Mechanisms of nC60 removal by the alum coagulation-flocculation-sedimentation process.
This study explored the mechanisms for nC60 removal in pure water and filtered saline wastewater by the alum coagulation-flocculation-sedimentation process through analyzing the hydrolyzed aluminum species and exploring the complexation of nC60 with aluminum hydroxide precipitates. Sweep flocculation (enmeshment and adsorption) with Alc is the most dominant mechanism contributing to the nC60 removal in pure water. In filtered saline wastewater, hetero-precipitation of Alb with nC60, colloids, and dissolved solids also contributes to the nC60 removal. Alkalinity affected the nC60 removal by changing the hydrolyzed aluminum species distributions. XPS, FTIR, and SEM evidences suggest that the enmeshment and adsorption of nC60 onto the aluminum hydroxide precipitates can be described as the inner-sphere complexation. Based on the above observations, conceptual models for nC60 removal by the alum coagulation-flocculation-sedimentation process in the different water matrices are proposed.
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China; Faculty of Science and Technology, Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China. Electronic address: chaowang@vtc.edu.hk.
Chao
C
Wang
Chii
C
Shang
Guanghao
G
Chen
Xiaoshan
X
Zhu
D000327:Adsorption; D000534:Alum Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D005427:Flocculation; D037741:Fullerenes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D056951:Photoelectron Spectroscopy; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
D000534:Alum Compounds; D037741:Fullerenes; C041524:aluminum sulfate; C069837:fullerene C60
Adsorption; Complexation; Ferron method; Hydrolyzed aluminum species; Nanomaterial