title: Chromium speciation in tannery effluent after alkaline precipitation: Isolation and characterization.
abstract: It is difficult to completely remove Cr(III) from tannery effluent by alkaline precipitation due to the abundance of strong organic ligands. Thereby, the speciation of the residual Cr after alkaline precipitation is of crucial significance to guide the selection and design of further treatment process. For the first time, we revealed the speciation of the residual Cr with the aid of comprehensive analytical techniques. Results showed that the residual Cr(III) mostly located in two size ranges, i.e. the 13-100nm fraction and the <4nm fraction. Combined spectral analyses demonstrated Cr(III) was coordinated by carboxyl groups or hydroxyl groups in both fractions, while the complexation by nitrogen-containing groups was excluded by the total nitrogen and UPLC-MS analysis in the two fractions, respectively. Based on the comprehensive analyses, the structures of Cr(III) complexes in both fractions were proposed. Cr(III) cross-linked the carboxyl groups from polyacrylic acid chains to form the network gel structure in the 13-100nm fraction, while the complex structure of Cr(III) in the <4nm fraction was formed through hydroxyl-carboxyl chelation by masking agents such as tartrate and citrate. Although polyoxyethylene ether was abundantly present, it was responsible for the complexation of Cr(III) in neither fraction.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China; School of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Yancheng Institute of Technology, Yancheng 224051, China.
authors.forename: Dandan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China.
authors.forename: Shiya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China. Electronic address: shanchao@nju.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Shan
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China.
authors.forename: Yuxuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shaanxi University of Science & Technology, Xi'an 710021, China.
authors.forename: Hongrui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China.
authors.forename: Xiaolin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China.
authors.forename: Weiming
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China. Electronic address: bcpan@nju.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Bingcai
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pan
keywords: Alkaline precipitation; Chromium; Size distribution; Speciation; Tannery effluent