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Titanium tetrachloride for silver nanoparticle-humic acid composite contaminant removal in coagulation-ultrafiltration hybrid process: floc property and membrane fouling

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Abstract

Titanium-based coagulation is expected to achieve both efficient water purification and sludge recycling. This study is the first attempt to use titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4) for silver nanoparticle (AgNP)-humic acid composite contaminant removal in a coagulation-ultrafiltration (C-UF) process, where characterization of flocs and membrane fouling under varied coagulant dose, initial solution pH, and AgNP concentration conditions are the main contents. Results suggested that the TiCl4 achieved high AgNP removal in the form of silver nanoparticle through adsorption and sweep flocculation and simultaneously exerted additional 68.2 % higher dissolved organic carbon removal than Al2(SO4)3. The TiCl4 produced larger and stronger flocs but with weaker recoverability and less compact degree than did Al2(SO4)3. Floc properties were independent of AgNP concentration except floc fractal dimension, which was negatively correlated with AgNP concentration. The TiCl4 precoagulation caused less membrane fouling within wider pH range than Al2(SO4)3 did in the C-UF process. Incorporation of AgNPs during the TiCl4 pretreatment process facilitated the mitigation of membrane fouling, which was, however, negligibly influenced by AgNP concentration in the case of Al2(SO4)3.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from the Chinese National Natural Science Foundation (No. 51278283, No. 21377072, and No. 51508308) and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2014M560557 and No. 2015T80722). Also, this work was supported by grants from Tai Shan Scholar Foundation (No. ts201511003) and Hong Kong Scholars Program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, China

    Yanxia Zhao

  2. Key Laboratory for Special Functional Aggregated Materials of Education Ministry, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan, 250100, China

    Yanxia Zhao & Yanzhao Yang

  3. Shandong Key Laboratory of Water Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, No.27 Shanda South Road, Jinan, 250100, People’s Republic of China

    Yangyang Sun, Baoyu Gao & Yan Wang

  4. School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Qilu University of Technology, Jinan, 250353, China

    Chang Tian

  5. Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology, (UTS), P.O. Box 123, Broadway, Sydney, NSW, 2007, Australia

    Hokyong Shon

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  1. Yanxia Zhao
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Correspondence to Yan Wang.

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Responsible editor: Bingcai Pan

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Zhao, Y., Sun, Y., Tian, C. et al. Titanium tetrachloride for silver nanoparticle-humic acid composite contaminant removal in coagulation-ultrafiltration hybrid process: floc property and membrane fouling. Environ Sci Pollut Res 24, 1757–1768 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-7813-8

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