Ultrafine particles or particulate matter emitted from coal-fired power plants pose serious threats to public health. In this work, unique processes for flocculating ultrafine particles were developed and conducted at both bench and pilot scales. The results from dynamic flocculation processes, monitored through a benchtop photometric dispersion analyzer, indicated that ionic polyacrylamide of high molecular weight (MW) induced effective flocculation at concentrations of 1–3 ppm and neutral pH. Such conditions were adopted in a pilot-scale flocculation tower in accordance with the actual operating parameters of a power plant to verify the flocculation of ultrafine particles induced by counter-flow spraying flocculant solution into simulated flue gas. Results showed that the best conditions in pilot trials were to spray the diluted solution of anionic polymer with ultrahigh MW at 20 mL/min, which increased fine particle size from 2.46 to 25.9 μm (floc size), thus demonstrating the effectiveness of the process.

•A novel functional modified cellulose-based hydrogel was prepared as a bioadsorbent.•Single/binary adsorption of heavy metal ions on the bioadsorbent was investigated.•Various adsorption isotherm and kinetic models were fitted with experimental data.•The mechanism and driving forces for the adsorption on bioadsorbent were elucidated.A high efficient and eco-friendly sugarcane cellulose-based adsorbent was prepared in an attempt to remove Pb2+, Cu2+ and Zn2+ from aqueous solutions. The effects of initial concentration of heavy metal ions and temperature on the adsorption capacity of the bioadsorbent were investigated. The adsorption isotherms showed that the adsorption of Pb2+, Cu2+ and Zn2+ followed the Langmuir model and the maximum adsorptions were as high as 558.9, 446.2 and 363.3 mg·g−1, respectively, in single component system. The binary component system was better described with the competitive Langmuir isotherm model. The three dimensional sorption surface of binary component system demonstrated that the presence of Pb2+ decreased the sorption of Cu2+, but the adsorption amount of other metal ions was not affected. The result from SEM-EDAX revealed that the adsorption of metal ions on bioadsorbent was mainly driven by coordination, ion exchange and electrostatic association.Download high-res image (190KB)Download full-size image

•Water-resistant cellulose foam paper was rendered antimicrobial successfully.•Resulting foam paper is effective in both capture and deactivation of pathogenic microorganism.•Non-leaching effect of antimicrobial polymer in foam paper was observed.•Antibacterial foam paper is promising as multi-functional filter for water disinfection.Water-resistant cellulose foam paper was developed in this work in an attempt to improve the antimicrobial activity of cellulose foam paper for capture and deactivation of pathogenic microorganisms existed in water. Results indicated that the cellulose foam paper could significantly improve household water quality by incorporating guanidine-based polymer modified with starch or called antibacterial thermoplastic starch (ATPS) into fibre network in the presence of proper amount of fiber fines. Ring diffusion testing demonstrated that no ATPS diffused around or underneath of samples, verifying that cellulose foam filter added by ATPS were of non-leaching type. Furthermore, the viability of bacteria before and after filtering and the structure of cellulose foam paper were analyzed via fluorescence microscopy and scanning electron microscopy images. The findings further proved the effectiveness of antimicrobial cellulose foam in deactivating pathogens, E.coli in particular.