Traditional chemical disinfectants are becoming increasingly defective due to the generation of carcinogenic disinfection byproducts and the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains. Functionalized magnetic nanoparticles yet have shown great application potentials in water treatment processes especially for bacterial removal. In this study, three types of amino acids (arginine, lysine, and poly-l-lysine) functionalized Fe3O4 nanoparticles (Fe3O4@Arg, Fe3O4@Lys, and Fe3O4@PLL) were prepared through a facile and inexpensive two-step process. The amino acid modified Fe3O4 nanoparticles (Fe3O4@AA) showed rapid and efficient capture and removal properties for both Gram-positive Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis) and Gram-negative Escherichia coli 15597 (E. coli). For both strains, more than 97% of bacteria (initial concentration of 1.5 × 107 CFU mL−1) could be captured by all three types of magnetic nanoparticles within 20 min. With E. coli as a model strain, Fe3O4@AA could remove more than 94% of cells from solutions over a broad pH range (from 4 to 10). Solution ionic strength did not affect cell capture efficiency. The co-presence of sulfate and nitrate in solutions did not affect the capture efficiency, whereas, the presence of phosphate and silicate slightly decreased the removal rate. However, around 90% and 80% of cells could be captured by Fe3O4@AA even at 10 mM of silicate and phosphate, respectively. Bacterial capture efficiencies were over 90% and 82% even in the present of 10 mg L−1 of humic acid and alginate, respectively. Moreover, Fe3O4@AA nanoparticles exhibited good reusability, and greater than 90% of E. coli cells could be captured even in the fifth regeneration cycle. The results showed Fe3O4@AA fabricated in this study have great application potential for bacteria removal from water.

This study investigated the influence of two representative suspended clay particles, bentonite and kaolinite, on the transport of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (nTiO2) in saturated quartz sand in both NaCl (1 and 10 mM ionic strength) and CaCl2 solutions (0.1 and 1 mM ionic strength) at pH 7. The breakthrough curves of nTiO2 with bentonite or kaolinite were higher than those without the presence of clay particles in NaCl solutions, indicating that both types of clay particles increased nTiO2 transport in NaCl solutions. Moreover, the enhancement of nTiO2 transport was more significant when bentonite was present in nTiO2 suspensions relative to kaolinite. Similar to NaCl solutions, in CaCl2 solutions, the breakthrough curves of nTiO2 with bentonite were also higher than those without clay particles, while the breakthrough curves of nTiO2 with kaolinite were lower than those without clay particles. Clearly, in CaCl2 solutions, the presence of bentonite in suspensions increased nTiO2 transport, whereas, kaolinite decreased nTiO2 transport in quartz sand. The attachment of nTiO2 onto clay particles (both bentonite and kaolinite) were observed under all experimental conditions. The increased transport of nTiO2 in most experimental conditions (except for kaolinite in CaCl2 solutions) was attributed mainly to the clay-facilitated nTiO2 transport. The straining of larger nTiO2-kaolinite clusters yet contributed to the decreased transport (enhanced retention) of nTiO2 in divalent CaCl2 solutions when kaolinite particles were copresent in suspensions.

Ag2O/TNBs were fabricated by depositing Ag2O nanoparticles on the surface of TiO2 nanobelts (TNBs). The disinfection activities of Ag2O/TNBs on two representative bacterial types: Gram-negative Escherichia coli ATCC15597 and Gram-positive Bacillus subtilis, were examined under both dark and visible light conditions. Ag2O/TNBs exhibited stronger bactericidal activities than Ag2O nanoparticles and TNBs under both dark and light conditions. For both cell types, disinfection effects of Ag2O/TNBs were greater under light conditions relative to those under dark conditions. The bactericidal mechanisms of Ag2O/TNBs under both dark and light conditions were explored. Ag+ ions released from Ag2O/TNBs did not contribute to the bactericidal activity of Ag2O/TNBs under dark conditions, whereas the released Ag+ ions showed bactericidal activity under visible light irradiation conditions. Active species (H2O2, O-center dot(2)-, and e(-)) generated by Ag2O/TNBs played important roles in the disinfection processes under both dark and visible light irradiation conditions. Without the presence of active species, the direct contact of Ag2O/TNBs with bacterial cells had no bactericidal effect. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

This study investigated the cotransport of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (nTiO(2)) and fullerene nanoparticles (nC(60)), two of the most widely utilized nanoparticles, in saturated quartz sand under a series of ionic strengths in NaCl solutions (0.1-10 mM) at both pH 5 and 7. Under all examined ionic strengths at pH 5, both breakthrough h curves and retained profiles of nTiO(2) in the copresence of nC(60) were similar to those without nC(60), indicating that nC(60) nanoparticles copresent in suspensions did not significantly affect the transport and retention of nTiO(2) in quartz sand at pH 5. In contrast, under all examined ionic strengths at pH 7, the breakthrough curves of nTiO(2) in the copresence of nC(60) in suspensions were higher and the retained profiles were lower than those without nC(60), which demonstrated that the presence of nC(60) in suspensions increased the rate of transport (decreased retention) of nTiO(2) in quartz sand at pH 7 Competition of deposition sites on quartz sand surfaces by the copresence of nC(60) was found to contribute to the increased nTiO(2) transport at pH 7. Under all examined ionic strength conditions at both pH 5 and 7, the breakthrough curves of nC(60) were reduced in the copresence of nTiO(2), and the corresponding retained profiles were higher than those without nTiO(2), indicating that the presence of nTiO(2) decreased the transport of nC(60) in quartz sand. Co-deposition of nC(60) with nTiO(2) in the form of nTiO(2)-nC(60) clusters as well as the deposition of nC(60) onto previously deposited nTiO(2) were responsible for the increased nC(60) deposition in the presence of nTiO(2) at pH 5, whereas deposition of nC(60) onto surfaces of predeposited nTiO(2) was found to be responsible for the increased nC(60) deposition at pH 7.

This study investigated the influence of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on the transport and retention behaviors of bacteria (E. coli) in packed porous media at both low and high ionic strength in NaCl and CaCl2 solutions. At low ionic strengths (5 mM NaCl and 0.3 mM CaCl2), both breakthrough curves and retained profiles of bacteria with CNTs (both 5 and 10 mg L-1) were equivalent to those without CNTs, indicating the presence of CNTs did not affect the transport and retention of E. coli at low ionic strengths. The results were supported by those from cell characterization tests (i.e., viability, surface properties, sizes), which showed no significant difference between with and without CNTs. In contrast, breakthrough curves of bacteria with CNTs were lower than those without CNTs at high ionic strengths (25 mM NaCl and 1.2 mM CaCl2), suggesting that the presence of CNTs decreased cell transport at high ionic strengths. The enhanced bacterial deposition in the presence of CNTs was mainly observed at segments near the column inlet, leading to much steeper retained profiles relative to those without CNTs. Additional transport experiments conducted with sand columns predeposited with CNTs revealed that the codeposition of bacteria with CNTs, as well as the deposition of the cell-CNTs cluster formed in cell suspension due to cell bridging effect, largely contributed to the increased deposition of bacteria at high ionic strengths in porous media.

Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) modified simultaneously with amorphous Fe and Mn oxides (Mag-Fe-Mn) were synthesized to remove arsenite [As(III)] from water. Mag-Fe-Mn particles were fabricated through heterogeneous nucleation technique by employing the maghemite as the magnetic core and Fe Mn binary oxide (FMBO) as the coating materials. Powder X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Raman spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy were utilized to characterize the hybrid material. With a saturation magnetization of 23.2 emu/g, Mag-Fe-Mn particles with size of 20 -50 nm could be easily separated from solutions with a simple magnetic process in short time (within 5 min). At pH 7.0, 200 mu g/L of As(III) could be easily decreased to below 10 mu g/L by Mag-Fe-Mn particles (0.1 g/L) within 20 min. As(III) could be effectively removed by Mag-Fe-Mn particles at initial pH range from 4 to 8 and the residual As was completely oxidized to less toxic arsenate [As(V)]. The co-occurring redox reactions between Mn oxide and As(III) was confirmed by XPS analysis. Chloride, sulfate, bicarbonate, and nitrate at common concentration range had negligible influence on As(III) removal, whereas, silicate and phosphate reduced the As(III) removal by competing with arsenic species for adsorption sites. As(M) removal was not obviously affected by natural organic matter (up to 8 mg/L as TOC). Mag-Fe-Mn could be regenerated with ternary solution of NaOH, NaCl, and NaClO. Throughout five consecutive cycles, the adsorption and desorption efficiencies maintained above 98% and 87%, respectively. Mag-Fe-Mn had a larger adsorption capacity for As(III) (47.76 mg/g) and could remove trace As(III) more thoroughly than MNPs modified solely with either Fe or Mn oxide due to the synergistic effect of the coating Fe and Mn oxides. This research extended the potential applicability of FMBO to a great extent and provided a convenient approach to efficiently remove trace As(III) from water. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The significance of clay particles on the transport and deposition kinetics of bacteria in irregular quartz sand was examined by direct comparison of both breakthrough curves and retained profiles with clay particles in bacteria suspension versus those without clay particles. Two representative cell types, Gram-negative strain E. coli DH5 alpha and Gram-positive strain Bacillus subtilis were utilized to systematically determine the influence of clay particles (bentonite) on cell transport behavior. Packed column experiments for both cell types were conducted in both NaCl (5 and 25 mM ionic strengths) and CaCl2 (5 mM ionic strength) solutions at pH 6.0. The breakthrough plateaus with bentonite in solutions (30 mg L-1 and 50 mg L-1) were lower than those without bentonite for both cell types under all examined conditions, indicating that bentonite in solutions decreased cell transport in porous media regardless of cell types (Gram-negative or Gram-positive) and solution chemistry (ionic strength and ion valence). The enhanced cell deposition with bentonite particles was mainly observed at segments near to column inlet, retained profiles for both cell types with bentonite particles were therefore steeper relative to those without bentonite. The increased cell deposition with bentonite observed in NaCl solutions was attributed to the codeposition of bacteria with bentonite particles whereas, in addition to codeposition of bacteria with bentonite, the bacteria bentonite bacteria cluster formed in suspensions also contributed to the increased deposition of bacteria with bentonite in CaCl2 solution.