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  4. Effect of Ozone Treatment on Nano-Sized Silver Sulfide in Wastewater Effluent
 
research article

Effect of Ozone Treatment on Nano-Sized Silver Sulfide in Wastewater Effluent

Thalmann, Basilius
•
Voegelin, Andreas
•
Von Gunten, Urs  
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2015
Environmental Science & Technology

Silver nanoparticles used in consumer products are likely to be released into municipal wastewater. Transformation reactions, most importantly sulfidation, lead to the formation of nanoscale silver sulfide (nano-Ag2S) particles. In wastewater treatment plants (WWTP), ozonation can enhance the effluent quality by eliminating organic micropollutants. The effect of ozonation on the fate of nano-Ag2S, however, is currently unknown. In this study, we investigate the interaction of ozone with nano-Ag2S and evaluate the effect of ozonation on the short-term toxicity of WWTP effluent spiked with nano-Ag2S. The oxidation of nano-Ag2S by ozone resulted in a stoichiometric factor (number of moles of ozone required to oxidize one mole of sulfide to sulfate) of 2.91, which is comparable to the results obtained for the reaction of bisulfide (HS-) with ozone. The second-order rate constant for the reaction of nano-Ag2S with ozone (k = 3.1 X 10(4) M-1 s(-1)) is comparable to the rate constant of fast-reacting micropollutants. Analysis of the ozonation products transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) revealed that ozonation dominantly led to is the formation of silver chloride in WWTP effluent. After ozonation of the Ag2S-spiked effluent, the short-term toxicity for the green algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii increased and reached EC50 values comparable to Ag+. This study thus reveals that ozone treatment of WWTP effluent results in the oxidation of Ag2S and, hence, an increase of the Ag toxicity in the effluent, which may become relevant at elevated Ag concentrations.

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Type
research article
DOI
10.1021/acs.est.5b02194
Web of Science ID

WOS:000361415800019

Author(s)
Thalmann, Basilius
Voegelin, Andreas
Von Gunten, Urs  
Behra, Renata
Morgenroth, Eberhard
Kaegi, Ralf
Date Issued

2015

Publisher

American Chemical Society

Published in
Environmental Science & Technology
Volume

49

Issue

18

Start page

10911

End page

10919

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
LTQE  
Available on Infoscience
December 2, 2015
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/121238
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