Green polyaspartic acid as a novel permanganate activator for enhanced degradation of organic contaminants: Role of reactive Mn(III) species.

Attention has been long focused on enhancing permanganate (Mn(VII)) oxidation capacity for eliminating organic contaminants via generating active manganese intermediates (AMnIs). Nevertheless, limited consideration has been given to the unnecessary consumption of Mn(VII) due to the spontaneous disproportionation of AMnIs during their formation. In this work, we innovatively introduced green polyaspartic acid (PASP) as both reducing and chelating agents to activate Mn(VII) to enhance the oxidation capacity and utilization efficiency of Mn(VII). Multiple lines of evidence suggest that Mn(III), existing as Mn(III)-PASP complex, was generated and dominated the degradation of bisphenol A (BPA) in the Mn(VII)/PASP system. The stabilized Mn(III) species enabled Mn(VII) utilization efficiency in the Mn(VII)/PASP system to be higher than that in Mn(VII) alone. Moreover, the electrophilic Mn(III) species was verified to mainly attack the inclusive benzene ring and isopropyl group to realize BPA oxidation and its toxicity reduction in the Mn(VII)/PASP system. In addition, the Mn(VII)/PASP system showed the potential for selectively oxidizing organic contaminants bearing phenol and aniline moieties in real waters without interference from most of coexisting water matrices. This work brightens an overlooked route to both high oxidation capacity and efficient Mn(VII) utilization in the Mn(VII)-based oxidation processes.

Naproxen as a Turn-On Chemiluminescent Probe for Real-Time Quantification of Sulfate Radicals.

Current techniques for identifying and quantifying sulfate radicals (SO4·-) in SO4·--based advanced oxidation processes (SR-AOPs) are unsatisfactory due to their low selectivity, poor reliability, and limited feasibility for real-time quantification. In this study, naproxen (NAP) was employed as a turn-on luminescent probe for real-time quantification of SO4·- in SR-AOPs. The chemiluminescence(CL) yield (ΦCL) of the reaction of NAP with SO4·- was first determined to be 1.49 × 10-5 E mol-1 with the bisulfite activation by cerium(IV) [Ce(IV)/BS] process. Then, the maximum peak concentrations of SO4·- in the Ce(IV)/BS-NAP process was quantified to be ∼10-11 M based on the derived equation. Since ΦCL of the reaction of NAP with SO4·- was much greater than that with other reactive oxidizing species (ROS), the developed CL method worked well in selective quantification of SO4·- in various SR-AOPs (e.g., the activation of peroxymonosulfate and persulfate by iron processes). Finally, the electron transfer from NAP to SO4·- was proposed to be the critical step for CL production. This work provides a novel CL method for real-time quantification of SO4·-, which facilitates the development of SR-AOPs and their application in water and wastewater treatment.

Enhanced immobilization of lead, cadmium, and arsenic in smelter-contaminated soil by sulfidated zero-valent iron.

Soils contaminated with multiple heavy metal(loid)s (HMs) such as lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and arsenic (As) are of great concern in many countries. In this study, taking three lead-zinc smelter soils, the performance of sulfidated zero-valent iron (S-ZVI) toward Pb, Cd, and As immobilization was systemically investigated. Results showed that more than 88% of water-extractable Pb and Cd could be immobilized and transformed into reducible, oxidizable, and/or reducible forms by S-ZVI within 3 h, whereas only 3-56% of them could be immobilized by unsulfidated ZVI even after 72 h. Meanwhile, the phytoavailability of the tested HMs could be effectively reduced by 79% after S-ZVI amendment. More importantly, anoxic/oxic incubation tests revealed that the dissolved concentrations of HMs were much lower in S-ZVI-treated soils than in the untreated or unmodified ZVI-treated soils. Speciation analysis further suggested that unmodified ZVI seemed to reduce the long-term soil stability by changing the residual HMs species to mild-acid soluble and/or reducible ones. In contrast, S-ZVI could effectively alleviate the remobilization of HMs under the changeover of soil redox environments. All these findings indicate that S-ZVI may be a promising amendment for the immobilization of Pb, Cd, and As in smelter-contaminated soil.

Roles of MnO2 Colloids and Mn(III) during the Oxidation of Organic Contaminants by Permanganate.

Although intermediate manganese species can be generated during the reactions of permanganate (Mn(VII)) with organic pollutants in water, the role of the in situ generated MnO2 colloids in the Mn(VII) oxidation process remained controversial and the contribution of Mn(III) was largely neglected. This study showed that the apparent second-order rate constants (kapp) of Mn(VII) oxidation of methyl phenyl sulfoxide and carbamazepine remained constant with time. However, the degradation of four selected phenolic contaminants by Mn(VII) exhibited an autoaccelerating trend and a linear trend at pH 3.0-6.0 and pH 7.0-9.0, respectively. Multiple lines of evidence revealed that the occurrence of the autoaccelerating trend in the Mn(VII) oxidation process was ascribed to the oxidation of the phenolic organics by MnO2 colloids. The influence of pyrophosphate on the oxidation of different organic contaminants by MnO2 colloids suggests that Mn(III) was also responsible for the autoaccelerating oxidation of organic contaminants by Mn(VII) under specific reaction conditions. The kinetic models revealed that the overall contributions of MnO2 colloids and Mn(III) ranged within 6.6-67.9% during the autoaccelerating oxidation of phenolic contaminants by Mn(VII). These findings advance the understanding of the roles of MnO2 colloids and Mn(III) in the Mn(VII) oxidation process.

Mechanistic Insights into the Markedly Decreased Oxidation Capacity of the Fe(II)/S2O82- Process with Increasing pH.

The poor oxidation capacity of the Fe(II)/S2O82- [Fe(II)/PDS] system at pH > 3.0 has limited its wide application in water treatment. To unravel the underlying mechanism, this study systematically evaluated the possible influencing factors over the pH range of 1.0-8.0 and developed a mathematical model to quantify these effects. Results showed that ∼82% of the generated Fe(IV) could be used for pollutant degradation at pH 1.0, whereas negligible Fe(IV) contribution was observed at pH 7.5. This dramatic decline of Fe(IV) contribution with increasing pH dominantly accounted for the pH-dependent performance of the Fe(II)/PDS process. Unexpectedly, Fe(II) could consume ∼80% of the generated SO4•- non-productively under both acidic and near-neutral conditions, while the larger formation of Fe(III) precipitates at high pH inhibited the SO4•- contribution mildly. Moreover, the strong Fe(II) scavenging effect was difficult to be compensated for by slowing down the Fe(II) dosing rate. The competition of dissolved oxygen with PDS for Fe(II) was insignificant at pH ≤ 7.5, where the second-order rate constants for reactions of Fe(II) with oxygen were much lower than or comparable to that between Fe(II) and PDS. These findings could advance our understanding of the chemistry and application of the Fe(II)/PDS process.

[Investigation of the Performance of Organic Contaminant Degradation by Fe2+/PDS Under Environmentally Relevant pH Conditions].

Peroxydisulfate (PDS) activation by Fe2+ has proven to be a promising method to abate emerging organic contaminants by generating reactive oxidation species. Nevertheless, this process may only achieve good decontamination performance under acidic conditions, which has markedly limited its application in real practice. To address this issue, we comprehensively investigated the performance of the Fe2+/PDS process toward some probe contaminants at different pH levels and explored the potential change in reactive oxidative species and the influence of oxygen. Both SO4-· and Fe(Ⅳ) were identified to be involved in the Fe2+/PDS process, and the types of these oxidative species did not change with varying pH values. Although dissolved oxygen could compete with PDS for Fe2+, especially at high pH values, this competition process was not the major reason for the declined performance of the Fe2+/PDS process, since 37.6%-100% of PDS could also be activated with the presence of oxygen. Instead, the overdosing of Fe2+could greatly inhibit carbamazepine removal, indicating that the nonproductive consumption of reactive oxidants by Fe2+should account for the declined performance of Fe2+/PDS under environmentally relevant pH conditions. Accordingly, the feasibility of applying zero-valent iron and sulfidated zero-valent iron was further evaluated, and the formation of corrosion products was characterized using X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy. All these findings will improve our understanding about the Fe2+/PDS process and thus facilitate its application.

Simultaneous Sequestration of Humic Acid-Complexed Pb(II), Zn(II), Cd(II), and As(V) by Sulfidated Zero-Valent Iron: Performance and Stability of Sequestration Products.

Heavy metal(loid)s (HMs) such as Pb(II), Zn(II), Cd(II), and As(V) are ubiquitously present in co-contaminated soil and shallow groundwater, where the humic acid (HA)-rich environments can significantly influence their sequestration. In this study, sulfidated zero-valent iron (S-ZVI) was found to be able to simultaneously sequestrate these HA-complexed HMs. Specially, the HA-complexed Pb(II), Zn(II), Cd(II), and As(V) could be completely removed by S-ZVI within 60 min, while only 35-50% of them could be sequestrated within 72 h by unsulfidated ZVI. Interestingly, different from the S-ZVI corrosion behavior, the kinetics of HM sequestration by S-ZVI consisted of an initial slow reaction stage (or a lag phase) and then a fairly rapid reaction process. Characterization results indicated that forming metal sulfides controlled the HM sequestration at the first stage, whereas the enhanced ZVI corrosion and thus-improved adsorption and/or coprecipitation by iron hydroxides governed the second stage. Both metal-oxygen and metal-sulfur bonds in the solid phase could be confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and extended X-ray absorption fine structure analysis. Moreover, the transformation of S species from SO42-, SO32-, and S22- to S2- under reducing conditions could allow the sequestrated HMs to remain stable over a long period.

Abiotic reductive removal of organic contaminants catalyzed by carbon materials: A short review.

Since the observation that carbon materials can facilitate electron transfer between reactants, there is growing literature on the abiotic reductive removal of organic contaminants catalyzed by them. Most of the interest in these processes arises from the participation of carbon materials in the natural transformation of contaminants and the possibility of developing new strategies for environmental treatment and remediation. The combinations of various carbon materials and reductants have been investigated for the reduction of nitro-organic compounds, halogenated organics, and azo dyes. The reduction rates of a certain compound in carbon-reductant systems vary with the surface properties of carbon materials, although there are controversial conclusions on the properties governing the catalytic performance. This review scrutinizes the contributions of quinone moieties, electron conductivity, and other carbon properties to the activity of carbon materials. It also discusses the contaminant-dependent reduction pathways, that is, electron transfer through conductive carbon and intermediates formed during the reaction, along with possibly additional activation of contaminant molecules by carbon. Moreover, modification strategies to improve the catalytic activity for reduction are summarized. Future research needs are proposed to advance the understanding of reaction mechanisms and improve the practical utility of carbon material for water treatment. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Reduction rates of contaminants in carbon-reductant systems and modification strategies for carbon materials are summarized. Mechanisms for the catalytic activity of carbon materials are discussed. Research needs for new insights into carbon-catalyzed reduction are proposed.

Enhanced Oxidation of Organic Contaminants by Mn(VII)/CaSO3 Under Environmentally Relevant Conditions: Performance and Mechanisms.

Although permanganate activation by sodium sulfite (Mn(VII)/Na2SO3) has shown great potential for rapid abatement of organic contaminants, the limited reactivity under alkaline conditions and undesirable Mn residual may prevent its widespread application. To solve these challenges, calcium sulfite (CaSO3) was employed as a slow-release source of SO32-/HSO3- (S(IV)) to activate Mn(VII) in this study. It was found that the application of CaSO3 solid could extend the effective working pH range of Mn(VII)/S(IV) from ≤7.0 to ≤9.0. Moreover, due to the enhanced precipitation of MnO2 with the presence of Ca2+, very low Mn residual (<0.05 mg/L) was achieved in Mn(VII)/CaSO3 system. Mn(VII)/CaSO3 system is a unique two-stage oxidation process in terms of reaction kinetics and reactive oxidants. Specifically, Mn(VII) was rapidly consumed and reactive Mn intermediates (e.g., Mn(VI), Mn(V)), SO4•-, and HO• were produced in the first stage. However, the second stage was governed by the interaction between MnO2 and S(IV), with SO4•- and HO• serving as the dominant reactive oxidants. Taking advantage of an automatic titrator, excess S(IV) was found to greatly quench the generated radicals, whereas it did not cause a significant consumption of reactive Mn species. All these results improved our understanding of the Mn(VII)/S(IV) process and could thus facilitate its application.

Enhanced trichloroethylene dechlorination by carbon-modified zero-valent iron: Revisiting the role of carbon additives.

Given that there are still some debates on the influence of carbon modification on zerovalent iron (ZVI) decontamination process, the roles of carbon on trichloroethylene (TCE) reduction by ZVI were re-investigated in this work. Compared to activated carbons (AC) with high adsorption ability, carbon fibers (CF) with good electronic conductivity performed much better in enhancing ZVI performance in terms of both reactivity and selectivity. Moreover, it was interesting to observe that a low carbon loading is sufficient to effectively improve TCE reduction and this promoting effect would decline with further increasing the carbon amounts from 1.0 wt.% to 50 wt.%. Regarding to the ZVI selectivity, a relatively high carbon loading (especially for CF, it may be as high as 50 wt.%) was needed to protect ZVI from non-productive reactions with H2O/H+ effectively. However, a mixture of 10 wt.% AC and 1.0 wt.% CF could combine their respective merits of inhibiting side reactions and enhancing TCE reduction, and thus simultaneously enhanced the reactivity and selectivity of ZVI. Mechanistic investigations revealed that carbon modification could enhance the ZVI performance through improving TCE adsorption and/or accelerating electron transfer, while the latter one may play a more important role especially at high carbon loadings.

Influence of [sulfite]/[Fe(VI)] molar ratio on the active oxidants generation in Fe(VI)/sulfite process.

Although several groups have made efforts to study micropollutants degradation by Fe(VI)/sulfite process, the mechanism is far from clear and warrants further investigation. Herein, the degradation kinetics and mechanism of selected micropollutants by sulfite (SO32-)-activated Fe(VI) oxidation were systematically investigated. The oxidation rates of enrofloxacin (ENR) and phenol in Fe(VI)/sulfite process ranged from 0.151 s-1 to 6.18 s-1 at pH 6.5 and 8.0. Sulfite applied in multiple-addition mode improved the degradation efficiency of micropollutants with electron-rich moieties compared to the single-addition mode. Based on results of the quenching experiments and kinetic simulation, Fe(V) was identified as the predominant active oxidant at [SO32-]/[Fe(VI)] molar ratio of 0.1 to 0.3. However, both Fe(V) and SO4-/OH contributed to micropollutants oxidation at [SO32-]/[Fe(VI)] molar ratio ≥ 0.4 and their contributions were strongly dependent on the properties of micropollutants. The different degradation products of ENR in Fe(VI)/sulfite process at different sulfite dosages further supported the contribution of different active oxidants at different [SO32-]/[Fe(VI)] molar ratios. The toxicity of the reaction products of ENR towards Vibrio qinghaiensis sp.-Q67 decreased dramatically after Fe(VI)/sulfite treatment. The results of this work may promote the application of sulfite-activated Fe(VI) oxidation in water treatment.

Influence of Pyrophosphate on the Generation of Soluble Mn(III) from Reactions Involving Mn Oxides and Mn(VII).

The detection of soluble Mn(III) is typically accomplished using strong complexing agents to trap Mn(III), but the generation of soluble Mn(III) induced by strong complexing agents has seldom been considered. In this study, pyrophosphate (PP), a nonredox active ligand, was chosen as a typical Mn(III) chelating reagent to study the influence of ligands on soluble Mn(III) formation in reactions involving Mn oxides and Mn(VII). The presence of excess PP induced the generation of soluble Mn(III)-PP from α- and δ-MnO2 and led to the conproportionation reaction of α-, ß-, δ-, or colloidal MnO2 with Mn(II) at pH 7.0. Compared to MnO2 minerals, colloidal MnO2 showed much higher reactivity toward Mn(II) in the presence of PP and the conproportionation rate of colloidal MnO2 with Mn(II) elevated with increasing PP dosage and decreasing pH. The generation of Mn(III) was not observed in MnO4-/S2O32- or MnO4-/NH3OH+ system without PP while the introduction of excess PP induced the generation of Mn(III)-PP. Thermodynamic calculation results were consistent with the experimental observations. These findings not only provide evidence for the unsuitability of using strong ligands in quantification of soluble Mn(III) in manganese-involved redox reactions, but also advance the understanding of soluble Mn(III) generation in aquatic environment.

Can multiple harvests of plants improve nitrogen removal from the point-bar soil of lake?

Point bar areas around lakes can provide ecological service functions. For example, plants growing on point bars absorb and remove nutrients from the soil and water. However, if the point-bar plants are unregulated, in the fall and winter, plant debris will decompose, releasing nutrients that then enter the water body and cause eutrophication. Therefore, any harvesting should be managed. But how to harvest plants and how often to harvest them, and there is little research on these. In this study, the point bar at Qingcaosha Reservoir was used to study the effects of three plant harvesting modes (M1: unharvested; M2: one harvest in the fall; and M3: one harvest in summer and one in the fall) on the removal of nitrogen (N) from point-bar soil. The largest amount of N was removed by the plants when the M3 mode was used (26.93 g/m2). However, the M2 mode removed the most N from the soil during the plant growth season (81.62 g/m2), which implied that the nitrification and denitrification effects of soil microorganisms make the largest contribution to N removal from this point-bar soil. The nitrification and denitrification activity of microorganisms was higher for M2 than for M1 and M3 in the following year. Additionally, summer harvesting (M3) had a negative effect on nitrification efficiency in the current season because anaerobic bacteria in the soil significantly increased and nitrifying bacteria significantly decreased after harvesting. However, after a period of recovery, the number of microbial nitrifiers increased again and nitrification activity rose in the following year. The reduction in oxygen supply after harvesting may be the main reason for low nitrification in the current season, but it was beneficial to nitrification and denitrification in the following year because there was luxuriant plant growth. Therefore, when considering both the current season and the following year, harvesting should not be too frequent and one harvest in the fall (M2) led to the largest removal of N from the soil.

Overlooked Role of Sulfur-Centered Radicals During Bromate Reduction by Sulfite.

In this work, the kinetics and mechanisms of the reductive removal of BrO3- by sulfite in air atmosphere were determined. BrO3- could be effectively reduced by sulfite at pHini 3.0-6.0, and the reduction rate of BrO3- increased with decreasing pH. The coexisting organic contaminants with electron-rich moieties could be degraded, accompanied with BrO3- reduction by sulfite. The reaction stoichiometries of -Δ[sulfite]/Δ[bromate] were determined to be 3.33 and 15.63 in the absence and presence of O2, respectively. Many lines of evidence verified that the main reactions in the BrO3-/sulfite system in air atmosphere included the reduction of BrO3- to HOBr and its further reduction to Br-, as well as the oxidation of H2SO3 by BrO3- to form SO3·- and its further transformation to SO4·-. Moreover, SO4·- rather than HOBr was determined to be the major active oxidant in the BrO3-/sulfite system. SO3·- played a key role in the over-stoichiometric sulfite consumption because of its rapid reaction with dissolved oxygen. However, the formed SO3·- was further oxidized by BrO3- in the N2 atmosphere. BrO3- reduction by sulfite is an alternative for controlling BrO3- in water treatment because it was effective in real water at pHini ≤ 6.0.

Selenate removal by Fe0 coupled with ferrous iron, hydrogen peroxide, sulfidation, and weak magnetic field: A comparative study.

Dosing ferrous ions (ZVI/Fe2+), combining with oxidants (e.g., H2O2) (ZVI/H2O2), sulfidation treatment (S-ZVI), and introducing a weak magnetic field (ZVI/WMF) have been widely used to enhance the performance of zerovalent iron (ZVI) for reductive removal of contaminants. Taking Se(VI) as a probe contaminant, this study systematically compared the performances of different ZVI systems (i.e., ZVI/Fe2+, ZVI/H2O2, S-ZVI, and ZVI/WMF) for contaminant removal. All the four tested methods could greatly improve the performance of ZVI for Se(VI) removal. Se(VI) was removed by S-ZVI at S/Fe molar ratio of 0.05 with a much greater rate constant than other enhanced-ZVI technologies while the maximum amount of Se(VI) removal was obtained in ZVI/Fe2+ system with Fe2+ applied at 0.5 mM among the four tested enhanced-ZVI technologies at initial pH 6.0. In addition, Se(VI) removal by ZVI/Fe2+ was least influenced by initial pH compared to the other tested enhanced-ZVI systems, implying its good adaptability of pH. The application of these tested methods could significantly increase the electron efficiency from ∼0.5% to 4.06-8.72% and Fe2+ application was much more efficient in enhancing the electron efficiency than the other three methods. Finally, the perspective of these enhanced-ZVI technologies was compared in terms of their reactivity, selectivity, chemical cost, and pH adaptability and some suggestions for their possible application were provided.

Enhanced immobilization of chromium(VI) in soil using sulfidated zero-valent iron.

Batch tests were conducted in this study to evaluate the influence of sulfidation on the remediation of Cr(VI) in soil by zero-valent iron (ZVI). It was demonstrated that sulfidated ZVI synthesized by ball-milling with elemental sulfur (S-ZVIbm) could reduce and immobilize Cr(VI) in soil more rapidly and efficiently than unamended ZVI (ZVIbm). Specifically, with the optimal S/Fe molar ratio of 0.05 and ZVI dosage of 5 wt%, S-ZVIbm could completely sequestrate water soluble Cr(VI) (as high as 17.5 mg/L) within 3 h, while negligible Cr(VI) was reduced by ZVIbm over a 3-day incubation period under identical conditions. Furthermore, sequential extraction analysis revealed that S-ZVIbm treatment also promoted the conversion of exchangeable Cr to more stable forms (i.e., mainly as FeMn oxides bound fraction). XPS analysis showed that reduction was the main Cr(VI) remediation mechanism by ZVI, and alkaline extraction experiments further demonstrated Cr(VI) concentration in soil could be decreased from 153.6 mg/kg to 23.4 and 131.6 mg/kg by S-ZVIbm and ZVIbm, respectively. A magnetic separation process was introduced in this study to physically remove the residual ZVI particles and attached iron (hydr)oxides so as to minimize the re-release risk of immobilized Cr. Results revealed that, 71-89% of the added Fe and 9.5-33.6% of Cr could be retrieved from S-ZVIbm-treated soil. These findings highlighted the potential of S-ZVIbm as a promising amendment for immobilizing Cr(VI) in soil and the potential of magnetic separation as an alternative option for preventing the re-mobilization of sequestered Cr.

Activation of oxygen with sulfite for enhanced Removal of Mn(II): The involvement of SO4•.

Taking advantage of the active oxidants generated in the process of Mn(II)-catalyzed sulfite oxidation by oxygen, this study sought to enhance Mn(II) removal from water by activating oxygen with sulfite. The results revealed that Mn(II) can be effectively oxidized by oxygen to MnO2 with the addition of sulfite under environmentally relevant conditions, and the performance of this process is dependent on the dosage of sulfite and the initial pH. Mn K-edge XANES analysis indicates that Mn(II) removal is primarily due to the transformation of Mn(II) to MnO2 and, secondarily, to the adsorption of Mn(II) on generated MnO2. Co-existing NaCl and CaCl2 negatively affect Mn(II) removal, while the presence of Fe(II) considerably enhances Mn(II) removal by improving both Mn(II) oxidation and Mn(II) adsorption on the generated solids. Consequently, Mn(II) removal is as high as 98% in the presence of 1.0 mg/L of Fe(II) and both the residual Mn (<0.1 mg/L Mn) and Fe (<0.3 mg/L Fe) can meet China's drinking water standard. The experiments with real water samples also demonstrate the effectiveness of the sulfite-promoted Mn(II) removal process, especially in the presence of Fe(II). The enhancing effect of sulfite on Mn(II) oxidation by oxygen is mainly associated with the generation of HSO5-, and the critical step for generating HSO5- is the rapid oxidation of SO3•- by oxygen. EPR and radical scavenging studies demonstrate that SO4•- radical is the key reactive oxygen species responsible for Mn(II) oxidation by HSO5-.

Enhanced removal of heavy metals by zerovalent iron in designed magnetic reactors.

A magnetic propeller agitator and a magnetic reactor were designed to enhance the removal of heavy metals by zerovalent iron (ZVI) in comparison with the non-magnetic reactor. The weak magnetic field (WMF) applied significantly improved the CuII-EDTA removal by ZVI from 10% without WMF to 98% with WMF within 2.5 h at pHini 6.0. The pseudo-first-order rate constants of Cu(II) and As(V) removal by ZVI in the magnetic reactor were increased by 1.51-5.17 and 2.97-5.91 fold, respectively, compared to those obtained in the non-magnetic reactor. The performance of ZVI for treating practical industrial wastewater in the designed magnetic reactor was tested, and the removal of total Cu, P and Zn by ZVI was greatly accelerated. After precipitation of the practical wastewater samples, the concentrations of total Cu, P, Zn decreased to the industrial drainage standard values in 20, 3, 25 min, respectively, in the magnetic reactor, whereas the reaction time needed to eliminate total P and Zn was 10 and 60 min, and the residual total Cu still exceeded the drainage standard values in 2 h in the non-magnetic reactor. The application of magnetic reactor for industrial wastewater treatment is expected to improve the sustainability of ZVI technology.

Flocculation of low algae concentration water using polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride coupled with polysilicate aluminum ferrite.

The combined application of polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride (PDADMAC) and polysilicate aluminum ferrite (PSFA) was investigated to treat low algae density water samples, in which Microcystis aeruginosa is one of the dominant species. coagulation performance of M. aeruginosa was studied with regard to algal removal, Algal density was evaluated by determining the change in the optical density of the algal culture suspension at 680 nm and chlorophyll a. The dissolved organic matter, cellular morphology, viability, and recovery of M. aeruginosa cells after flocculation and sedimentation were also included. In addition, the effects of pH and addition order of PSFA and PDADMAC on algal removal were investigated. The removal efficiency of algae coagulated using combined PDADMAC and PSFA was improved by 34.5% and 19.3%, respectively. The organic matter removal was also enhanced. The optimum pH range for algal removal is 7.0-10.0, and the preferable addition sequence is the simultaneous addition of PDADMAC and PSFA. Scanning electron microscopy observation indicated that the combined usage of PDADMAC and PSFA caused no damage to the algal cell. Moreover, the experiment on algal recovery demonstrated that PDADMAC has bacteriostatic ability.

Influence of weak magnetic field and tartrate on the oxidation and sequestration of Sb(III) by zerovalent iron: Batch and semi-continuous flow study.

The influence of weak magnetic field (WMF) and tartrate on the oxidation and sequestration of Sb(III) by zerovalent iron (ZVI) was investigated with batch and semi-continuous reactors. The species analysis of antinomy in aqueous solution and solid precipitates implied that both Sb(III) adsorption preceding its conversion to Sb(V) in solid phase and Sb(III) oxidation to Sb(V) preceding its adsorption in aqueous phase occurred in the process of Sb(III) sequestration by ZVI. The application of WMF greatly increased the rate constants of Sbtot (total Sb) and Sb(III) disappearance during Sb(III)-tartrate and uncomplexed-Sb(III) sequestration by ZVI. The enhancing effect of WMF was primarily due to the accelerated ZVI corrosion in the presence of WMF, as evidenced by the influence of WMF on the change of solution and solid properties with reaction. However, tartrate greatly retarded Sb removal by ZVI. It was because tartrate inhibited ZVI corrosion, competed with Sb(III) and Sb(V) for the active surface sites, increased the negative surface charge of the generated iron (hydr)oxides due to its adsorption, and formed soluble complexes with Fe(III). The positive effect of WMF on Sb(III)-tartrate and uncomplexed-Sb(III) removal by ZVI was also verified with a magnetic semi-continuous reactor.