Flocculation with heterogeneous composition in water environments: A review

Que Nguyen Ho; Michael Fettweis; Kate L Spencer; Byung Joon Lee

doi:10.1016/j.watres.2022.118147

Flocculation with heterogeneous composition in water environments: A review

Water Res. 2022 Apr 15:213:118147. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2022.118147. Epub 2022 Feb 1.

Authors

Que Nguyen Ho¹, Michael Fettweis², Kate L Spencer³, Byung Joon Lee⁴

Affiliations

¹ Energy Environment Institute, Kyungpook National University, 2559 Gyeongsang-daero, Sangju, Gyeongbuk 37224, Korea.
² Operational Directorate Natural Environment, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Rue Vautier 29, B-1000 Bruxelles, Belgium.
³ School of Geography, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 4NS, UK.
⁴ Energy Environment Institute, Kyungpook National University, 2559 Gyeongsang-daero, Sangju, Gyeongbuk 37224, Korea; Department of Advanced Science and Technology Convergence, Kyungpook National University, 2559 Gyeongsang-daero, Sangju, Gyeongbuk 37224, Korea. Electronic address: bjlee@knu.ac.kr.

PMID: 35149367
DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2022.118147

Abstract

Flocculation is a key process for controlling the fate and transport of suspended particulate matter (SPM) in water environments and has received considerable attention in the field of water science (e.g., oceanography, limnology, and hydrology), remaining an active area of research. The research on flocculation has been conducted to elucidate the SPM dynamics and to diagnose various environmental issues. The flocculation, sedimentation, and transportation of SPM are closely linked to the compositional and structural properties of flocs. In fact, flocs are highly heterogeneous in terms of composition. However, the lack of comprehensive research on floc composition and structure has led to misconceptions regarding the temporal and spatial dynamics of SPM. This review summarizes the current understanding of the heterogeneous composition of flocs (e.g., minerals, organic matter, metals, microplastic, engineered nanoparticles) and its effect on their structure and on their fate and transport within aquatic environments. Furthermore, the effects of human activities (e.g., pollutant discharge, construction) on floc composition are discussed.

Keywords: AB, Alcian Blue; CBB, Coomassie Brilliant Blue; CSPs, Coomassie stainable particles; DOM, Dissolved organic matter; ENPs, Engineered nanoparticles; EPS, Extracellular polymeric substances; FA, Fulvic acids; Flocculation; HA, Humic acids; HS, Humic substances; Heterogeneous composition; Hm, Humin; LB-EPS, Loosely bound EPS; MPs, Microplastics; Microplastics; OM, Organic matter; OWFs, Offshore wind farms; Organic matter; POM, Particulate organic matter; SPM, Suspended particulate matter; Suspended particle matter; TB-EPS, Tightly bound EPS; TEP, Transparent exopolymer particles; TOC, Total organic carbon.

Publication types

Review