Deposition kinetics of bacteriophage MS2 on Microcystis aeruginosa and kaolin surface

Abstract

Waterborne virus contamination might easily adsorb on the organic or inorganic surface in the complex aquatic environment. A quartz crystal microbalance coupled with dissipation monitoring was used to investigate the effects of the ionic strength of monovalent cation and divalent cation and pH on the deposition kinetics of bacteriophage MS2 on silica surface coated with Microcystis aeruginosa or kaolin, which represents organic or inorganic particle, respectively. Derjaguin–Landau–Verwey–Overbeek theory was used to illustrate the deposition mechanisms of MS2. The increased concentration of Na+ significantly enhanced the deposition rates of MS2 on both coated silica surfaces due to the reduction of repulsive electrostatic interactions. However, the MS2 deposition rates decreased at higher ionic strength of Ca2+, which accounted for the steric and hydrophobic interactions. And the higher MS2 deposition rates on both surfaces occurred at pH 3. In addition, the deposition rates of MS2 on kaolin-coated silica surfaces were higher than on the Microcystis-coated surface under all studied conditions. Furthermore, the Derjaguin–Landau–Verwey–Overbeek theory could elucidate the deposition mechanism in Na+ solution, whereas the steric and hydrophobic interactions should be considered for the presence of high concentration of Ca2+.