November 2014 – Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology blog

Archive for November, 2014

Arsenic removal enhanced by humic acid

14 Nov 2014

Schematic diagram of humic acid coating on iron-based graphene composites

After tragic events like the devastating arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh in 2010, the exposure of drinking water to arsenic is a very serious concern worldwide.

Past studies have shown that removal of arsenic by nanoparticles in the presence of Humic Acid (HA) has a negative role. Now, for the first time, Blain Paul and colleagues have reported a positive influence of HA on graphene–Fe₃O₄ nano-composites for the removal of arsenic in water.

Contradictory to the general belief that HA has a negative effect on the ability of any system to absorb arsenic from water, this remarkable study demonstrates a role reversal of HA where it actually enhances the ability of graphene-Fe₃O₄ nano-composite to remove arsenic from ground water.

Researchers from the University of Johannesburg assembled Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles on graphene oxide sheets and coated with humic acid. The humic acid coating not only enhanced the nano-composites absorption ability, but almost doubled the removal efficiency of As(III) and As(V), opening a new dimension in the practical utilisation of nanotechnology in water research for arsenic removal.

Download the full paper for free* to find out how humic acid coating could significantly alter mechanism through π–π interactions, positively enhancing the removal of arsenic from water:

Graphene in the Fe₃O₄ nano-composite switching the negative influence of humic acid coating into an enhancing effect in the removal of arsenic from water
Blain Paul, Vyom Parashara and Ajay Mishra
Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2015, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/ C4EW00034J

*Access is free through a registered RSC account – click here to register

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Introducing Editorial Board Member, Lutgarde Raskin

07 Nov 2014

We are delighted to introduce Lutgarde Raskin as an Editorial Board Member for our new journal Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology.

Lutgarde Raskin

Having completed her Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1993, Lutgarde is now the Altarum/ERIM Russell O’Neal Professor of Engineering at the University of Michigan.

Lutgarde has worked on a variety of biological water treatment processes. Her current research focusses on anaerobic microbial processes for energy recovery from waste streams, and microbial processes in drinking water systems, including biological filtration, disinfection, and microbial ecology of distribution systems and premise plumbing. In her research, she uses cutting-edge molecular tools to characterize and optimize water quality process performance.

Lutgarde’s Inspiration:

“I am inspired by the complexity of the microbial world and the astonishing progress we have made in microbial ecology over the past few decades. This progress continuously motivates me to rethink engineered systems so we can better harness the power of microorganisms to treat water and recover resources from waste streams.”

Lutgarde Raskin, Editorial Board Member, Environmental Science: Water Research &Technology

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Energy positive treatment for fracking water

06 Nov 2014

$5 billion (£3 billion) is the estimated annual cost for disposing of contaminated water produced during shale gas extraction. Now, researchers in the US have developed a new technology that could reduce the cost of dealing with this water by 30–40%.

Hydraulic fracturing, the process used to extract oil and gas from underground rock formations, produces over 20 billion barrels of contaminated water every year. Current methods, such as underground injection, to dispose of these vast quantities of contaminated water have risks, including a chance of initiating earthquakes. Reuse of this water avoids disposal issues, but requires multiple treatment processes to remove contaminants such as salts and organic hydrocarbons.

Zhiyong Jason Ren and colleagues from the University of Colorado Boulder have developed a technique that can simultaneously remove organic pollutants and salinity from contaminated water whilst producing energy. ‘The beauty of this technology is that it can replace five or six current processes with one to kill multiple birds with one stone,’ he says.

To read the full article please visit Chemistry World.

Congratulations to the team at CU-Boulder who were recently awarded first place in the National Science Foundation’s Innovation Corps Program for the development of this technology.

With energy companies eager to test the technology in the field, Ren’s team is now working to scale up the process. You can access their full research paper, which is part of our Fracking in Perspective web collection for free* by clicking the link below.

Microbial capacitive desalination for integrated organic matter and salt removal and energy production from unconventional natural gas produced water

Casey Forrestal, Zachary Stoll, Pei Xu and Zhiyong Jason Ren

Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2015, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4EW00050A, Paper
From themed collection Fracking in perspective

*Access is free through a registered RSC account – click here to register.

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Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology blog

Archive for November, 2014

Arsenic removal enhanced by humic acid

Introducing Editorial Board Member, Lutgarde Raskin

Energy positive treatment for fracking water

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