Abstract
Algal blooms have posed great threats to livestocks and human health. Although flocculation is effective, its efficiency may hinder the direct application for algal blooms. In this study, critical (optimal) conditions and mechanisms for AlCl3, FeCl3, poly-aluminum chloride (PAC), chitosan, and polydimethyldiallylammonium chloride (PDADMAC)–induced flocculation of Chlorella vulgaris (C. vulgaris) were studied. Results identified the critical conditions which can cause flocculation efficiencies over 90% in 45 min for the five flocculants. Specifically, 4~10-mg/L doses of PDADMAC were proved to be appropriate for the treatment of C. vulgaris–induced algal blooms at pH 6.0~12.0. To probe the underlying mechanisms, functional groups involved in flocculation, zeta potential, and species distribution were analyzed during flocculation. FT-IR results indicated that N–H stretching in amine and C–H deformation in aliphatics were involved in algal flocculation with FeCl3, and C–H deformation played an important role with PDADMAC, PAC, and chitosan. For AlCl3, zeta potential and species distribution results suggested that charge neutralization and adsorption bridging were responsible for algal flocculation at pH 6~8. However, adsorption bridging and sweeping effects were the main mechanisms at pH >3 for FeCl3. The flocculation mechanisms for the rest of the three polymers were charge neutralization, adsorption bridging, and sweeping. Meanwhile, all the flocculation processes followed second-order kinetics. Strong linkages were found between the rate constant, fractal dimension, and flocculation efficiency (P < 0.05). The results of critical flocculation conditions and mechanisms indicated that PDADMAC was an excellent flocculant for C. vulgaris removing and recycling, especially in water bloom treatment.
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The datasets and materials used during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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This study was financially sponsored by the Fundamental Research Program of Guizhou Science and Technology Department, China ([2020]1Y416, [2019]1153, ZK[2021]226), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC grant nos. 41867048, 42167050).
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Ping Zhang: investigation, data curation, methodology, formal analysis, writing-original draft, writing—review and editing, funding acquisition. Sihan Zhu: investigation, methodology, formal analysis, writing—original draft, writing—review and editing. Chao Xiong: methodology, formal analysis, writing—review and editing. Bin Yan: methodology, formal analysis, writing—review and editing. Zhikang Wang: methodology, writing—review and editing, funding acquisition, project administration. Kai Li: methodology, funding acquisition. Irumva Olivier: conceptualization, formal analysis, writing—review and editing. Han Wang: supervision, formal analysis, writing—review and editing, funding acquisition.
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Zhang, P., Zhu, S., Xiong, C. et al. Flocculation of Chlorella vulgaris–induced algal blooms: critical conditions and mechanisms. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 78809–78820 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-21383-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-21383-8