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Study on the flocculation mechanism of a bioflocculant from Acinetobacter sp. TH40 combined with graphene oxide for the removal of metal ions from water

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Abstract

In order to realize the simultaneous removal of nine metal ions from water, in this study, an excellent flocculant suitable for the simultaneous removal of multiple metal ions in water was developed by using the excellent flocculation properties of graphene oxide (GO) combined with biological flocculants. First, this study investigated the concentrations and pollution levels of nine metal pollutants in surface water and groundwater of a typical city in central China. The maximum concentrations of these nine metal ions were Al 0.29, Ni 0.0325, Ba 0.948, Fe 1.12, As 0.05, Cd 0.01, Zn 1.45, Mn 1.24, and Hg 0.16 (in mg/L). Second, the three-dimensional structure diagram of GO was established. Gaussian16W software and the pm6D3 semi-empirical method were used to analysis the structure and the vibration of GO. The B3LYP function and basis set DEF2SVP was used to calculate the single point energy. Third, with varying the flocculation time, it was found that the maximum flocculation efficiency could reach more than 80.00% under the optimal conditions, that is, with a metal ion mixture of 20 mg/L. The optimal dosage of GO was 15 mg/L. The optimal time for bioflocculation efficiency was 2.5 h, and the optimal concentration of bioflocculant was 3 mg/L. The optimal flocculation efficiency was 82.01% under the optimal conditions.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51708248), the China Scholarship Council (No. 201808220182), the Jilin Science and Technology Development Plan Project (20200403019SF), and the Program of Science and Technology of the Jilin Institute of Chemical Technology (No. 2021044) and Jilin Science and Technology Bureau (20230103022). I also want to thank the China Scholarship Council for their support.

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Author notes

  1. Prof. Dazhi Sun and Prof. Caiyun Sun contributed equally to this article.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Jilin Institute of Chemical Technology, Jilin, 132022, China

    Liang Xu, Feng Zhang, Yu Xia, Mengyuan An, Chunlei Xu, Dazhi Sun & Caiyun Sun

  2. Chengdu Center of Hydrogeology and Engineering Geology, Sichuan Bureau of Geology & Mineral Resources, Chengdu, 610081, China

    Zhipeng Zhang

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  1. Liang Xu
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Contributions

Liang Xu: investigation, writing article, and provide funding. Feng Zhang: investigation, data curation, and visualization. Yu Xia: data curation and visualization. Zhipeng Zhang: investigation. Mengyuan An: investigation. Chunlei Xu: investigation. Dazhi Sun: supervision, writing—review and editing, and provide funding. Caiyun Sun: supervision and writing—review and editing.

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Correspondence to Dazhi Sun.

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Highlights

• Gaussian16W software used pm6D3 semi-empirical method to optimize the structure and analyze the vibration of the initial conformation of GO.

• The B3LYP function basis group DEF2SVP was used to calculate the single point energy of GO.

• The highly effective biological flocculants MBF-57 is combined with GO to remove heavy metals.

• Factors affecting the removal of heavy metals by GO combined with MBF-57 were optimized.

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Supplementary file1 (DOCX 43 KB)

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Xu, L., Zhang, F., Xia, Y. et al. Study on the flocculation mechanism of a bioflocculant from Acinetobacter sp. TH40 combined with graphene oxide for the removal of metal ions from water. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 79835–79845 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-28018-6

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