Charge Neutralization Effects Research Articles

Coagulative removal of polyethylene microplastics using polyaluminum chloride in conjunction with laminarin

As emerging pollutants in water, microplastics pose potential risks to aquatic organisms and human health. Previous studies have shown that traditional metal coagulants are effective in removing microplastics from water, but they come with drawbacks such as high chemical dosage and metal residues. Therefore, it is important to explore more efficient coagulation systems. This study utilized laminarin (LA) as a coagulant aid in combination with polyaluminum chloride (PAC) to investigate its enhanced coagulation performance on polyethylene microplastics in water. The performance of coagulation systems for the removal of microplastics was evaluated for different agent dosages, pH, anion and HA content. Experimental results demonstrated that the compounded system (PAC-LA) significantly improved the removal efficiency of PE microplastics compared to the single PAC system, achieving a removal rate of 91.5% while reducing the dosage of PAC. The enhanced coagulation mechanism of LA was analyzed using various techniques including scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and zeta potential analysis. The results indicated that charge neutralization and sweep flocculation were the primary coagulation mechanisms in the presence of PAC alone. The effect of charge neutralization and adsorption was strengthened with the introduction of LA. The coagulation system of PAC-LA showed higher removal rates of PE microplastics under different environmental conditions such as varying pH levels, co-existing anions, and humic acid, suggesting a promising application for microplastic control in water.

Economic and environmentally friendly anionic flocculant synthesized by starch-acrylic acid-itaconic acid grafting and efficient treatment of cationic dye wastewater

Starch-based flocculants are environmentally friendly and high-performance products, potentially applied in wastewater treatment with low operation cost and ecological risk. In this study, we successfully synthesized a ternary anionic copolymer of starch-acrylic acid-itaconic acid (SAI) through graft copolymerization. The synthesis conditions were optimized based on flocculation efficiency against cationic crystal violet (CV), and subsequent applicability was conducted under various environmental conditions. The results indicate that SAI exhibited outstanding decolorization efficiency under wide scopes of pH, temperature, and ionic strength. Most importantly, SAI achieved a remarkable decolorization rate of 91.2 % for 100 mg/L CV dye at a low concentration of 25 mg/L, accounting for one-fourth of the cost operated with commercial polyacrylamide. Compared to binary flocculants, SAI demonstrates superior flocculation performance too. The flocculation mechanism is primarily attributed to the combined effects of charge neutralization, bridging, and sweeping. SAI flocculants possess characteristics of high efficiency, environmental friendliness, and cost-effectiveness, thus presenting broad prospects for the treatment of dye wastewater.

Synthesis and characterization of cationic tamarind seed polysaccharide: An effective flocculating agent

A series of cationic tamarind seed polysaccharides (CTSPs) with different degrees of substitution were synthesized by etherification of tamarind seed polysaccharides (TSP) with 3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyl trimethylammonium chloride (CHPTAC). By elemental analysis, zeta potential and FTIR, the successful linking of cationic groups on the chain of TSPs were confirmed, and the substitution degrees were determined as 0.143, 0.197 and 0.346, respectively. NMR data indicated that the quaternary ammonium groups were linked to C6 of T-Gal. Subsequently, the flocculation behaviors of CTSPs in kaolin solution were investigated, and the results showed that both the degree of substitution and pH affected their flocculation properties. Charge neutralization and positional blocking effects caused flocculation to show an increasing and then decreasing trend with increasing substitution of CTSPs, whereas the lower the pH, the less flocculant was required to achieve the same flocculation effect. The presence of positive charges allowed CTSPs to effectively remove negatively charged waste water such as kaolin suspensions.

Enhancing the coagulation process for the removal of microplastics from water by anionic polyacrylamide and natural-based Moringaoleifera

The existence of microplastics (MPs) in water is a significant global concern since they have the potential to pose a threat to human health. Therefore, there is a need to develop a sustainable treatment technology for MPs removal, as the conventional methods are inadequate to address this problem. Coagulation is a typical process in treatment plants that can capture MPs before releasing them into the environment. In this work, the removal behaviors of polyamide (PA), polystyrene (PS), and polyethylene (PE) MPs were systematically investigated through coagulation processes using aluminum sulfate (Al2(SO4)3) and Moringa oleifera (MO) seeds extract. Subsequently, the coagulation performance of Al2(SO4)3 was improved by the separate addition of anionic polyacrylamide (APAM) and naturally derived MO. Results showed that Al2(SO4)3 in combination with APAM had better performance than Al2(SO4)3 or MO alone. In the Al2(SO4)3+APAM system, the removal efficiencies were 93.47%, 81.25%, and 29.48% for PA, PS, and PE MPs, respectively. Furthermore, the effectiveness of the Al2(SO4)3 and MO blended system was approximately similar to the Al2(SO4)3+APAM system. However, the required amount of Al2(SO4)3 was decreased to 50% in the Al2(SO4)3+MO system compared to the optimal dosage in the Al2(SO4)3 system alone. The combination of 40 mg/L of Al2(SO4)3 and 60 mg/L of MO resulted in removal efficiencies of 92.99%, 80.48%, and 28.94% for PA, PS, and PE MPs, respectively. The high efficacy of these enhanced methods was due to the synergic effects of charge neutralization and agglomeration adsorption, which were validated through zeta potential assessments and visual analysis using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images. In the case of experimental conditions, initial pH had little impact on removal efficiency, while NaCl salinity and stirring speed directly affected MPs removal. Consequently, this research took a step toward finding a green strategy to remove MPs from water systems.

Insight into the role of chitosan in rapid recovery and re-stabilization of disintegrated aerobic granular sludge

The disintegration and instability of aerobic granular sludge (AGS) systems during long-term operation pose significant challenges to its practical implementation, and rapid recovery strategies for disintegrated AGS are gaining more attention. In this study, the recovery and re-stabilization of disintegrated AGS was investigated by adding chitosan to a sequencing batch reactor and simultaneously adjusting the pH to slightly acidic condition. Within 7 days, chitosan addition under slight acidity led to the re-aggregation of disintegrated granules, increasing the average particle size from 166.4 μm to 485.9 μm. Notably, sludge volume indexes at 5 min (SVI5) and 30 min (SVI30) decreased remarkably from 404.6 mL/g and 215.1 mL/g (SVI30/SVI5 = 0.53) to 49.1 mL/g and 47.6 mL/g (SVI30/SVI5 = 0.97), respectively. Subsequent operation for 43 days successfully re-stabilized previous collapsed AGS system, resulting in an average particle size of 750.2 μm. These mature and re-stabilized granules exhibited characteristics of large particle size, excellent settleability, compact structure, and high biomass retention. Furthermore, chitosan facilitated the recovery of COD and nitrogen removal performances within 17–23 days of operation. It effectively facilitated the rapid aggregation of disintegrated granules by charge neutralization and bridging effects under a slightly acidic environment. Moreover, the precipitated chitosan acted as carriers, promoting the adhesion of microorganisms once pH control was discontinued. The results of batch tests and microbial community analysis confirmed that chitosan addition increased sludge retention time, enriching slow-growing microorganisms and enhancing the stability and pollutant removal efficiency of the AGS system.

Enhanced removal of polyethylene microplastics from water through polymeric ferric sulfate with laminarin

Coagulation has been demonstrated as an effective method for eliminating microplastics from water. However, based on the existing literature, the use of a single coagulant has not yet yielded satisfactory results in microplastic removal. Hence, it is crucial to investigate the potential of enhanced coagulation techniques. In this study, laminarin (LA) was used as a novel coagulant aid to investigate its enhanced coagulation performance in the removal of polyethylene (PE) microplastics using polymeric ferric sulfate (PFS). The coagulation mechanism was investigated through zeta potential, Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results demonstrated that the coagulation efficiency of PFS on PE microplastics could be improved by adding an appropriate amount of LA. The removal rates of PE microplastics by single PFS and PFS-LA reached 48.5% and 93.8%, respectively, when the dosages of PFS and LA were 250 mg/L and 5 mg/L. The coagulation mechanisms of PFS and PFS-LA on PE microplastics were found to be the same, with the addition of LA significantly enhancing the effects of charge neutralization, adsorption bridging, and sweep flocculation of PFS. Various experiments conducted under different pH levels, microplastic particle sizes, coexisting ions, humic acid coexistence, and real water conditions demonstrated that the PFS-LA complex coagulation system exhibited better environmental adaptability.

The effect of space charge neutralization on the parametric design of photon enhanced thermionic solar converters

Photon-enhanced thermionic emission (PETE) is a promising method for increasing current density at relatively low cathode temperatures, but is susceptible to the space charge effect. In this study, we propose a novel PETE device model in which the space-charge barrier is relaxed by photon-excited cesium ions. The decrease in maximum efficiency with interelectrode gap is more gradual compared to previous studies. We investigate the effects of cathode materials properties (band gap and electron affinity) and operating conditions (cathode temperature and interelectrode gap) on PETE performance, and identify optimal performance conditions. Our findings show that the optimal gap range exceeds 5 μm and near field radiation loss can be minimized, providing an important opportunity for designing PETE device with larger interelectrode gaps and higher solar flux concentrations.

Waterborne epoxy composite coating with long-term corrosion resistance through synergy of MXene nanosheets and ZnO quantum dots

Two-dimensional (2D) MXene nanosheets have emerged as a promising candidate as functional filler for anticorrosion coating. However, the self-stacking of MXene nanosheets and high conductivity limited the long-term anticorrosion ability of the coating. Herein, the ZnO quantum dots (ZnO QDs) decorated MXene hybrid was prepared via electrostatic assembly, which was modified by aminosilane-functionalized with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (ATPES) and used as functional filler for reinforcing the waterborne epoxy coating (WEP) via simple spraying technique. Benefiting from the improved dispersion and synergy of ZnO QDs and MXene nanosheets, the WEP coating exhibited favorable anticorrosion performance. For 0.50 wt% F-MXene@ZnO QDs/WEP composite coating, the impedance remained 1.25 × 108 Ω cm2 (0.01 Hz) after immersing in 3.5 wt% NaCl medium for 30 days, which was three orders of magnitude higher than pure WEP. The EDS analysis and salt spray test strongly supported the long-term corrosion resistance of WEP composite coating. Furthermore, the reasonable anti-corrosion performance of composite coating including the physical barrier and charge neutralization effect was illustrated. This work expands the 2D MXene as a functional filler for enhancing the anticorrosion ability of waterborne epoxy coating.

Synthesis and properties of xanthan gum-acrylamide-carboxymethyl cellulose ternary anionic flocculants

Natural polymer based flocculants are prospective in water treatment on account of their advantages of wide source, simple operation process and ecological safety. However, its flocculation performance and cost effectiveness are usually not as satisfactory. In this work, xanthan gum-acrylamide-carboxymethyl cellulose (XAC) ternary anionic flocculant was synthesized with hydrothermal copolymerization. The polymerization conditions of raw material ratio, initiator dose, copolymerization time and reaction temperature were optimized by flocculation tests. The decolorization ratio of 82.9 % was obtained with XAC dosage of 35 mg/L for the 100 mg/L crystal violet aqueous solution. The as-prepared flocculants showed super decolorization ability and fast flocculation kinetics. The flocculation mechanism includes charge neutralization and bridging effects. More importantly, the operating expense of XAC is approximately 50 % of traditional polyacrylamide flocculant. In virtues of ecofriendliness, superior flocculation capacity and low expense, XAC flocculants show great promise for sewage treatment and open up a novel area for the natural polymer utilizations.

Fouling- and chlorine- resistant bilayer heterostructured Janus charged nanofiltration membranes constructed via novel electrospray polymerization-based method

Janus charged nanofiltration (NF) membranes are appealing for efficient separation of both positively and negatively charged ions/molecules. Nevertheless, polyamide-based Janus charged membranes still face bottlenecks in engineering applications due to their poor fouling and chlorine resistance. To overcome this limitation, herein, bilayer heterostructured Janus charged NF membranes with a negatively charged non-polyamide outer selection layer and a positively charged polyamide inner selection layer were prepared via electrospray polymerization-based strategy for the first time. The evolutionary behavior of the mutually charge neutralization effect between two charged selection layers was explored. Results showed the membrane inner selection layer with denser cross-linked structures and lower positive charge densities exhibited a weak charge neutralization effect, leading to ∼90% rejection for both Na2SO4 and MgCl2 and >95% rejection for charged dyes. Impressively, the flux recovery rate of Janus NF membrane could reach 91.9% after three bovine serum albumin fouling cycles. More importantly, the non-polyamide outer selection layer could serve as an “armor” to safeguard polyamide inner selection layer, allowing Janus NF membranes to maintain a normalized salt rejection of 0.94 even under 12000 mg L−1 h chlorination conditions. Thus, this work provides an easy strategy for developing Janus NF membranes with high antifouling properties and chlorine resistance.

Enhanced sludge dewaterability using a bifunctional hybrid coagulant

The combination of coagulation and addition of skeleton builder is a popular pretreatment method to improve the dewaterability of sludge. In this study, a novel bifunctional inorganic/organic hybrid coagulant (CS–Si@ATP) was designed and obtained by chemically coupling a cationic starch (CS) with a popular clay, that is, attapulgite (ATP), via a silane coupling agent (APTES) for one-step conditioning of sludge. CS-Si@ATP can evidently enhance the sludge dewatering performance compared with CS, ATP, and their simple combination due to the distinct dual functions of this hybrid coagulant. The tentacle-like cationic CS in CS-Si@ATP shows efficient charge neutralization effect to aggregate and precipitate the suspended solids for further formation of compact sludge cakes. Meanwhile, the internal ATP with a stable and rigid structure acts as the skeleton builder to notably improve the filterability and permeability of the sludge cakes. The synergistic effects of CS and ATP in CS-Si@ATP, i.e., the charge neutralization of CS and the skeleton construction of ATP, cause the evidently enhanced sludge dewaterability, with a filter cake moisture content approximately 78.30% after the mechanical dewatering at 0.05 MPa. In comparison with the traditional two-step combination process by separated addition of CS and ATP, the one-step addition of CS-Si@ATP can reduce the required ATP dose nearly an order of magnitude. Thus, CS-Si@ATP has the notable advantages of simple operation, efficient utilization of ATP and evident reduction of disposal cost. This study provides an environmentally friendly and cost-effective coagulant to further improve the dewaterability of sludge.

Apoptin NLS2 homodimerization strategy for improved antibacterial activity and bio-stability.

The emergence of antibiotic resistance prompts exploration of viable antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) designs. The present study explores the antimicrobial prospects of Apoptin nuclear localization sequence (NLS2)-derived peptide ANLP (PRPRTAKRRIRL). Further, we examined the utility of the NLS dimerization strategy for improvement in antimicrobial activity and sustained bio-stability of AMPs. Initially, the antimicrobial potential of ANLP using antimicrobial peptide databases was analyzed. Then, ANLP along with its two homodimer variants namely ANLP-K1 and ANLP-K2 were synthesized and evaluated for antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli and Salmonella. Among three AMPs, ANLP-K2 showed efficient antibacterial activity with 12µM minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). Slow degradation of ANLP-K1 (26.48%) and ANLP-K2 (13.21%) compared with linear ANLP (52.33%) at 480min in serum stability assay indicates improved bio-stability of dimeric peptides. The AMPs presented no cytotoxicity in Vero cells. Dye penetration assays confirmed the membrane interacting nature of AMPs. The zeta potential analysis reveals effective charge neutralization of both lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and bacterial cells by dimeric AMPs. The dimeric AMPs on scanning electron microscopy studies showed multiple pore formations on the bacterial surface. Collectively, proposed Lysine scaffold dimerization of Apoptin NLS2 strategy resulted in enhancing antibacterial activity, bio-stability, and could be effective in neutralizing the off-target effect of LPS. In conclusion, these results suggest that nuclear localization sequence with a modified dimeric approach could represent a rich source of template for designing future antimicrobial peptides.

Transport and Model Calculation of Microplastics Under the Influence of Ionic Type, Strength, and Iron Oxide

Microplastics (MPs) in soil have attracted extensive attention as an emerging pollutant, and the transport of MPs is affected by their own physical and chemical properties, the chemical composition of soil solutions, and soil minerals. However, in the presence of oxides, the underlying mechanism for the transport of MPs in different ionic types and ionic strengths is still not fully understood. In this study, the effects of ionic type, ionic strength, and iron oxide on the transport of polystyrene microplastics (PSMPs) with different functional groups were investigated through stability experiments and transport experiments. The colloid transport model, CD-MUSIC model, and DLVO theory were used to explore the transport mechanism. The results showed that normalized concentrations (c/c0) of PSMPs were 0.99 in the NaH2PO4 background and 0.94 in the CaCl2 background, respectively, which indicated that the strongest stability of PSMPs was observed in the former and the weakest in the latter. Different ionic types had different effects on the transport of PSMPs. For the cations Na+ and Ca2+, Ca2+ strongly inhibited PSMPs transport in pure quartz sand because of the bridging effect and strong charge neutralization effect; the recovery rate of the PSMPs in the effluent was (43.83±1.71)%, and a first-order retention coefficient on the second kinetic Site-2 (k2a) was 1.54 min-1. The presence of iron oxide enhanced the inhibition, the recovery rate of the PSMPs in the effluent decreased to (6.04±0.40)%, and k2a increased to 5.33 min-1. For the anions Cl- and PO43-, the transport of PSMPs in pure quartz sand was dominated by surface electronegativity of PSMPs, and PSMPs exhibited lower electronegativity under Cl- background and thus showed higher recovery[(92.95±0.63)%] and lower k2a (0.19 min-1). However, in the presence of iron oxides, the Zeta potential of the quartz sand surface was the controlling factor for PSMPs transport. According to results of the CD-MUSIC model, PO43- could be easily adsorbed on the iron oxide surface to form innersphere complexes, which reduced the surface electronegativity of the iron-loaded quartz sand and enhanced the transport of PSMPs, higher recovery[(76.22±1.39)%], and lower k2a (0.66 min-1). Moreover, the species of the formed innersphere complex was controlled by the PO43- concentration, and different species of innersphere complexes had distinct negative surface charges. Higher surface electronegativity of the iron-loaded quartz sand was observed under higher PO43- concentration, which was not conducive to the transport of PSMPs. Further, the transport ability of PSMPs decreased with the increase in ionic strength. Finally, the Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (DLVO) theory was used to calculate the variation in the primary barrier between PSMPs and the collector under the conducted experimental conditions, which helped better elucidate the transport behavior of PSMPs. The variation in the primary barrier was consistent with the transport ability of PSMPs, and a higher primary barrier indicated a larger repulsion between PSMPs and the collector, which was in favor of PSMPs transport.

Multiple thermocycles followed by LAMP with only two primers for ultrasensitive colorimetric viral RNA testing and tracking at single-base resolution

Rapid, accurate and high throughput measurement of infectious viruses is an urgent need to prevent viral transmission. Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) is an attractive isothermal amplification method for nucleic acid detection, especially for point-of-care (POC) testing, but it needs at least four primers and its sensitivity is also limited when integrating with visual detection methods. Herein, by designing only two primers to precisely recognize the four regions of the target, we developed a multiple thermocycles-based LAMP method (MTC-LAMP) for sensitive and specific testing and tracking of viral RNA. We also introduced a novel SYBR Green I (SG)-assisted stable colorimetric assay induced by the amplification products through the charge neutralization effect of positively charged SG toward gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). The ultralow nonspecific background of the double exponential amplification improved the detection sensitivity to near single-molecule level (1 aM, 3 copies in 5 μL solution), which was higher than RT-PCR and RT-LAMP. After adding AuNPs, a significant color difference between target and blank was immediately observed by naked eye. By introducing a peptide nucleic acid (PNA) clamp into our colorimetric MTC-LAMP assay, the specific distinguish of virus variants at single-base resolution was observed without the requirement of any equipment. This assay shows great potential for large-scale screening and tracking of the threatening viruses with ultrahigh sensitivity and pronounced colorimetric output, which is of great importance for pandemic control.

Efficient and rapid settling removal of algae by using a novel actinia-shaped composite coagulant

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are becoming increasingly frequent in freshwater lakes and coastal water. In this study, a novel actinia-shaped composite coagulant (ATP@CS) comprising cationic starch (CS) and attapulgite (ATP), covalently bonded by a silane coupling agent, was successfully designed and fabricated for HAB mitigation. ATP@CS showed superior performance in the harvesting of Microcystis aeruginosa, a kind of typical algae, with a maximum harvesting efficiency exceeding 98.0%. The embedded ATP in ATP@CS as the weighted inert remarkably improved the settlement properties of the formed flocs. Settling velocity increased with increased ATP content in this composite coagulant, and complete settlement was immediately achieved after coagulation by ATP@CS with an ATP-to-CS mass ratio higher than 2.0. A higher coagulant dosage was required to achieve the optimum alga removal efficiency due to the charge neutralization and bridging effects of the CS as the tentacle of this actinia-shaped composite coagulant. The presence of ATP in this composite coagulant promoted the formation of large, compact, durable, and rapidly regrown flocs during coagulation. ATP@CS as an efficient coagulant has notable potential applications in HAB removal from water owing to its remarkable advantages of enhanced settlement property, high ecological safe, notable HAB removal efficiency, low cost, and environment friendliness.

Evaluation of the nanoplastics removal by using starch-based coagulants: Roles of the chain architecture and hydrophobicity of the coagulant

Four starch-based coagulants with similar charge densities but different chain architectures and hydrophilicities were designed and fabricated. These are a linear and hydrophilic coagulant, St-CTA (Starch-3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyl triethyl ammonium chloride); a graft and hydrophilic coagulant, CS-AM-DMC (cationic starch-graft-poly[2-methacryloyloxyethyl trimethyl ammonium chloride and acrylamide]); and two graft and partially hydrophobic coagulants, CS-AM-DML (cationic starch-graft-poly[methacrylic acid 2-(benzyldimethylaminio) ethyl chloride and acrylamide]) and CS-AM-DMR (cationic starch-graft-poly[2-(methacryloyloxy)-N,N-dimethyl-N-alkyl ammonium chloride and acrylamide]) with aromatic and n-octane groups respectively. These starch-based coagulants in conjunction with polysilicic acid were employed in a current major environmental challenge which is to efficiently remove nano-sized plastics (NPs) from water. NPs of polystyrenes, polymethyl methacrylates and polyvinylchlorides were removed from different water sources under various conditions of pH and salinity. The effects of the chain architectures and hydrophilicities of the starch-based coagulants on the NPs removal have been investigated in detail. According to experimental evidence, three graft starch-based coagulants exhibited higher NPs removal efficiencies and better flocs properties than the linear St-CTA. This was attributed to the superiority of the graft chain architecture in the graft starch-based coagulants causing higher charge neutralization efficiencies in coagulative removal of NPs. In the three graft starch-based coagulants, CS-AM-DMR and CS-AM-DML with partially hydrophobic structures were more effectively to remove three NPs than CS-AM-DMC, and produced large, compact, durable and rapidly regrown flocs, due to the synergistic effects of charge neutralization and hydrophobic association. The interaction energies between NPs and the coagulants obtained from the extended Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek theory further confirmed that CS-AM-DMR and CS-AM-DML could achieve faster coagulation and thus higher efficiency in NPs removal. In addition, the NPs removal efficiency increased in acidic and highly saline solutions. These results obtained are of importance in guiding the design and selection of suitable polymeric coagulants for efficiently treating target contaminants in water.

Constructing ZIF-8-decorated montmorillonite composite with charge neutralization effect and pore structure optimization for enhanced Pb2+ capture from water

A zeolitic imidazole framework-8/montmorillonite (ZIF-8/MMT) composite was synthesized by a simple method through in-situ growth of ZIF-8 on MMT for efficient Pb2+ capture from water. The adsorption process of Pb2+ by ZIF-8/MMT composite followed the Langmuir model and the maximum adsorption could reach up to 336.89 mg/g, which was much better than that of the monocomponent of ZIF-8 (117.78 mg/g) or MMT (85.20 mg/g). Kinetics result suggested that Pb2+ adsorption by ZIF-8/MMT was a pseudo-second-order dynamic process, indicating a chemisorption process dominates. Ion exchange, electrostatic attraction and hydroxyl complexation were main pathways for Pb2+ removal by ZIF-8/MMT composite. The enhanced performance of ZIF-8/MMT composite should be attributed to following points. Firstly, the lamellar structure of MMT was in favor of ZIF-8 nanoparticles grow and disperse uniformly on the surface, thus avoiding the aggregation. Secondly, the positive charge on ZIF-8 was neutralized by the negative charge on the surface of MMT, and thus the adsorption capacity of ZIF-8 for Pb2+ is effectively released. Thirdly, the combination of MMT and ZIF-8 optimized the pore structure, which was favorable for Pb2+ adsorption and diffusion. Therefore, the synthesized ZIF-8/MMT composites is a prospective candidate for Pb2+ removal from wastewater.

Removal behaviors and mechanism of polystyrene microplastics by coagulation/ultrafiltration process: Co-effects of humic acid

Microplastics (MPs) have been detected in drinking water, which could absorb or accumulate humic acid (HA) and threaten the water quality. Coagulation-ultrafiltration (CUF) is a common drinking water treatment technology, but its behavior and mechanism of removing MPs and MPs-HA remain unclear. In this study, the removal mechanism of polystyrene (PS)-MPs coagulated by Al- and Fe-based salts with or without HA was investigated to optimize the CUF process. The results showed that Al-based salt (92.7 %) was better than Fe-based salt (91.2 %) in the removal efficiency of PS or HA, and the optimal coagulants dosage of PS-HA composite system (12 mg·L−1) was higher than that of the individual PS system (9 mg·L−1). Moreover, the coagulation mechanism was studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscope (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The oxygen group in PS and PS-HA was the main binding site of Al and Fe hydrolysate, and the effects of charge neutralization, adsorption bridging, and sweep flocculation became weaker in turn at the optimal dosage. In addition, the cake layer formed by coagulation and the presence of HA alleviated the irreversible membrane fouling by intercepting flow and re-adsorption. This study guides the improvement of the traditional drinking water treatment process to remove MPs.

An amphiphilic flocculant with a lignin core for efficient separation of suspended solids

The synthesis and application of conventional polymeric flocculants suffer from low flocculation efficiency and toxic residues; therefore, there is an urgent need to develop green and efficient flocculants and corresponding technologies. An amphiphilic copolymer (NPL) was synthesized by a “grafting to” strategy, using acrylamide, 3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyltrimethylammonium chloride, and kraft lignin. NPL consists of a lignin core that is attached to a polyacrylamide branched chain and a cationic group, and has the properties of an amphoteric polyelectrolyte. This structure demonstrates superior flocculation performance on suspended solids. Two typical clay suspensions, kaolin and bentonite, were selected to evaluate the flocculation performance of NPL. The results showed that the turbidity of kaolin and bentonite could be reduced to 2.08 NTU and 0.31 NTU, respectively, by using NPL in combination with polymeric aluminum chloride. The synergistic effect of charge neutralization and bridging was confirmed as the main mechanism of flocculation on the two clay suspensions by a series of characterization techniques, such as zeta potential determination, particle size analysis, and focused beam reflectance measurement. The treatment of high-turbidity wastewater/feedwater with NPL was investigated, and was found to significantly improve the effluent quality. The use of NPL is efficient, environmentally friendly, and technically feasible, and shows excellent potential for the treatment of wastewater.

Recovery of bio‑sulfur and metal resources from mine wastewater by sulfide biological oxidation-alkali flocculation: A pilot-scale study

Mine wastewater treatment using bio-sulfate reduction technology forms sulfur-containing wastewater that comprises sulfides (HS− and S2−) and metal ions. Bio‑sulfur generated by sulfur-oxidizing bacteria in such wastewater is usually negatively charged hydrocolloidal particles. However, bio‑sulfur and metal resource recovery are difficult using traditional methods. In this study, the sulfide biological oxidation-alkali flocculation (SBO-AF) method was investigated to recover the above resources, and to provide a technical reference for mine wastewater resource recovery and heavy metal pollution control. Specifically, the performance of SBO in forming bio‑sulfur and the key parameters of SBO-AF were explored and then applied in a pilot-scale process to recover resources from wastewater. Results show that partial sulfide oxidation was achieved under a sulfide loading rate of 5.08 ± 0.39 kg/m3·d, dissolved oxygen of 2.9–3.5 mg/L and temperature of 27–30 °C. The average sulfide oxidation rate and sulfur selectivity ratio were 92.86 % and 90.22 %, respectively. At pH 10, metal hydroxide and bio‑sulfur colloids co-precipitated through the precipitation catching and adsorption charge neutralization effect. The average manganese, magnesium and aluminum concentrations and turbidity in the wastewater were 53.93 mg/L, 522.97 mg/L, 34.20 mg/L and 505 NTU, respectively, and decreased to 0.49 mg/L, 80.65 mg/L, 1.00 mg/L and 23.33 NTU, respectively, after treatment. The recovered precipitate mainly contained sulfur, along with metal hydroxides. The average sulfur, manganese, magnesium and aluminum contents were 45.6 %, 29.5 %, 15.1 % and 6.5 %, respectively. Economic feasibility analysis and the above results show that SBO-AF has obvious technical and economic advantages in the recovery resources from mine wastewater.