Abstract
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) biofilm carrier is used as a carrier for bacterial adsorption in wastewater treatment. The hydrophilicity and electrophilicity of its surface play an important role in the adsorption of bacteria. The PVC biofilm carrier was prepared by extruder, and its surface properties were investigated. In order to improve the hydrophilicity and electrophilic properties of the PVC biofilm carrier, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and cationic polyacrylamide (cPAM) were incorporated into polyvinyl chloride (PVC) by blending. Besides, the surface area of the PVC biofilm carrier was increased by azodicarbonamide modified with 10% by weight of zinc oxide (mAC). The surface contact angle of PVC applied by PVA and cPAM at 5 wt %, 15 wt % was 81.6°, which was 18.0% lower than pure PVC. It shows the significant improvement of the hydrophilicity of PVC. The zeta potential of pure PVC was −9.59 mV, while the modified PVC was 14.6 mV, which proves that the surface charge of PVC changed from negative to positive. Positive charge is more conducive to the adsorption of bacteria. It is obvious from the scanning electron microscope (SEM) images that holes appeared on the surface of the PVC biofilm carrier after adding mAC, which indicates the increase of PVC surface area.
Highlights
With the continuous development of industry and the continuous improvement of people’s living standards, more and more garbage has been produced, which has led to an increase in sewage discharge
Positive charge is more conducive to the adsorption of bacteria. It is obvious from the scanning electron microscope (SEM) images that holes appeared on the surface of the Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) biofilm carrier after adding mAC, which indicates the increase of PVC surface area
polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and cationic polyacrylamide (cPAM) were incorporated into the PVC matrix
Summary
With the continuous development of industry and the continuous improvement of people’s living standards, more and more garbage has been produced, which has led to an increase in sewage discharge. The hydrophilicity and electronegativity of the carrier surface play an important role in the formation and treatment efficiency of biofilms [13,14,15]. The surface of pure PVC is negatively charged, which is the same as the surface of bacteria [6,29,30,31] These disadvantages make it difficult for bacteria and microorganisms to attach to PVC biofilm carriers. In order to solve the above-mentioned shortcomings of PVC, such as weak hydrophilicity, small surface area and negatively charged surface, a typical hydrophilic polymer. A compound blowing agent azodicarbonamide (mAC) was added to increase the specific surface area and surface roughness of the PVC biofilm carrier
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