Cyanobacterial bloom removal by rapid flocculation and settling using modified iron tailings sand materials

Yichao WANG; Wei ZHU; Ruochen WANG; Guorui LI; Xinyi WANG; Jun ZHONG

doi:10.1007/s00343-024-4181-y

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Cyanobacterial bloom removal by rapid flocculation and settling using modified iron tailings sand materials

Ecology | Updated：2025-10-16

- Cyanobacterial bloom removal by rapid flocculation and settling using modified iron tailings sand materials
- Journal of Oceanology and Limnology Vol. 43, Issue 5, Pages: 1501-1514(2025)
- Affiliations：
  
  1.College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
  2.College of Civil and Transportation Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
- Author bio：
  
  zhuweiteam.hhu@gmail.com
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1007/s00343-024-4181-y
  CLC：
- Received：05 July 2024，
  
  Accepted：02 September 2024，
  
  Online First：10 October 2024，
  
  Published：01 September 2025
- Accepted：
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WANG Yichao,ZHU Wei,WANG Ruochen,et al.Cyanobacterial bloom removal by rapid flocculation and settling using modified iron tailings sand materials[J].Journal of Oceanology and Limnology,2025,43(05):1501-1514.
DOI：

WANG Yichao,ZHU Wei,WANG Ruochen,et al.Cyanobacterial bloom removal by rapid flocculation and settling using modified iron tailings sand materials[J].Journal of Oceanology and Limnology,2025,43(05):1501-1514. DOI： 10.1007/s00343-024-4181-y.

摘要

Abstract

Inexpensive flocculant-modified iron tailings sand (ITS) were converted into effective flocculation materials for cyanobacteria blooms. After composite modification with polyaluminum chloride (PAC) and polyacrylamide (PAM)

the surface charge of ITS was altered from negative to positive

and surface adhesion was increased by ~1.5 times. PAC/PAM-modified ITS (PP-ITS) had strong flocculating effects on cyanobacteria

facilitating their removal. When the dosage of PP-ITS was 150 mg/L and the ratio of flocculant to ITS was 1꞉20

the elimination rate of cyanobacteria was as high as 90%. The flocs formed were better than those with chitosan-modified clays (CS-CA) and PAC-modified ITS (PAC-ITS) in terms of settling velocity

size

and recovery ability. The positively charged groups in the flocculant

such as -NH

and Al

are attracted to negatively charged ions on the surface of ITS

altering the surface charge. Additionally

hydrogen bonds could form between amide side groups

and surface adhesion was improved through molecular association. Coupled with the strong bridging and sweeping effects of the flocculant

the flocs generated by PP-ITS formed rapidly and were large and resilient. The use of PP-ITS could effectively treat cyanobacteria blooms as well as solve the problem of ore tailings disposal. These results are of practical importance for engineering strategies to control cyanobacteria blooms

though there are still some issues that need to be addressed

such as how cyanobacteria flocs are collected and utilized after settling.

关键词

Keywords

references

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