Influence of extracellular polymeric substances from activated sludge on the aggregation kinetics of silver and silver sulfide nanoparticles

doi:10.1007/s11783-021-1450-2

Front. Environ. Sci. Eng.

2022, Vol. 16

Issue (2) : 16 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-021-1450-2

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Influence of extracellular polymeric substances from activated sludge on the aggregation kinetics of silver and silver sulfide nanoparticles

Wanpeng Chen¹, Jiahui Song^1,², Shaojie Jiang¹, Qiang He¹, Jun Ma³, Xiaoliu Huangfu¹(

)

¹. Key Laboratory of Eco-environments in Three Gorges Reservoir Region (Ministry of Education), College of Environment and Ecology, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China
². Sichuan Education Press, Chengdu 610200, China
³. State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Municipal and Environmental Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China

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Abstract

• The NPs aggregation in the electrolyte solution is consistent with the DLVO theory.

• In NaNO₃ and low Ca(NO₃)₂, EPS alleviates the NPs aggregation by steric repulsion.

• In high Ca(NO₃)₂, EPS accelerates the NPs aggregation by exopolysaccharide bridging.

• Ag₂S NPs have stronger stability compared with Cit-Ag NPs in aqueous systems.

Extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) in activated sludge from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) could affect interactions between nanoparticles and alter their migration behavior. The influence mechanisms of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) and silver sulfide nanoparticles (Ag₂S NPs) aggregated by active EPS sludge were studied in monovalent or divalent cation solutions. The aggregation behaviors of the NPs without EPS followed the Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (DLVO) theory. The counterions aggravated the aggregation of both NPs, and the divalent cation had a strong neutralizing effect due to the decrease in electrostatic repulsive force. Through extended DLVO (EDLVO) model analysis, in NaNO₃ and low-concentration Ca(NO₃)₂ (<10 mmol/L) solutions, EPS could alleviate the aggregation behaviors of Cit-Ag NPs and Ag₂S NPs due to the enhancement of steric repulsive forces. At high concentrations of Ca(NO₃)₂ (10‒100 mmol/L), exopolysaccharide macromolecules could promote the aggregation of Cit-Ag NPs and Ag₂S NPs by interparticle bridging. As the final transformation form of Ag NPs in water environments, Ag₂S NPs had better stability, possibly due to their small van der Waals forces and their strong steric repulsive forces. It is essential to elucidate the surface mechanisms between EPS and NPs to understand the different fates of metal-based and metal-sulfide NPs in WWTP systems.

Keywords Silver nanoparticles Silver sulfide nanoparticles Extracellular polymeric substances Aggregation kinetics Influence mechanisms

Corresponding Author(s): Xiaoliu Huangfu

Issue Date: 18 May 2021

Cite this article:

Wanpeng Chen,Jiahui Song,Shaojie Jiang, et al. Influence of extracellular polymeric substances from activated sludge on the aggregation kinetics of silver and silver sulfide nanoparticles[J]. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng., 2022, 16(2): 16.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/10.1007/s11783-021-1450-2
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/Y2022/V16/I2/16

Fig.1 The amount of total organic carbon, polysaccharide and protein, as well as the polysaccharide: protein ratio in B-EPS, AT-EPS, and PT-EPS. (Error bar represents means±SE, and n = 3).

Fig.2 Particle size growth of Cit-Ag NPs in (a) NaNO₃, (c) Ca(NO₃)₂ solution and Ag₂S NPs in (b) NaNO₃, (d) Ca(NO₃)₂ (pH 6.0, 25°C).

Fig.3 Attachment efficiencies (α) and (b) zeta potentials (ζ) of Cit-Ag NPs and Ag₂S NPs as functions of NaNO₃ and Ca(NO₃)₂ concentration in the absence of EPS; Net energy among Cit-Ag NPs (c) or Ag₂S NPs (d) calculated based on DLVO theory (pH 6.0 and 25°C).

Fig.4 Attachment efficiencies (α) of Cit-Ag NPs (a) and Ag₂S NPs (b) in the presence of 1mg/L B-EPS, AT-EPS.PT-EPS as functions of NaNO₃ concentration; Zeta potential of Cit-Ag NPs (c) and Ag₂S NPs (d) in the presence of 1mg/L B-EPS, AT-EPS, PT-EPS as functions of NaNO₃ concentration (pH 6.0 and 25°C).

Fig.5 Net energy between Cit-Ag NPs or Ag₂S NPs in the presence of B-EPS (a, d), AT-EPS (b, e), and PT-EPS (c, f) under different concentration of NaNO₃ based on EDLVO theory.

Fig.6 Attachment efficiencies (α) of Cit-Ag NPs (a) and Ag₂S NPs (b) in the presence of B-EPS, AT-EPS, PT-EPS in Ca(NO₃)₂ solution; Zeta potentials of Cit-Ag NPs (c) and Ag₂S NPs (d) in the presence of B-EPS, AT-EPS, PT-EPS in Ca(NO₃)₂ solution (pH 6.0 and 25°C).

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