of calcium channels by Cd2+, which has a very similar ionic radius to that of Ca2+. According to the result of the current study, it can be concluded that the similarity of the radius of a heavy metal cation to that of Ca2+ is a major factor contributing to its ability to irreversibly block calcium channels. ABCC1 gene expression was 2.0-fold upregulated in gills and was not upregulated in liver; both tissues accumulated high levels of Cd. This difference may have been caused by the accumulation of predominantly previously inactivated Cd in liver or by some difference in the mechanisms of self-detoxification from Cd2+ in fish gills and liver.
ISSN 1995-4301
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