Interactions between metal ions and the biopolymer in activated sludge: quantification and effects of system pH value

doi:10.1007/s11783-017-0898-6

Front. Environ. Sci. Eng.

2017, Vol. 11

Issue (1) : 7 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-017-0898-6

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Interactions between metal ions and the biopolymer in activated sludge: quantification and effects of system pH value

Yun Zhou^1,²,Siqing Xia¹,Binh T. Nguyen²,Min Long¹,Jiao Zhang³,Zhiqiang Zhang¹(

)

¹. State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
². Biodesign Swette Center for Environmental Biotechnology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-5701, USA
³. School of Civil Engineering and Transportation, Shanghai Urban Construction Vocational College, Shanghai 200432, China

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Abstract

The biopolymer showed two protein-like fluorescence peaks (peaks A and B).

Interactions of Pb(II) and biopolymer were quantified at various system pH values.

System pH values significantly affect the quenching constant values for both peaks.

Peak B plays a more important role in the interactions than peak A.

Removal mechanism of metal ions by activated sludge system was further disclosed.

The quantification and effects of system pH value on the interactions between Pb(II) and the biopolymer from activated sludge were investigated. The biopolymer had two protein-like fluorescence peaks (Ex/Em= 280 nm/326–338 nm for peak A; Ex/Em= 220–230 nm/324–338 nm for peak B). The fluorescence intensities of peak B were higher than those of peak A. The fluorophores of both peaks could be largely quenched by Pb(II), and the quencher dose for peak B was about half of that for peak A. The modified Stern-Volmer equation well depicted the fluorescence quenching titration. The quenching constant (Ka) values for both peaks decreased with rising system pH value, and then sharply decreased under alkaline conditions. It could be attributed to that the alkaline conditions caused the reduction of available Pb(II) due to the occurrence of Pb(OH)2 sediments. The Ka values of peak B were bigger than those for peak A at the same system pH values. Accordingly, the aromatic protein (peak B) plays the key role in the interactions between metal ions and the biopolymer.

Keywords Metal ions Biopolymer Activated sludge Three-dimensional excitation emission matrix (3D-EEM) Fluorescence regional integration (FRI) technique Quantification

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Corresponding Author(s): Zhiqiang Zhang

Issue Date: 09 January 2017

Cite this article:

Yun Zhou,Siqing Xia,Binh T. Nguyen, et al. Interactions between metal ions and the biopolymer in activated sludge: quantification and effects of system pH value[J]. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng., 2017, 11(1): 7.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/10.1007/s11783-017-0898-6
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/Y2017/V11/I1/7

Fig.1 The 3D-EEM fluorescence spectra of biopolymer (a) before and (b) after binding 40 mg·L⁻¹ Pb(II) at the system pH value of 6.0

Fig.2 Effect of the system pH value on the fluorescence intensities of (a) peak A and (b) peak B before and after adsorbing 40.0 mg·L⁻¹ Pb(II)

Fig.3 The fluorescence intensities of (a) peak A and (b) peak B in the biopolymer titrated by the noted Pb(II) concentrations under various system pH values

Fig.4 Distribution of FRI in the biopolymer titrated by the noted Pb(II) concentrations under various system pH values

Tab.1 Stern-Volmer quenching constants for binding Pb(II) to peaks A and B in the biopolymer at various system pH values

Fig.5 Stern-Volmer plots of fluorescence emission quenching of biopolymer titrated with increasing Pb(II) concentration under various system pH value conditions at (a) peak A and (b) peak B

Fig.6 Modified Stern-Volmer plots of fluorescence emission quenching of biopolymer titrated with increasing Pb(II) concentration under various system pH value conditions at (a) peak A and (b) peak B

Tab.2 Modified Stern-Volmer quenching constants for binding Pb(II) to peaks A and B in the biopolymer at various system pH values

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