Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Carbon-dioxide Fixation01:28

Carbon-dioxide Fixation

617
Carbon dioxide fixation in prokaryotes enables the assimilation of inorganic carbon into organic molecules, supporting biosynthetic pathways, sustaining ecosystems, and contributing to the global carbon cycle. It also has industrial applications in carbon capture and bioproduct synthesis. Autotrophic organisms rely on this process to utilize CO₂ as a carbon source in diverse environments.The Calvin CycleThe Calvin cycle is the most widespread carbon fixation mechanism, primarily used by...
617
The Calvin Benson Cycle01:46

The Calvin Benson Cycle

5.8K
Ribulose 1,5- bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCo) is a critical enzyme that catalyzes carbon dioxide assimilation during photosynthesis. However, it is an inefficient enzyme, having an extremely slow catalytic rate. A typical enzyme can process about a thousand molecules per second; however, RuBisCo fixes only around three-carbon dioxides per second. Photosynthetic cells compensate for this slow rate by synthesizing very high amounts of RuBisCo, making it the most abundant single...
5.8K
Carbon Skeletons01:12

Carbon Skeletons

113.8K
Life on Earth is carbon-based, as all macromolecules that make up living organisms contain carbon atoms. All organic compounds have a carbon backbone. Each carbon atom is tetravalent and can bond with four other atoms, making it an extraordinarily flexible component of biological molecules. Because carbon’s valence electrons are stable, it rarely becomes an ion. As the carbon chain increases in length, structural modifications such as ring structures, double bonds, and branching side...
113.8K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Molecular insights into sludge-derived organics transformation during magnetic Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub>-catalyzed wet air oxidation.

Journal of hazardous materials·2026
Same author

From Global to Granular: Revealing IQA Model Performance Via Correlation Surface.

IEEE transactions on pattern analysis and machine intelligence·2026
Same author

CKD: Contrastive Knowledge Distillation for Cross-Dataset EEG Classification.

IEEE transactions on bio-medical engineering·2026
Same author

High-fidelity modular skeletons authenticate a Cambrian origin for Bryozoa.

Nature·2026
Same author

Association of combined ultra-processed food intake (ultra-processed dietary pattern) with cognitive function impairment: a meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies.

Journal of neurology·2026
Same author

Hydroxyl Radical-Driven Methanogenesis in Sunlit Surface Waters.

Environmental science & technology·2026

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 13, 2026

Author Spotlight: Unlocking Plant Transformation by Innovating with Carbon Nanofiber Arrays
05:32

Author Spotlight: Unlocking Plant Transformation by Innovating with Carbon Nanofiber Arrays

Published on: July 21, 2023

2.2K

Black carbon alleviates electron transfer bottlenecks for remote ROS generations at centimeter scales.

Junye Ma1, Xuan Li1, Wanchao Yu1

  • 1Faculty of Agriculture, Life, and Environmental Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China; State Key Laboratory of Soil Pollution Control and Safety, Zhejiang University, China.

Water Research
|January 10, 2026
PubMed
Summary

Black carbon (BC) enables centimeter-scale reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation by bridging electron sources and oxygen. This advances environmental remediation by overcoming electron transfer limitations in heterogeneous systems.

Keywords:
Black carbon (BC)Electron transferEnvironmental remediationReactive oxygen species (ROS)

More Related Videos

Detecting, Visualizing and Quantitating the Generation of Reactive Oxygen Species in an Amoeba Model System
16:41

Detecting, Visualizing and Quantitating the Generation of Reactive Oxygen Species in an Amoeba Model System

Published on: November 5, 2013

16.6K
Precision Milling of Carbon Nanotube Forests Using Low Pressure Scanning Electron Microscopy
08:10

Precision Milling of Carbon Nanotube Forests Using Low Pressure Scanning Electron Microscopy

Published on: February 5, 2017

7.8K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jan 13, 2026

Author Spotlight: Unlocking Plant Transformation by Innovating with Carbon Nanofiber Arrays
05:32

Author Spotlight: Unlocking Plant Transformation by Innovating with Carbon Nanofiber Arrays

Published on: July 21, 2023

2.2K
Detecting, Visualizing and Quantitating the Generation of Reactive Oxygen Species in an Amoeba Model System
16:41

Detecting, Visualizing and Quantitating the Generation of Reactive Oxygen Species in an Amoeba Model System

Published on: November 5, 2013

16.6K
Precision Milling of Carbon Nanotube Forests Using Low Pressure Scanning Electron Microscopy
08:10

Precision Milling of Carbon Nanotube Forests Using Low Pressure Scanning Electron Microscopy

Published on: February 5, 2017

7.8K

Area of Science:

  • Environmental Science
  • Materials Science
  • Chemistry

Background:

  • Electron transfer coupled with molecular oxygen (O2) activation is crucial for reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation and pollutant degradation.
  • In heterogeneous systems, limited electron transfer distances restrict ROS efficacy.
  • Black carbon (BC) is investigated as a potential mediator to overcome these spatial limitations.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the capability of black carbon (BC) to mediate electron transfer over centimeter scales for enhanced ROS generation.
  • To elucidate the role of BC's surface functionalities versus its conductive backbone in electron shuttling.
  • To evaluate the performance of BC/zero-valent iron (ZVI) composites in accelerating pollutant degradation.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized a solidified agarose reactor to mimic restricted transport conditions.
  • Employed zero-valent iron (ZVI) as an electron source and various types of BC (varying in processing temperature) as electron shuttles.
  • Quantified ROS (hydroxyl radicals and hydrogen peroxide) production and measured degradation rates of organic pollutants (phenol, bisphenol A, diuron).
  • Performed mechanistic analyses to determine the contribution of BC's surface redox-active functionalities.

Main Results:

  • BC enabled ROS generation up to 18 mm from the ZVI source, bridging spatial gaps.
  • Low-temperature BCs (≤500 °C) exhibited significantly higher ROS yields (up to 61.0-fold) compared to high-temperature BCs (900 °C), attributed to surface oxygenated moieties.
  • Surface redox-active functionalities were identified as the primary drivers of BC's electron-shuttling performance.
  • BC/ZVI composites demonstrated accelerated degradation rates of phenol, bisphenol A, and diuron by 5.4-9.8-fold.

Conclusions:

  • Black carbon acts as an effective electron shuttle, extending interfacial redox reactivity across centimeter scales.
  • Surface properties, particularly oxygenated functional groups, are critical for BC's electron-transport capabilities in ROS generation.
  • BC/ZVI composites offer a sustainable strategy to overcome electron-transport limitations in environmental remediation, enhancing pollutant removal efficiency.