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Magnetic flocculants synthesized by Fe3O4 coated with cationic polyacrylamide for high turbid water flocculation

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Abstract

A novel magnetic flocculant (CPAMF) was synthesized by using Fe3O4 coated with cationic polyacrylamide (CPAM) for flocculation of high turbid water. The surface morphology and chemical structures of CPAMF were confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA). X-ray diffraction (XRD) was employed to verify the crystal structure of CPAMF. The magnetic property of CPAMF was compared with Fe3O4 in this study. The flocculation performance by using flocculants CPAMF was evaluated in high turbid water treatment. The maximum transmittance 92.4% of kaolin suspension was achieved at corresponding optimal flocculation conditions. The result indicated that CPAMF was efficient in high turbid water flocculation. Analysis of FTIR, XRD of flocs, and zeta potential (ZP) of supernatant were accomplished for flocculation mechanism investigation. Because of low recovery factor in reflocculation under the effect of shear force on flocs, the bridging effect was found to be dominant in both acidic and alkaline conditions. Sedimentation experiments under the role of permanent magnet indicated that nano-Fe3O4 could effectively improve the settling property of CPAM.

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Funding

The work was financially supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (Project Nos. 51408004 and 51408215) and the University Natural Science Research Key Project of Anhui Province (Project No. KJ2018A0044 and KJ2017A061).

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Author notes

  1. Jiangya Ma

    Present address: School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Anhui University of Technology, No 59 of Hudong Road, Maanshan City, 243002, Anhui, China

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Anhui University of Technology, No 59 of Hudong Road, Maanshan City, 243002, Anhui, China

    Xue Fu, Liyan Jiang & Jun Shi

  2. Engineering Research Center of Biomembrane Water Purification and Utilization Technology, Ministry of Education, Maanshan, 243002, Anhui, China

    Jiangya Ma, Xue Fu, Liyan Jiang & Jun Shi

  3. College of Civil Engineering, Hunan University of Science & Technology, Xiangtan, 411201, China

    Guocheng Zhu

Authors
  1. Jiangya Ma
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  2. Xue Fu
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  3. Liyan Jiang
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  4. Guocheng Zhu
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  5. Jun Shi
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Correspondence to Jiangya Ma.

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Responsible editor: Angeles Blanco

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Ma, J., Fu, X., Jiang, L. et al. Magnetic flocculants synthesized by Fe3O4 coated with cationic polyacrylamide for high turbid water flocculation. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25, 25955–25966 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-2610-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-2610-1

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