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Effect of alginate on the aggregation kinetics of copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO NPs): bridging interaction and hetero-aggregation induced by Ca2+

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Abstract

The stability of CuO nanoparticles (NPs) is expected to play a key role in the environmental risk assessment of nanotoxicity in aquatic systems. In this study, the effect of alginate (model polysaccharides) on the stability of CuO NPs in various environmentally relevant ionic strength conditions was investigated by using time-resolved dynamic light scattering. Significant aggregation of CuO NPs was observed in the presence of both monovalent and divalent cations. The critical coagulation concentrations (CCC) were 54.5 and 2.9 mM for NaNO3 and Ca(NO3)2, respectively. The presence of alginate slowed nano-CuO aggregation rates over the entire NaNO3 concentration range due to the combined electrostatic and steric effect. High concentrations of Ca2+ (>6 mM) resulted in stronger adsorption of alginate onto CuO NPs; however, enhanced aggregation of CuO NPs occurred simultaneously under the same conditions. Spectroscopic analysis revealed that the bridging interaction of alginate with Ca2+ might be an important mechanism for the enhanced aggregation. Furthermore, significant coagulation of the alginate molecules was observed in solutions of high Ca2+ concentrations, indicating a hetero-aggregation mechanism between the alginate-covered CuO NPs and the unabsorbed alginate. These results suggested a different aggregation mechanism of NPs might co-exist in aqueous systems enriched with natural organic matter, which should be taken into consideration in future studies.

Hetero-aggregation mechanism of CuO nanoparticles and alginate under high concentration of Ca2+

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful for the grants from the project supported by the National Science Funds for Creative Research Groups of China (No. 51421006), the National Science Funds for Distinguished Young Scholars (No. 51225901), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41430751, 51479047, 51479065), the Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University (No. IRT13061), the National Science Foundation of China for Excellent Young Scholars (No. 51422902), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 2015B22014, No. 2015B05714), and PAPD.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resources Development on Shallow Lakes, Ministry of Education, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, People’s Republic of China

    Lingzhan Miao, Chao Wang, Jun Hou, Peifang Wang, Yanhui Ao, Yi Li, Bowen Lv, Yangyang Yang, Guoxiang You & Yi Xu

  2. College of Environment, Hohai University, 1 Xikang Road, Nanjing, 210098, People’s Republic of China

    Lingzhan Miao, Chao Wang, Jun Hou, Peifang Wang, Yanhui Ao, Yi Li, Bowen Lv, Yangyang Yang, Guoxiang You & Yi Xu

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  1. Lingzhan Miao
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  2. Chao Wang
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  3. Jun Hou
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  4. Peifang Wang
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  5. Yanhui Ao
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  7. Bowen Lv
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  9. Guoxiang You
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Correspondence to Jun Hou or Peifang Wang.

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Responsible editor: Thomas D. Bucheli

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Miao, L., Wang, C., Hou, J. et al. Effect of alginate on the aggregation kinetics of copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO NPs): bridging interaction and hetero-aggregation induced by Ca2+ . Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 11611–11619 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-6358-1

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