TY - JOUR
T1 - Fate of cerium dioxide (CeO 2) nanoparticles in municipal wastewater during activated sludge treatment
AU - Gómez-Rivera, Francisco
AU - Field, James A.
AU - Brown, Dustin
AU - Sierra-Alvarez, Reyes
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the SRC/Sematech Engineering Research Center for Environmentally Benign Semiconductor Manufacturing. F. Gómez-Rivera was funded by CONACyT.
PY - 2012/3
Y1 - 2012/3
N2 - This study investigated the fate of nano-CeO 2 during municipal wastewater treatment using a laboratory-scale activated sludge (A/S) system fed with primarily-treated municipal wastewater and nano-CeO 2 (55.0mg Ce/L). Nano-CeO 2 was highly removed during A/S treatment (96.6% total Ce). Extensive removal of CeO 2 <200nm was also attained and the concentration escaping treatment was only 0.11mg Ce/L. Elimination occurred mainly by aggregation and settling of CeO 2 particles, promoted by circumneutral pH values and by nanoparticle interactions with organic and/or inorganic wastewater constituents. Biosorption also contributed to CeO 2 removal as shown by sludge analysis and batch adsorption studies. Batch bioassays demonstrated that nano-CeO 2 only exerted inhibition of O 2 uptake by A/S at concentrations exceeding those in the bioreactor feed (50% inhibition at 950mg CeO 2/L). These findings indicate that A/S treatment is expected to provide extensive removal of nano-CeO 2 in municipal wastewaters.
AB - This study investigated the fate of nano-CeO 2 during municipal wastewater treatment using a laboratory-scale activated sludge (A/S) system fed with primarily-treated municipal wastewater and nano-CeO 2 (55.0mg Ce/L). Nano-CeO 2 was highly removed during A/S treatment (96.6% total Ce). Extensive removal of CeO 2 <200nm was also attained and the concentration escaping treatment was only 0.11mg Ce/L. Elimination occurred mainly by aggregation and settling of CeO 2 particles, promoted by circumneutral pH values and by nanoparticle interactions with organic and/or inorganic wastewater constituents. Biosorption also contributed to CeO 2 removal as shown by sludge analysis and batch adsorption studies. Batch bioassays demonstrated that nano-CeO 2 only exerted inhibition of O 2 uptake by A/S at concentrations exceeding those in the bioreactor feed (50% inhibition at 950mg CeO 2/L). These findings indicate that A/S treatment is expected to provide extensive removal of nano-CeO 2 in municipal wastewaters.
KW - Aerobic inhibition
KW - Aerobic wastewater treatment
KW - Biosorption
KW - Nanoparticle removal
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U2 - 10.1016/j.biortech.2011.12.113
DO - 10.1016/j.biortech.2011.12.113
M3 - Article
C2 - 22265985
AN - SCOPUS:84863414543
VL - 108
SP - 300
EP - 304
JO - Bioresource Technology
JF - Bioresource Technology
SN - 0960-8524
ER -