Environmental Science and Technology (EST) recently announced its best papers of 2010. “Unique Ability of BiOBr to Decarboxylate D-Glu and D-MeAsp in the Photocatalytic Degradation of Microcystin-LR in Water” co-authored by FANG Yanfen, a Ph.D candidate of Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IMHE, CAS) was selected as the top paper in environmental technology category.

The paper is largely about Bismuth oxide bromide (BiOBr) which is used to catalyze the degradation of microcystin-LR (MC-LR) in water at neutral pH under visible light. Investigation has proved that the BiOBr photocatalyst has the remarkable ability to decarboxylate the free acid groups on d-glutamic acid (Glu) and methyl-d-aspartic acid (MeAsp).

Under BiOBr catalysis, a very stable guanidine group of l-arginine (l-Arg) that is nonreactive with TiO(2) photocatalysis is converted to an amino group and subsequently oxidized to a nitro group during the decomposition of MC-LR. The research results indicate that BiOBr, a photocatalyst that selectively destroys sites crucial to MC-LR toxicity, shows great promise as a means of effectively treating drinking water. The findings have been published in Chinese Journal of Analytical Chemistry（2011, 39 (4): 540-543）.

EST is an authoritative source of information for professionals in a wide range of environmental disciplines. Over 1,400 papers appeared in EST in 2010 and the journals’ editors selected the most significant ones in four categories: science, technology, policy, and feature.