title: Revealing the characteristics of a novel bioflocculant and its flocculation performance in Microcystis aeruginosa removal.
abstract: In the present work, a novel bioflocculant, EPS-1, was prepared and used to flocculate the kaolin suspension and Microcystis aeruginosa. We focused on the characteristics and flocculation performance of EPS-1, especially with regard to its protein components. An important attribute of EPS-1 was its protein content, with 18 protein types identified that occupied a total content of 31.70% in the EPS-1. Moreover, the flocculating activity of these protein components was estimated to be no less than 33.93%. Additionally, polysaccharides that occupied 57.12% of the total EPS-1 content consisted of four monosaccharides: maltose, D-xylose, mannose, and D-fructose. In addition, carbonyl, amino, and hydroxyl groups were identified as the main functional groups. Three main elements, namely C1s, N1s, and O1s, were present in EPS-1 with relative atomic percentages of 62.63%, 24.91%, and 10.5%, respectively. Zeta potential analysis indicated that charge neutralization contributed to kaolin flocculation, but was not involved in M. aeruginosa flocculation. The flocculation conditions of EPS-1 were optimized, and the maximum flocculating efficiencies were 93.34% within 2 min for kaolin suspension and 87.98% within 10 min for M. aeruginosa. These results suggest that EPS-1 could be an alternative to chemical flocculants for treating wastewaters and cyanobacterium-polluted freshwater.
authors.affiliation: College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, 310058 Hangzhou, Zhejiang, PR China.
authors.forename: Pengfei
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, 310058 Hangzhou, Zhejiang, PR China.
authors.forename: Cai
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hui
authors.affiliation: College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, 310058 Hangzhou, Zhejiang, PR China.
authors.forename: Naling
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environment Resource and Soil Fertilizer, Zhejiang Academy of Agriculture Science, 310021 Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: Shengmao
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Vanderbilt University, 37235-1604, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wan
authors.affiliation: College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, 310058 Hangzhou, Zhejiang, PR China.
authors.forename: Qichun
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, 310058 Hangzhou, Zhejiang, PR China.
authors.forename: YuHua
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D003902:Detergents / Q000737:chemistry*; D005427:Flocculation; D046931:Microcystis / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D003902:Detergents