1 s2.0 S0043135416301270 Main

Water Research 95 (2016) 59e89
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Water Research
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/watres
Review
A review on chitosan-based occulants and their applications in water

treatment*
Ran Yang, Haijiang Li, Mu Huang, Hu Yang*, Aimin Li
State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, PR China
a r t i c l e i n f o
a b s t r a c t
Article history:
Received 27 November 2015
Received in revised form
29 February 2016
Accepted 29 February 2016
Available online 3 March 2016
In recent years, the use of chitosan and its derivatives as occulants in water treatment has received
considerable attention due to their many advantages, including their widespread availability, environmental friendliness, biodegradability, and prominent structural features. However, it is a signicant
strategy for selection and design of the high-performance materials on the basis of their structureactivity relationships. Here we describe several of the chemical modication methods commonly used
to prepare chitosan-based occulants. These methods allow convenient control and adjustment of the
structures of the obtained materials to meet the different practical requirements. The inuence of
structural elements of the chitosan-based occulants on their occulation properties are emphasized in
this review by examining different occulation mechanisms and their applications in the treatment of
various wastewaters containing different pollutants (insoluble suspended colloids but also dissolved
matters). Above all, the chitosan-based occulants with proper structures by precise structure control
bear great application potentials in water treatment.
2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords:
Chitosan-based occulants
Structure-activity relationship
Structural factors
Flocculation mechanism
Chemical modication
Water treatment
Contents
1.
2.
3.
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Flocculation mechanisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
2.1.
Charge neutralization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
2.1.1.
Simple charge neutralization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
2.1.2.
Charge patching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
2.1.3.
Charge neutralization by chitosan flocculants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
2.2.
Bridging flocculation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
2.2.1.
Bridging effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
2.2.2.
Bridging flocculation using chitosan flocculants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
2.3.
Other flocculation mechanisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
2.3.1.
Sweeping flocculation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
2.3.2.
Special interactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
2.4.
External factors affecting the mechanism of flocculation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
2.4.1.
Dose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
2.4.2.
pH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
2.4.3.
Ionic strength . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
2.4.4.
Temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Chitosan-based flocculants and the effects of structural factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
3.1.
Chitosan flocculants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
3.1.1.
Structural factors: degree of deacetylation and molecular weight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
*
Supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos. 51438008
and 51378250) and Six Talent Peaks Project in Jiangsu Province of China (grant no.
2015-JNHB-003).
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: yanghu@nju.edu.cn (H. Yang).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2016.02.068
0043-1354/ 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
60
R. Yang et al. / Water Research 95 (2016) 59e89
3.1.2.
Effects of structural factors on flocculation of various wastewater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Modified chitosan flocculants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
3.2.1.
Etherified/N-alkylated chitosan occulants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
3.2.2.
Grafted chitosan flocculants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Perspectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
4.1.
In-depth investigations of chitosan-based flocculants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
4.1.1.
Various available studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
4.1.2.
Molecular structure control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
4.1.3.
Flocs properties analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
4.2.
Cost performance of chitosan-based flocculants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
4.2.1.
Cost of chitosan-based flocculants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
4.2.2.
Combined flocculation with chitosan-based flocculants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
4.2.3.
Multi-function chitosan-based flocculants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
4.3.
Safety of chitosan-based flocculants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
4.3.1.
Toxicity of chitosan-based flocculants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
4.3.2.
Risk of the disinfection by-products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
3.2.
4.
5.
Abbreviations
7GL
Basic Bright Yellow
AM
Acrylamide
ASR
Acidic Sandolan red
CAN
Ceric ammonium nitrate
CEC
N-carboxyethylated chitosans
CMC
Carboxymethyl chitosan
CDp
Polymer charge density
CTA
3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyl trimethylammonium
CTS
Chitosan
CTS-GMA Glycidyl-methacrylate-modied chitosan
CTS-GMA-TMAEMC CTSeGMA-co-poly(N-trimethyl
aminoethylmethacrylate chloride)
DD
Degree of deacetylation
DKG
Direct Kahi Green
DLVO
Derjguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek
DMC
(2-methacryloyloxyethyl) trimethyl ammonium
chloride
DMF
Dimethyl formamide
DS
Degree of substitution
DW
Demineralized water
ETA
2, 3-Epoxypropyl trimethyl ammonium chloride
GCC
Calcium carbonate
GlcN
D-glucosamine
GlcNAc N-acetyl-D-glucosamine
LLC
Lower limit concentration
MO
Methyl orange
MW
Molecular weight
NCBCh N-carboxybutyl chitosan
NHMFCh reduction product of the aldimine obtained from
chitosan and 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde
NMPC
N-methylene phosphonic chitosan
N-MPC N-methyl piperazinium chloride
NOM
natural organic material
OPC
O-phosphorylated chitosan
PAC
Poly-aluminum chloride
PAM
Polyacrylamide
PBB
Procion Brilliant Blue
PDMC
Poly(2-methacryloyloxyethyl) trimethyl ammonium
chloride
PFS
Polymerized ferrous sulfate
PNVCL Poly(N-vinylcaprolactam)
THM
Trihalomethane
TRE
Turbidity removal efciency
TW
Tap water
WA
Window of application
WsCs-SDDCt Water-soluble chitosans blended with sodium N,
N-diethyl dithiocarbamate trihydrate
WsCs-SSc Water-soluble chitosans blended with sodium
salicylate
1. Introduction
The rapid development of modern industries throughout the
world has been accompanied by the production of various wastewaters containing different types of dissolved and undissolved
contaminants and therefore of increasingly severe water pollution
(Schwarzenbach et al., 2006; Shannon et al., 2008). To address this
problem, a broad range of technologies, such as coagulation/occulation (Dao et al., 2016; Jiang, 2015; Lee et al., 2014; Matilainen
et al., 2010), adsorption (Crini, 2005; Qu, 2008), oxidation/reduction (Arena et al., 2015; Chen, 2004; Liu et al., 2015; Oturan and
Aaron, 2014), membrane ltration (Fane et al., 2015; Hillis, 1988;
6
CH 2OH
6
CH2OH
4
OH
3
1 O
2
NH 2
(a)
OH
NHCOCH3
(b)
Fig. 1.1. The chemical structures of chitosan (a) and its precursor chitin (b).
Pendergast and Hoek, 2011), and biotechnology (dos Santos et al.,

2007; Imran et al., 2015; Vela et al., 2015), have been developed
and employed in water treatment.
Among these techniques, coagulation/occulation is one of the
most commonly used to achieve solid-liquid separation, based on
its cost effectiveness and ease of operation (Dao et al., 2016; Jiang,
2015; Lee et al., 2014; Matilainen et al., 2010). In practical coagulation/occulation processes, the small colloids suspended in
wastewater are destabilized by the addition of coagulants. Coagulation is followed by occulation, in which the destabilized particles aggregate to form larger ocs that can be effectively removed
by sedimentation. It should be noted that, in some literature, the
terms coagulation and occulation as well as coagulant and
occulant are sometimes used interchangeably.
The efciency of occulation is highly dependent on the
selected occulants. Flocculants are mainly divided into two
distinct classes: (1) inorganic coagulants, such as aluminum sulfate
(Al2(SO4)3), poly-aluminum chloride (PAC), and polymerized
ferrous sulfate (PFS), and (2) organic polymeric occulants
including synthetic and natural ones. Traditional inorganic salts of
multivalent metals and their polymerides have been widely used
for decades as coagulants because of their advantage of low cost
(Joo et al., 2007; Li et al., 2005). As reported in many studies, they
are often preferred in coagulationeocculation process for their
adsorption on negatively charged colloidal particles, resulting in
simultaneous surface charge reduction and formation of microocs (Li et al., 2005, 2006). Therefore, large doses of inorganic coagulants are usually required for efcient occulation, causing the
production of large volumes of metal hydroxide sludge and subsequent disposal problem. Other drawbacks of inorganic coagulants
still include highly sensitive to pH, inefcient towards very ne
particles and applicable only to a few disperse systems (Bratby,
2006; Sharma et al., 2006). Moreover, an increase in metal concentration in treated water may have serious human health concerns (Walton, 2013; Ward et al., 2006).
Organic polymer occulants have different molecular weight
(MW), structure (linear versus branched), ionic nature, charge
density, chemical composition, and degree of substitution (DS) of
the various functional groups (Bolto and Gregory, 2007), which are
highly efcient with little doses (e.g. few milligrams per litre) and
generate much smaller sludge volume without consumption of
alkalinity unlike inorganic coagulants. The ocs formed during
occulation are moreover bigger and stronger to endow excellent
settling characteristics (Bolto and Gregory, 2007; Razali et al., 2011).
On the other hand, polymeric occulants, especially cationic polymers, can be used in direct occulation processes, which possess
dual functions of coagulation and occulation: neutralizing the
negative charges and bridging the aggregated destabilized particles
(Chong, 2012; Lee et al., 2014).
However, as for the synthetic organic polymer occulants such
as polyacrylamide (PAM) and its derivatives, residual unreacted
monomers including acrylamide (AM) and ethyleneimine are
extremely toxic causing severe neurotoxic effects (Bolto and
Gregory, 2007; Bratby, 2006; Dao et al., 2016). Therefore, the
development of natural polymeric occulants, such as chitosan
(Guibal et al., 2006; Renault et al., 2009; Zeng and Yuan, 2004),
starch (Krentz et al., 2006; Singh et al., 2000; Wang et al., 2013a),
and cellulose (Liu et al., 2014; Sievanen et al., 2015), has been
promoted, given their widespread availability, low price, nontoxicity, and biodegradability.
Chitosan has found applications in many elds, including
biotechnology, biomedicine, food processing, and wastewater
treatment (Bolto, 1995; Crini and Badot, 2008; Guibal et al., 2006;
Jiang, 2001; Muzzarelli and Muzzarelli, 2005; Reddy and Lee,
2013; Renault et al., 2009; Rinaudo, 2006). It is a linear
61
copolymer of D-glucosamine (GlcN) and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine

(GlcNAc) synthesized by the alkaline deacetylation of chitin, the
second-most-abundant natural polymer in the world, after cellulose. The structural parameters that determine chitosan's properties, including its water solubility, conformation, and chain stiffness
in solution, are its MW and degree of deacetylation (DD)
(Anthonsen and Smidsr, 1995; Anthonsen et al., 1993; Jiang, 2001;
Lamarque et al., 2005; Muzzarelli and Muzzarelli, 2005; Rinaudo,
2006; Strand et al., 2001a; Thanou and Junginger, 2005). When
the DD reaches approximately 50%, chitin usually becomes soluble
in aqueous acidic medium and is called chitosan (Muzzarelli and
Muzzarelli, 2005). The structures of both fully deacetylated chitosan and its precursor chitin are shown in Fig. 1.1.
Kasaai reviewed several of the methods to determine the DD of
chitin and chitosan. Those most commonly used are: (1) spectroscopy (IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, 15N NMR, and UV); (2) conventional
methods (various types of titration, conductometry, potentiometry,
ninhydrin assay, adsorption of free amino groups of chitosan by
picric acid); and (3) destructive methods (elemental analysis, acidic
or enzymatic hydrolysis of chitin/chitosan followed by DD measurement by colorimetry or high performance liquid chromatography, pyrolysis-gas chromatography, and thermal analysis using
differential scanning calorimetry) (Kasaai, 2009).
Polymer MW is usually measured by static light scattering,
viscosity, gel-permeation chromatography, and so on (Chu, 1991;
Elias, 1984; Flory, 1953; Sperling, 2006). As for chitosan, viscosity
is a commonly used method according to Mark-Houwink equation
(Eq. (1.1)):
h KMa
(1.1)
in which correct constants of K and a are the key to obtain accurate

polymer MW. The calculated viscosity-average MW (M) from the
intrinsic viscosity ([h]) is close to the weight-average MW. Rinaudo
summarized the various reported K and a values under different
solution conditions (Rinaudo, 2006). Wang and his colleagues
(Wang et al., 1990, 1991a, 1991b, 1992) considered the effects of the
DD on K and a and then determined the quantitative relationship
between DD and these constants for a DD between 69% and 100%,
as shown in Eqs. (1.2) and (1.3). When the buffer solution is 0.2 mol/
L CH3COOH and 0.1 mol/L CH3COONa (pH 4.40) at 30 C:
K 1:64 1030 DD14:0 r 0:996
(1.2)
a 1:02 102 DD 1:82r 0:998
(1.3)
In addition to its long chain structure, chitosan has abundant

free amino groups along its polymer chain backbone. These would
be protonated in acidic medium, in which case chitosan would
behave as a typical cationic polyelectrolyte (Guibal et al., 2006;
Jiang, 2001; Muzzarelli and Muzzarelli, 2005; Renault et al., 2009;
Rinaudo, 2006). These properties endow chitosan with its good
occulation performance, including efcient charge neutralization
and bridging effects, in the treatment of various contaminants in
water, as most of them have a negative surface charge (Jiang, 2015;
Lee et al., 2014; Matilainen et al., 2010).
However, chitosan also has several decits that hinder its
optimal use, including inactive chemical properties and poor solubility in neutral or alkaline aqueous solutions (Jiang, 2001;
Muzzarelli and Muzzarelli, 2005; Rinaudo, 2006). To improve the
performance of chitosan, various physical and chemically modied
forms have been synthesized and evaluated (Dao et al., 2016; Jiang,
2001; Muzzarelli and Muzzarelli, 2005; Prashanth and
Tharanathan, 2007; Rinaudo, 2006; Yang et al., 2011a; Zhang,
2006). These have allowed the use of chitosan and its derivatives
62
Table 1.1
Examples of different efuents treated by coagulation/occulation using chitosan-based occulants.
Type of efuent
Chitosan-based occulants
Pollutants
Inorganic suspended Silt, mineral dissolutions, silica, clay (kaolin, bentonite suspensions, etc.)
solidscontaminated
efuent
Heavy metal ionscontaminated

efuent
Humic acidcontaminated
efuent
Dye-contaminated
efuent
Microorganismcontaminated
efuent
Raw natural water
Textile and paper

production
efuent
Food industry
efuent
Livestock efuent
Electroplating and
mining efuent
Chitosan (Divakaran and Pillai, 2001; Roussy et al., 2004), chitosan-g-PAM

(Ali and Singh, 2009a; Wang et al., 2008; Wang et al., 2015a; Yuan et al.,
2010); chitosan-g-PAM-co-PDMC (Wang et al., 2012); chitosan-CTA (Li
et al., 2004a); CMC-CTA (Yang et al., 2012b); CMC-g-PDMC (Yang et al.,
2014b); chitosan-g-N-MPC (Dharani and Balasubramanian, 2015);
chitosan sulfate (Rios-Donato et al., 2012); chitosan/PNVCL composites
(Schwarz et al., 2012)
Hg2, Co2, Ni2, Ag, Cu2, Zn2, Cd2, etc.
Chitosan (Guibal et al., 2005; Lasko and Hurst, 1999; Wu et al., 2008b);
mercaptoacetyl chitosan (Chang et al., 2009; Zhang et al., 2013);
carboxyethyl chitosan (Bratskaya et al., 2009); chitosan/montmorillonite
composites (Assaad et al., 2007)
Humic acid
Chitosan (Bratskaya et al., 2001; Bratskaya et al., 2002; Kvinnesland and
Odegaard, 2004; Vogelsang et al., 2004); CMC-g-PDMC (Yang et al.,
2014b); chitosan hydrochloride and chitosan glutamate (Bratskaya et al.,
2004)
Reactive, acidic and direct dyes (PBB, ASR, DKG, AO7, MO, 7 GL, etc.)
Chitosan (Guibal and Roussy, 2007; Guibal et al., 2005; Patel and Vashi,
2012; Szygua et al., 2009; Verma et al., 2012); CMC-g-PAM (Yang et al.,
2013a); CMC-g-PDMC (Wu et al., 2015); CMC, NCBCh, and NHMFCh
(Delben et al., 1994; Stefancich et al., 1994); CTS-GMA-TMAEMC (Jiang
et al., 2011); PAC/chitosan coagulant/occulant (Sanghi and Bhattacharya,
2005; Zonoozi et al., 2011)
~ o et al., 2012; Strand
Chitosan (Billuri et al., 2015; Rehn et al., 2013; Rian
Bacteria (Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterobacter cloacae,
et al., 2001b; Strand et al., 2002; Strand et al., 2003); CMC-g-PDMC (Yang
Pseudomonas putida, Bacillus megaterium), algae (Chlorella,
et al., 2014a); Al2(SO4)3/chitosan coagulant/occulant (Mehdinejad et al.,
Protothecoides, Nannochloropsis salina, Cyanobacteria)
2009); hyaluronic-acid-collagen/chitosan complex lm (Wu et al., 2008a);
chitosan modied soil (Li and Pan, 2015; Li et al., 2015b; Zou et al., 2004;
Zou et al., 2006)
Suspended solids, algae, humic acids, nitrogen
Chitosan (Capelete, and Brand~
ao, 2013; Chen et al., 2014; Kurniawati et al.,
2014; Xu et al., 2013); chitosan-CTA (Huang et al., 2013); chitosan-g-PAM
(Zhang et al., 2010a); chitosan-CTA-g-PAM (Lu et al., 2011); CMC-CTA
(Dong et al., 2014; Yang et al., 2011b); FeCl3/chitosan coagulant/occulant
(Perez et al., 2016); Al2(SO4)3/chitosan coagulant/occulant (Garcia and
Moreno, 2012; Zemmouri et al., 2012; Zemmouri et al., 2013); PAC/
chitosan composite (Ng et al., 2012; Ng et al., 2013); chitosan/
montmorillonite nanocomposites (Wang et al., 2015b)
Cellulosic ber nes, dissolved and colloidal carbohydrates, dye
Chitosan (Nicu et al., 2013); chitosan-CTA (Li et al., 2004b); CMC-CTA (Cai
et al., 2010); chitosan/tannin coagulant/occulant (Roussy et al., 2005a);
CMC/PAM coagulant/occulant (Chen et al., 2006); PFS/PAM/CTS
composites (Zeng et al., 2012); chitosan/bentonite composites (Miranda
et al., 2013)
Grease and protein, emulsied oil, saccharides
Chitosan (Ahmad et al., 2006; Cheng et al., 2005; Chi and Cheng, 2006;
Gassara et al., 2015; Hwang and Srinivasan, 1995; Meyssami and Kasaeian,
2005; No and Meyers, 1989; Piontti and Zaritzky, 2001); Ocarboxymethyl-N-trimethyl chitosan chloride (Li et al., 2010); chitosanmagnetite nanocomposite (Saifuddin and Dinara, 2011)
Antibiotics, inorganic nutrients (NH3 and PO3
4 ), bacteria, wheat dregs Chitosan (Chung et al., 2005; Chung, 2006; de Godos et al., 2011; Johnson
and Gallanger, 1984)
Heavy metal ions
Chitosan (Coughlin et al., 1990; Li et al., 2012; Tirmizi et al., 1996); WsCsSDDCT and WsCs-SSC (Seo et al., 2002)
as coagulants, occulants, coagulant aids, and as components in

composite occulants to efciently treat wastewaters containing
different types of dissolved and undissolved inorganic, organic, and
biological contaminants, including suspended solids, heavy metals,
humic acid, dyes, algae, and bacteria (Chen et al., 2014; Guibal et al.,
2006; Renault et al., 2009; Wan et al., 2015). Table 1.1 lists the
various efuents treated by coagulation/occulation using
chitosan-based occulants.
As is known, the nal performance of a material is determined by
its structure. From a physical perspective, the structure of a macromolecule includes its short-range, long-range, and condensed
structures. These are corresponded to the repeating units of the
polymer chain (their type and chemical composition), the long-chain
morphology (shape and size) of the polymer, and its supermolecular
conguration (determined by the packing of the polymer chains)
respectively. (Elias, 1984; Flory, 1953; Sperling, 2006). The multiplicity of the polymer structure accounts for the wide-ranging performance characteristics of polymer-based materials. In addition, the
conformation of a polymer in solution (long-range structure) is a
particularly important determinant of the nal occulation performance besides its type and chemical composition (short-range
structure), since most occulants will be dissolved in water.
Two previous reviews related to the topic of chitosan occulant
have been published in 2006 and 2009 respectively (Guibal et al.,
2006; Renault et al., 2009). Guibal and his colleagues (Guibal
et al., 2006) have summarized the results mainly obtained in
their own research groups about treatment of four kinds of
wastewaters using chitosan: (a) bentonite suspensions, (b) organic
suspensions (mushroom suspensions), (c) anionic dye solutions
(Reactive Black 5 solutions), and (d) humic acid solutions. Later,
Renault et al. have given an overview of the coagulation/occulation performance of chitosan for various pollutant suspensions and
solutions by chitosan including dissolved and undissolved contaminants (Renault et al., 2009). Both of them have also introduced
the relevant coagulation/occulation mechanisms and the effects
of the characteristics of chitosan. However, their studies did not
include chemically modied chitosan occulants substantially, and
the relationship between the structural characteristics of chitosan-
63
Table 2.1
Flocculation mechanisms of chitosan-based occulants.
Mechanism
Description
Simple charge neutralization
Efcient reduction of the thickness of the electric double layer and full charge neutralization.
Charge patching
Unevenly distributed surface charges are incompletely neutralized.
Bridging
Adsorption and connection of the primary ocs on soluble linear large-MW occulants.
Sweeping
Enmeshing and entrapping of small colloidal pollutants by large ocs or polymeric precipitates.
based occulants and their occulation performance could not give

in-depth and systematical discussion also.
Accordingly, this review describes the use of chitosan and its
derivatives as occulants for the treatment of different types of
wastewater. The main focus is the structure-activity relationships
of these polymers, as these signicantly impact the selection and
design of high-performance occulants in the decontamination of
targeted pollutants. In addition to the effects of external environmental factors, such as the pH, dose, ionic strength, and temperature, those of various structural factors, including DD, MW, and the
degree of substitution by various functional groups, on the occulation properties of chitosan-based occulants are discussed in
detail with respect to the occulation mechanisms involved and
the methods used to chemically modify the polymers. Finally, we
present several of the chitosan-based occulants currently under
development and point out their potential applications.
Illustration
derivatives, can be categorized as simple charge neutralization,

charge patching, bridging, and sweeping (Guibal et al., 2006;
Renault et al., 2009) (Table 2.1).
However, actual occulation processes usually processed by two
or more occulation mechanisms. The predominant mechanism
mainly depends on: (1) the nature of the colloidal dispersion and
dissolved solutes; that is, whether they are hydrophobic vs. hydrophilic, their surface charge density, and their functional groups;
and (2) the type of occulant added to the wastewater: its ionic
properties, charge characteristics, functional groups, adsorption
capacity, and MW. Together these features determine whether
charge neutralization or bridge formation among the suspended
colloids and dissolved solutes is the dominant means of occulation (Guibal et al., 2006; Jiang, 2015; Lee et al., 2014; Matilainen
et al., 2010; Renault et al., 2009).
2.1. Charge neutralization
2. Flocculation mechanisms
The different types of occulants and pollutants interact via a
broad spectrum of occulation mechanisms and kinetic processes.
The recognition both is needed to optimize the reaction conditions
and to guide the development of novel and high-performance
occulants (Bolto and Gregory, 2007; Chang, 2011; Ghernaout
and Ghernaout, 2012; Gregory, 2006; Ives, 1978; Jiang, 2015; Lee
et al., 2014; Lyklema, 1985; Overbeek, 1977; Thomas et al., 1999;
Verwey and Overbeek, 1948).
In general, the kinetics of occulation by polymeric occulants
can be described as follows. After a suitable concentration of the
occulant is fed into the wastewater, the macromolecular occulant makes contact with the suspended colloids by adsorption
through electrostatic interactions, hydrogen bonding, van der
Waals forces, etc. This leads to a rearrangement of the conformation
of the adsorbed polymer such that the adsorbed suspended particles aggregate to form large ocs that then settle down effectively
(Bolto and Gregory, 2007; Chang, 2011; Gregory and Barany, 2011).
The occulation mechanisms that underlie the activities of the
various polymeric occulants, including chitosan and its
The occulation mechanism referred to as charge neutralization

is based on the diffuse electric double layer model and DLVO
(Derjguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek) theory (Gregory, 2006;
Hubbard, 2002). Most dispersed colloidal particles in wastewater
are charged, and the electrostatic repulsion effects among them
result in the relatively dynamic stability of the system. However,
when occulants with opposite charge are added to wastewater,
both the ionic strength of the medium and the concentration of
counterions in the diffuse double layers are increased. Even many of
counterions are able to diffuse into the compact electric double
layer of the dispersed contaminants. The result is a reduction in the
particle charge and a decrease in the zeta potential, leading to a
greater collision frequency and a higher collision efciency among
the suspended colloidal particles and thus the instability of the
system (Gregory, 2006; Hubbard, 2002).
2.1.1. Simple charge neutralization
When the surface charges of the dispersed pollutants are
neutralized completely by a given occulant dose, the electrostatic
repulsions are reduced to a minimum. Under these conditions, the
64
6
CH2OH
5
H+
4
1
OH
3
pKa
6
CH2OH
6
CH2OH
4
1
OH
3
2
NH3+
NH2
4
1
OH
3
2
NH2
Fig. 2.1. Protonation of chitosan in acidic medium.
suspended particles aggregate to form large ocs and therefore

settle, thus allowing their effective removal.
This occulation mechanism, referred to as simple charge
neutralization (Duan and Gregory, 2003; Guibal and Roussy, 2007;
Rios-Donato et al., 2012; Yang et al., 2012b, 2012c), usually requires
an optimal dose of the occulant in the occulation system.
Following the addition of an optimal concentration of occulant,
destabilization and aggregation occur continuously, such that large
sized ocs are formed and precipitated. However, when occulants
are fed into the wastewater in excess, the suspended particles are
completely surrounded, and the zeta potential of the colloids thus
deviates from zero. The recharged particles are therefore again
stabilized by the electrostatic repulsion effects and the occulation
efciency is accordingly reduced. To avoid this re-stabilization
effect, the optimal occulants concentration should be determined. Moreover, if simple charge neutralization is the dominant
mechanism in a occulation process, the optimal dose of the occulant will increase linearly depending on the initial turbidity of the
wastewater (Guibal et al., 2006; Yang et al., 2011b).
2.1.2. Charge patching

However, in many real-life wastewater treatments, the overdosed occulants do not obviously reduce the occulation efciency; rather, there is a broad occulation window in that
efcient occulation is achieved with a wide range of occulant
doses, without the aforementioned re-stabilization effect. In this
case, the zeta potential of wastewater is far away from zero at
optimal dose. These observations challenge simple charge
neutralization as the dominant occulation mechanism and instead
suggest charge patching. Thus, when a occulant is added to
wastewater, the polymer easily and rapidly adsorbs onto the surface of the oppositely charged suspended colloids, resulting in
heterogeneous coverage. Accordingly, various micro-regions on the
surface of the suspended particles bear different charges. The unevenly distributed positive and negative surface charges allow
direct electrostatic attraction among the suspended particles. Collisions among them lead to their eventual aggregation and the
formation of large, highly compact ocs. Therefore, the zeta potential of the medium does not reach zero at the optimal occulant
dose, resulting in a wide occulation window (Bratskaya et al.,
2006; Li et al., 2004a; Roussy et al., 2005b; Yang et al., 2012c).
In occulation, simple charge neutralization dominates when
the surfaces of the suspended particles are quickly and completely
neutralized by the occulant. Conversely, charge patching prevails
when primary ocs collide and aggregate before charge neutralization is complete. The two processes can be roughly distinguished
from one another based on the synchronous changes in the zeta
potential of the medium as a function of the occulant dose. In
details, if the zeta potential of supernatant is near zero at optimal
dose, simple charge neutralization is dominant. On the contrary,
charge patching play a vital role in occulation when that is far
away from zero.
2.1.3. Charge neutralization by chitosan occulants

Chitosan is a typical cationic polyelectrolyte whose amino
groups are protonated in acidic aqueous medium (Fig. 2.1). Protonation allows the interaction of chitosan with the negative surface charges found on most pollutants, through charge
neutralization effects (Guibal et al., 2006; Renault et al., 2009). For
polyelectrolytes, charge neutralization effects depend on the
charge density, dened as the distance between two charge units
along the macromolecular chain. In the case of chitosan, its charge
density depends on the number of protonated amino groups on the
chain backbone. Although increasing the DD would be expected to
increase the number of free amino groups and thus the positive
charge density, resulting in enhanced charge neutralization effects,
this is not the case sometimes. Rather, protonation of amino groups
is an equilibrium process that is simultaneously associated with
deprotonation, and the reversibility of these reactions is a function
of the pKa. The intrinsic pKa of chitosan is about 6.0e6.5, depending
on the pH of the medium (Chiappisi and Gradzielski, 2015;
Rinaudo, 2006; Rinaudo et al., 1999; Sorlier et al., 2001). Thus, the
degree of chitosan protonation will be much lower at pH 7.0 than at
pH 5.0.
By inuencing the protonation equilibrium of chitosan in water,
the pH also determines the charge density. Thus, together with the
control of the DD, the charge density can be altered over a large
range. However, the relationship between protonation degree, pH,
and DD is complicated by the fact that the pKa varies to some extent
with the protonation degree and the DD (Sorlier et al., 2001). Yet
another consideration is the charge distribution along the polymer
chain.
Moreover, the charge density of a polyelectrolyte is also affected
by the counterions in the medium, i.e., by the ionic strength. The
ionized groups on a polyelectrolyte in a solution are not uniformly
dispersed, due to macromolecular connectivity and the distance
between any two charge units, which cannot be changed with
further dilution. It is fully different from the situation of a low-MW
electrolyte, which solution can achieve an innite dilution state.
According to the counterion condensation theory (Manning, 1974;
Oosawa, 1971), when the charge density of an ionic polymer is
high, so is the free energy of the mutual repulsion; thus, the
counterions gather in the vicinity of the ionized groups of the
polyelectrolyte and the actual charge density is accordingly
reduced, but the dissociation state is maintained. The contribution
of counterion condensation can be estimated using the Manning
criterion (xM), dened in Eq. (2.1) as:
xM LB =b
(2.1)
where LB is the Bjerrum length, at which the electrostatic repulsion

energy of the two basic charges is equal to the thermal energy; and
b is the axial distance between the adjacent charge units along the
polymer chain. The Bjerrum length is dened as LB e2/DkBT,
where e is the elementary charge, D is the dielectric constant, kB is
the Boltzmann constant, and T is the absolute temperature. At room
During an actual occulation process using polymeric occulants, the particles suspended in the wastewater are rst destabilized by charge neutralization, via a coagulation process, then they
aggregate to form large ocs through bridging, i.e. a occulation
effect. Thus, polymeric occulants, including chitosan and its derivatives, are sometimes used as coagulant aids of traditional lowMW inorganic coagulants to promote the nal occulation performance (Chang, 2011; Jiang, 2015; Lee et al., 2014).
CH3
H O
O
CH2
(I) H
HO
C O
O
NH
O
NH
CH2
H3C
H O
C O
(II)
Fig. 2.2. Intra-chain hydrogen bonds (I) and (II) of chitosan.
temperature, the LB in aqueous medium is 0.7 nm (Russel et al.,

1989). At xM < 1, there is no counterion condensation, while at
xM > 1 a fraction of the counterions (11/xM) is condensed. Thus, LB
is the smallest distance between adjacent charge units and the
maximal linear charge density of a polyelectrolyte (qmax) is equal to
e/LB.
At least theoretically, chitosan carries a maximum of one charge
every ~0.5 nm, estimated on the basis of complete deacetylation
(DD 100%) and full protonation (Chiappisi and Gradzielski, 2015).
According to the counterion condensation theory (Manning, 1974;
Oosawa, 1971), when the linear charge density is higher than
qmax, i.e., when the DD of chitosan is >80%, counterion condensation occurs and the charge density is reduced to qmax. Under these
conditions of a higher DD, the dependence of the nal occulation
performance of chitosan on the DD becomes insignicant or limited
(Chen et al., 2003; Guibal et al., 2006; Roussy et al., 2005c), as
discussed in the following section.
2.2. Bridging occulation
2.2.1. Bridging effect
When polymeric occulants with a long chain conformation are
absorbed onto the surface of suspended colloids, they attempt to
form loops, but the ends may also dangle in the aqueous medium.
During occulation, the loops and dangles contact with and are
attracted to other pollutant particles. A bridge is thereby formed
among the contaminants that allows their connection and subsequent aggregation into large ocs. Accordingly, this type of occulation is called bridging occulation and it is another important
mechanism of occulation (Bolto and Gregory, 2007; Gregory and
Barany, 2011; Lyklema, 1985). Various interactions between occulants and pollutants are involved, depending on the different
situations (Bolto and Gregory, 2007; Gregory and Barany, 2011;
Lyklema, 1985; Strand et al., 2003; Yang et al., 2012b, 2013a).
However, there is no evident bridging effect when low-MW
occulants are used; rather, the bridging mechanism is typical
only for large-MW occulants.
Accordingly, the bridging effect is strongly related to the longrange structure (i.e., the chain morphology and conformation) of
the polymer chains in water, which would reveal different sharp,
hydrodynamic size and viscosity of the polymeric occulants in
solution. With a more extended conformation of the polymer chain,
bridging effects will be enhanced (Cho et al., 2006). Increasing the
MW of the polymer usually results in a larger hydrodynamic size
and better bridging effects. As demonstrated by the Flory-Krigbaum
equation (Elias, 1984; Flory, 1953), the scaling exponent between
the hydrodynamic size of a polymer (R) and its molecular weight
(MW) in a good solvent is 0.6, as shown in Eq. (2.2):
RfMW 0:6
65
(2.2)
2.2.2. Bridging occulation using chitosan occulants

As for chitosan, there are a number of factors affecting its chain
exibility and conformation in solution including DD, pH, and ionic
strength, besides the MW. However, there is both a trivial and a
complicated correlation between the aforementioned parameters
and the persistence length (lp), which describes the structural
character of a semi-rigid polymer chain such as chitosan (Jiang,
2001; Muzzarelli and Muzzarelli, 2005; Rinaudo, 2006).
The reported effects of the DD on the lp of chitosan are contradictory: some authors have reported a decrease in stiffness, and
thus of the lp, with increasing DD (Brugnerotto et al., 2001;
Skovstrup et al., 2010), whereas others found that the two are
unrelated (Rinaudo et al., 1993; Schatz et al., 2003). The difference
may be due to the fact that the actual lp at a given ion concentration
contains an intrinsic contribution, lp,0, and an electrostatic contribution, lp,e, calculated according to the method of Odijk and shown
in Eq. (2.3) (Odijk, 1979).
lp lp;0 lp;e
(2.3)
The intrinsic contribution lp,0 is strongly related to the stability

of the intra-chain hydrogen bonds (II) of the N-acetylglucosamine
(GlcNAc)-GlcNAc segments, which are greatly affected by the DD, as
shown in Fig. 2.2 (Rinaudo, 2006). With increasing DD, the intrachain hydrogen bonds (II) are broken and the exibility of the
chitosan chain improves; thus, its lp,0 decreases. However, the
electrostatic contribution lp,e is also inuenced by the DD, with a
higher DD usually resulting in a higher lp,e. These contradictory
effects likely account for the different conclusions reached in the
various studies.
Rinaudo (Rinaudo, 2006) reported that the lp of chitosan depends moderately on its DD. According to experimental results and
theoretical predictions: (a) At 75 < DD<100%, lp is ~11 nm and
remains nearly constant, based on counterion condensation theory
(Manning, 1974; Oosawa, 1971). In this case, the Bjerrum length is
larger than the average spacing between neighboring charged
units. (b) down to 40% deacetylation, the stiffness of chitosan is not
greatly inuenced by the DD, and the lp increase only slightly, to
15 nm. The polymer becomes increasingly hydrophobic and the
intra-chain hydrogen bonds (II) have been enhanced, resulting in a
stiffer chitosan chain. (c) Finally, as the DD approaches 0, the chitin
chain becomes insoluble.
Another important factor that adds further complexity to the
effect of the DD on chain conformation is the distribution of the
GlcNAc units along the backbone (Skovstrup et al., 2010). Monte
Carlo simulations of chitosan oligosaccharides have shown that
exibility is mostly determined by the number of GlcN-GlcNAc
sequences, whereas GlcNAc-GlcNAc, GlcNAc-GlcN, and GlcN-GlcN
sequences stabilize the extended conformation via a number of
inter-chain hydrogen bonds (Skovstrup et al., 2010). The importance of the primary sequence in determining polymer stiffness
might be another reason for the contradictory reports in the literature (Chiappisi and Gradzielski, 2015).
Bridging occulation in combination with charge neutralization
effects has been invoked to comprehensively explain the various
kinds of practical occulation processes induced by polymeric
66
occulants. Since, as discussed above, the DD inuences the charge

density of chitosan as well as charge neutralization effects and
bridging, its impact on the occulation performance of chitosan
occulants has been difcult to predict, as discussed in the
following section.
Moreover, as noted above, the conformation of chitosan in solution is also highly dependent on the pH and the ionic strength,
which directly inuence the degree of ionization (pKa,eff ~ 6.0e6.5)
and charge screening effects respectively (Chiappisi and
Gradzielski, 2015). Changes in pH alter the protonation equilibrium of chitosan in water and therefore its charge density and chain
conformation, according to the counterion condensation theory
(Manning, 1974; Oosawa, 1971). As for ionic strength, the dose of
chitosan typically used in a occulation process is quite low, which
implies an extremely dilute concentration. Consequently, an increase in the ionic strength of the medium will cause a decrease in
the lp, the radius of gyration, and the intrinsic viscosity, because of
charge screening.
2.3. Other occulation mechanisms
2.3.1. Sweeping occulation
Sweeping occulation mechanism was established from inorganic coagulants. Besides adsorption of soluble hydrolysis products
and consequent reduction in particle charge, aluminum and iron
salts still have an important effect, i.e. formation of hydroxide
precipitates initially as a ne colloidal dispersion, which would
further aggregate and produce hydroxide ocs. These ocs could
efciently enmesh and sweep the colloidal particles originally
present in the water (Duan and Gregory, 2003; Ives, 1978).
Similarly, some polymeric occulants with limited solubility
could physically entrap small colloids from water in the precipitated mass (Parazak et al., 1988; Strand et al., 2001b). Moreover,
polymeric occulants and suspended solids could usually form
large sized ocs with a three-dimensional net-like structure in
occulation. Because of its large surface area and strong adsorption
capacity, the residual pollutants in water are able to be efciently
captured and swept out by hydrodynamic collisions with those
large ocs then settle together (Yang et al., 2013a).
Therefore, sweeping mechanism is quite different from bridging
occulation. The former one is that the small colloidal pollutants
could be enmeshed and entrapped by insoluble large metal hydroxide or polymeric precipitates; while the later one is that the
soluble linear large-MW occulants connect the primary ocs by
adsorption causing aggregation into large ocs and consequent
precipitation.
2.3.2. Special interactions
In addition, the chain backbones of polymeric occulants usually contain many active functional groups. These are able to
chemically react or bind with the corresponding functional groups
on pollutants, especially for organic contaminants and bacteria,
through some highly specic forces. The polymeric occulants
carrying the bound treated pollutants are then integrated into large
ocs, which eventually precipitate. As for chitosan, its available
amino and hydroxyl groups can effectively chelate metal ions, such
as Hg2and Cu2, and other contaminant components to form
insoluble complexes, allowing efcient removal of the pollutants
(Jiang, 2001; Muzzarelli and Muzzarelli, 2005; Rinaudo, 2006).
2.4. External factors affecting the mechanism of occulation
As noted above, many external environmental factors effectively
inuence the structure and solution properties of polymeric occulants, and thus both the mechanism and performance of
occulation (Bolto and Gregory, 2007; Guibal et al., 2006; Renault

et al., 2009; Rojas-Reyna et al., 2010). In this section, the effects
of several of these factors, including occulant dose, pH, ionic
strength, and temperature, on the efciency of occulation are
briey described from a mechanistic perspective.
2.4.1. Dose
Flocculant dose is one of the most important determinants of
occulation performance. For each occulation process, there is
usually an optimal dose; however, as also discussed above, in many
practical occulation processes the occulation window (effective
range of occulant dose) is wider than expected, mainly because of
the involvement of several occulation mechanisms. The dominance of simple charge neutralization reects an optimal occulant
dose and a relatively narrow occulation window. Excessive occulants re-stabilize the suspended pollutants and thereby reduce
occulation performance (Guibal and Roussy, 2007; Li et al., 2013b;
Rios-Donato et al., 2012; Yang et al., 2012b, 2012c). Conversely,
when a charge patch mechanism dominates, overdosing of the
occulants does not usually result in a decrease in occulation efciency and the occulation window is accordingly wide
(Bratskaya et al., 2006; Guibal et al., 2006; Li et al., 2004a; Roussy
et al., 2005b; Yang et al., 2012c).
2.4.2. pH
The impact of pH on occulation performance is most signicant
in ionic occulants. Chitosan is a weakly cationic polyelectrolyte
when dissolved in acidic media. Both the pKa of chitosan and its
charge density change as a function of pH. Although, for chitosanbased occulants, the occulation efciency is sensitive to many
other parameters besides pH, in general, their efciency improves
at lower pH values. This is due to better charge neutralization and
bridging effects, which in turn are related to the enhanced charge
density and the more extended chain conformation of chitosan and
its derivatives in aqueous solutions (Guibal et al., 2006; Li et al.,
2013a, 2013b; Renault et al., 2009; Roussy et al., 2005c; Strand
et al., 2001b).
2.4.3. Ionic strength
The ionic strength of the medium inuences both the charge
density and the chain conformation of ionic occulants, in accordance with the counterion condensation theory (Manning, 1974;
Oosawa, 1971). However, the increased ionic strength also effectively reduces the electric double layers of pollutants colloids. In the
case of chitosan-based occulants, suitable increases in ionic
strength usually improve their occulation efciency (Guibal et al.,
2006; Li et al., 2013a, 2013b; Roussy et al., 2005b; Yang et al.,
2012c).
2.4.4. Temperature
The need for a lower occulant dose at higher temperatures
(Chen et al., 2007; Lu et al., 2011; Zhang et al., 2010a) can be
ascribed to two effects: The rst is the fact that the viscosity of the
carrier liquid decreases with increasing temperature, by increasing
the Brownian movements of the colloids and therefore their collision frequency, such that larger particles are more easily formed.
This is explained by the occulation kinetics described in Eq. (2.4)
(Von Smoluchowski, 1916; Von Smoluchowski, 1917):
k1 fa b
(2.4)
where k1 is the aggregation rate, a denotes the collision efciency,

and b is the collision frequency. The second effect of an increase in
temperature is a more extended conformation of polymeric occulants (Elias, 1984; Flory, 1953; Sperling, 2006), due to their
67
External
factors
pH
Ionic strength, etc.
Degree
of
deacetylation
Simple charge
neutralization,
charge patching
Charge
density
Final
flocculation
efficiency
Short-range
structure
Chitosan
Conformation of
polymeric
flocculants
in
aqueous solution
Molecular
weight
Bridging,
sweeping
Long-range structure
Scheme 3.1. Effects of molecular structural elements on the nal occulation efciency of chitosan occulants.
Table 3.1
Characteristics of chitosan preparations used in the occulation of a bentonite suspension.
Sample no.
MW (g/mol)
1.62 106e4.70 106
2.79 104e3.00 105
3e5100 cP
4.51 104e3.08 105
0.15 104e2.33 105
a
b
c
DD (%)
pH of
occulation
Ionic strength
Brief description
Reference
~48e86
Not clear
NaClO4, 0.01 mol/L
(Huang
et al., 2000)
~69e100
~6.5e7.5
NaCl, 0.001 mol/L
The optimal chitosan dose decreased linearly with

increasing DD, but the MW was
a more important determinant.
MW was a more important determinant than DD.
~83e91
~5e9
Not clear
~78e95
5 or 7
~54.6e95.3
~3e9
Demineralized water
(DW) and tap
water (TW)
DW and TW
DD and MW had only slight effects on

the coagulation/occulation
performance.
Coagulation was better in TW than in DW;
chitosans with a higher
MW were more efcient.
Coagulation was better in TW than in DW;
occulation efciency
depended on not only the DD and MW,
but also the ionic strength,
pH, and the occulant dose.
(Chen
et al., 2003)
(Roussy
et al., 2004)
(Roussy
et al., 2005b)
(Li
et al., 2013b)
Viscosity-average molecular weight.

Centipoise, as a direct measure of viscosity.
Weight-average molecular weight.
improved solubility, and therefore better occulation. Accordingly,

in water treatment, a reduced occulant dose in summer and a
larger dose in winter are required (Zhang et al., 2010a).
3. Chitosan-based occulants and the effects of structural
factors
Knowledge of the structure-activity relationship of a material
can facilitate precise control of its molecular structure and thus
improve its performance (Elias, 1984; Flory, 1953; Sperling, 2006).
This is also the case for occulants, as their careful design and selection, based on an understanding of the relationship between
their structural characteristics and their occulation performance,
will result in the efcient occulation in aqueous media of different
contaminants with diverse features.
The occulation efciency of chitosan-based occulants in
wastewater treatment is likewise highly dependent on their
structures. As mentioned above, the DD and the MW are two very
important structural factors for chitosan. When chitosan is used as
a occulant, the DD is related to the charge density (short-range
structure) and greatly inuences the charge neutralization efciency, which together with the MW accounts for the long-range
structure, i.e., the morphology and conformation of the polymer

chain in aqueous medium. The latter features are intrinsically
related to bridging and sweeping occulation mechanisms. As for
chemically modied chitosan-based occulants, the degree of
substitution of the functional groups and grafting ratio also determine their nal occulation efciency. In addition, all of these
structural factors interact with the various environmental factors
(dose, pH, ionic strength, and temperature) to inuence the performance of the occulants.
The effects of the molecular structural factors of chitosan-based
occulants on the nal occulation efciency in target wastewaters
containing inorganic, organic, and bacterial pollutants are
described in this section. However, eld operation data are limited,
especially for modied chitosan occulants.
3.1. Chitosan occulants
3.1.1. Structural factors: degree of deacetylation and molecular
weight
In relation to occulation mechanisms, the effects of molecular
structural factors on the nal occulation efciency of chitosan
occulants were discussed in detail in Sect. 2 and are summarized
3.1.2. Effects of structural factors on occulation of various

wastewater
3.1.2.1. Inorganic suspended pollutants. Bentonite suspensions are
frequently used in as an experimental, synthetic inorganic wastewater. Table 3.1 summarizes the results obtained with various
chitosan preparations in the occulation of bentonite suspension,
as reported by different researchers.
Huang et al. deacetylated chitin powder using a NaOH solution
(Huang et al., 2000). They obtained several chitosan preparations
with DDs ranging from 48% to 86% and then tested their ability to
coagulate a bentonite suspension. The authors found a linear
relationship between the DD and the charge density (Fig. 3.1a). The
optimal chitosan dose decreased linearly with increasing DD
(Fig. 3.1b). The amino groups on the chitosan chains were shown to
play important roles in coagulating bentonite solids. However,
chitosan with lower DD but higher MW had a lower optimal
coagulation dose than that with higher DD but lower MW. The
latter resulted in poor coagulation, higher residual turbidity,
smaller oc diameters, and a slower settling velocity. These observations suggested that MW is a more important determinant
than DD. Chen et al. (Chen et al., 2003). Also occulated bentonite
colloid using various chitosan preparations with different MWs and
DDs, performing the reaction under near-neutral conditions. The
pyrene-uorescence spectra of the occulations showed the key
role played by MW rather than the DD and that bond bridging
rather than charge neutralization was the dominant mechanism of
the chitosan-mediated occulations.
Roussy et al. obtained satisfactory coagulation/occulation efciencies using various chitosan samples at pH 5 (Roussy et al.,
2004). The occulation kinetics of a chitosan occulant (no. 261)
with a low MW and the lowest DD were the slowest. However, at
neutral pH, the efciency of a preparation with a high MW and the
highest DD was only slightly better. The authors concluded that DD
and MW have only slight effects on coagulation/occulation
performance.
In another study (Roussy et al., 2005b), the same authors tested
ten chitosan samples with different MWs and DDs on the coagulation of suspensions of 5 g of bentonite/L, both at pH 5 and at pH 7
as well as in demineralized water (DW) and in tap water (TW).
Coagulation was better in TW than in DW regardless of the pH, due
to the improved attachment of the occulant to bentonite. This
afnity was ascribed to the presence of sulfate and other counterions in TW as well as to the increased coiling of the chitosan
Charge Density (meq/g)
in Scheme 3.1. As shown in this scheme, increasing the DD increases

the number of free amino groups which usually results in the
improved positive charge density, thereby enhancing both the
charge neutralization effects and bridging occulation by extended
conformations due to intramolecular electrostatic repulsion.
Moreover, external factors such as pH and ionic strength also affect
the positive charge density on the chitosan backbone, by altering
both the protonation equilibrium of chitosan in solution and the
counterion condensation effects. The nal DD effects should
therefore combine various factors.
As for MW, in high-MW forms of chitosan, the more extended
conformation of the macromolecular chain in water based on Eq.
(2.2) improves the polymer's bridging and sweeping effects. This
accounts for the preferential use of high-MW polymeric occulants
in actual occulation processes.
The effects of DD and MW on the nal occulation performance
are usually complimentary and synergistic. The relationship between the two of chitosan and the actual occulation efciency is
very complicated and highly dependent on the characteristics of
the wastewater and the relative contributions of the diverse occulation mechanisms.
(a)
6
5
4
3
R2=0.9904
2
1
0
20
40
60
80
100
Degree of deacetylation (%)
2.5
Optimal chitosan dose (meq/g)
68
(b)
2.0
1.5
1.0
R =0.995
0.5
0.0
20
40
60
80
100

Fig. 3.1. (a) The relationship between the charge density and degree of deacetylation;
(b) The relationship between the optimal chitosan dose and degree of deactelylation
(Huang et al., 2000).
molecules, which resulted in more effective electrostatic patch

destabilization. Coagulation was typically more effective using
higher-MW chitosans, both in TW and in DW, because of the
enhanced bridging effect at pH 5 and pH 7, although the efciency
tended to level off at MWs >1.0 105 g/mol.
Li et al. used chitosans with various DDs and MWs to adsorb and
occulate bentonite in DW and TW at pH values ranging from 3 to 9
(Li et al., 2013b). For every chitosan tested, the coagulation/occulation efciency of a bentonite suspension was higher in TW than
in DW. They also showed the importance of the ionic strength of
TW on the properties of the bentonite particles and the chitosan
solution. Specically, in the low ionic strength of TW, the bentonite
suspension aggregated more easily than in DW, due to compression
of the electric double layer. In addition, in low ionic strength solutions, third electroviscous effects dominate, such that the chitosan molecules assume an extended conformation (Avena and De
Pauli, 1998). The effects of DD and MW on the residual turbidity
in both TW and DW were shown to be strongly related to the
chitosan dose and to the pH. From Figs. 3.2 and 3.3, at an optimal
dose of 5 mg chitosan/L in TW and 20 mg chitosan/L in DW, the DD
and MW only minimally affected the coagulation/occulation efciency, except for chitosans with a MW < 3.5 103 g/mol, under all
investigated conditions. When the chitosan dose was insufcient,
increasing the DD or MW reduced the residual turbidity, while
Dose of chitosan: 1mg/L
Dose of chitosan:5mg/L
300
300
TW
200
DW
100
Residual Turbidity (NTU)
400
pH3
pH5
pH7
pH9
pH3
pH5
pH7
pH9
200
TW
100
DW
pH3
pH5
pH7
pH9
pH3
pH5
pH7
pH9
0
50
69
60
70
80
90
100
50
60
60
40
80
20
0
50
80
90
100
Dose of chitosan:20mg/L
50
Dose of chitosan: 10mg/L

TW
pH3
pH5
pH7
pH9
pH3
DW
pH5
pH7
pH9
100
70
40
TW
30
DW
20
pH3
pH5
pH7
pH9
pH3
pH5
pH7
pH9
10
0
60
70
80
90
100
50
60
70
80
90
100
Fig. 3.2. Inuence of the degree of deacetylation and chitosan dose on the coagulationeocculation of the bentonite suspension at different pH in DW and TW. Initial turbidity of
bentonite suspension 500 NTU, settling time 10 min (Li et al., 2013b).
lowering the pH enhanced the charge density and thereby

increased the occulation efciency. When the chitosan dose was
higher than the optimal one, the effects were the opposite and restabilization appeared. Under the conditions of this experiment,
charge neutralization associated with bridging effects was the main
occulation mechanism. The structural characteristics of chitosan,
i.e. DD and MW, interact and compensate to enhance the nal
occulation. Furthermore, the mechanism type depends on not
only those molecular parameters but also the ionic strength, pH of
the surrounding medium, and occulant dose.
In another study (Li et al., 2013a), a kaolin suspension was
occulated as in their above-described experiment. The nal occulation efciency was again related to the structural characteristics of chitosan and to several external factors. MW was shown to
play a more important role than DD when the occulation was
carried out in TW and bridging rather than charge neutralization
dominated the occulation process. The ionic strength of TW was
important in reducing the residual turbidity in the occulation
process. In DW, the inuence of chitosan's MW and DD on the
coagulation/occulation efciency was very limited.
Taken together, these studies show that for most inorganic
colloid suspensions, which typically include clay compounds such
as bentonite and kaolin, chitosans with a high MW and a high DD

are usually more efcient in their occulation performance,
because of the improved charge neutralization and bridging effects.
The greater signicance of MW than DD (Chen et al., 2003; Huang
et al., 2000) may be intrinsically due to the minimal impact of
changes in both the charge density and the conformation of chitosan occulants at higher DDs, because of counterion condensation effects (Manning, 1974; Oosawa, 1971).
3.1.2.2. Organic pollutants. The effects of DD and MW on the occulation of organic pollutants, including dissolved and undissolved
forms, have also been extensively investigated. Those studies are
summarized in Table 3.2. Common examples of dissolved pollutants are dyes, humic substances, soluble proteins in surimi wash
water, and soluble inks from packaging wastewater. Undissolved
ones include polystyrene latex, mushroom powder, aquaculture,
and papermaking wastewaters.
Guibal and Roussy investigated the coagulation/occulation of
an anionic dye (Reactive Black 5) using two chitosan samples with
the same DD but far different MWs (Guibal and Roussy, 2007). In
acidic media, the protonated amine groups of chitosan were expected to effectively attract the sulfonic groups of Reactive Black 5,
70
Fig. 3.3. Inuence of the molecular weight and chitosan dose on the coagulationeocculation of the bentonite suspension at different pH in DW and TW. Initial turbidity of
bentonite suspension 500 NTU, settling time 10 min (Li et al., 2013b).
through electrostatic interactions. The molar ratio between dye

molecules and amine groups ([n]) was set up to respect the stoichiometry between the sulfonic groups and the protonated amine
groups at the pH of the initial solution (pH 5). However, the presence of chitosan in excess of the optimal dose resulted in restabilization of the particles, consistent with simple charge
neutralization as the main occulation mechanism of dye coagulation when chitosan is added under acidic conditions. They (Guibal
and Roussy, 2007) found that the coefcient [n] depended not only
on the pH of the medium but also on the MW of chitosan. However,
chitosan with a higher MW slightly decreased the process efciency due to the reduced availability of amine groups and the
polymer's less exible structure (Guibal and Roussy, 2007).
Vogelsang et al. reported the occulation behavior of chitosan
during the removal of humic substances from water (Vogelsang
et al., 2004). Whereas chitosan efciently removed high-MW humic substances, the removal efciency of medium-MW humic
substances was enhanced only after the addition of small amounts
of Fe3, which also lowered the optimal chitosan dose. From
Fig. 3.4, increasing the DD of chitosan enhanced the charge density
on the chain backbone and improved occulation efciency,
whereas changes in the MW of chitosan had no signicant inuence on the maximum removal of the humic substances. This result
was conrmed by Guibal et al. (Guibal et al., 2006), who also found
that the MW of chitosan did not affect the coagulation/occulation
of humic acid. Furthermore, they (Guibal et al., 2006) have also

compared the effects of DD and MW on various types of wastewater. MW had more effect on bentonite suspensions and dye solutions than on kaolin and humic acid suspensions.
Wibowo et al. used chitosan-alginate complexes to recover
soluble proteins from surimi wash water (Wibowo et al., 2007). The
mixing ratio of chitosan and alginate in complexes was kept constant at 0.2. The superior effectiveness of the complexes was
conrmed by the recovery of soluble proteins. However, the differences in protein recovery efciency using chitosans differing in
their MWs and DDs were not signicant.
In the study of Roussy et al., chitosan and tannin were used as
coagulant and occulant, respectively, to remove soluble inks from
industrial efuents generated during packaging (Roussy et al.,
2005a). The authors compared two chitosan samples with the
same DDs but very different MWs. Though the process could be
slightly improved using high-MW chitosan, the overall difference
in coagulation/occulation performance was not substantial, which
suggested that charge neutralization, rather than bridging, was the
dominant mechanism in this system.
Ashmore et al. used a series of chitosan preparations with
different DDs and MWs to occulate model polystyrene latex particles varying in both their size and the charge densities of their
sulfate groups (Ashmore and Hearn, 2000; Ashmore et al., 2001).
Flocculation efciency increased with increasing MW or DD but the
71
Table 3.2
Characteristics of chitosan preparations used in the occulation of organic pollutants.
Sample no. Organic pollutant
MW (g/mol)
Anionic dye
(Reactive Black 5)
8.01 104, 3.08 105
Humic substances
~3.00 103e3.99 105
~4.51 104e3.08 105

4
~51e99
~3e7
89.5
5, 7.5
62e98
~3e7
78e95
5, 7, 9
80e98
~3e10
~3e10
Mushroom powder
suspended in TW
~4.51 104e3.08 105
Organic compounds,
inorganic
nutrients,
and bacteria in
aquaculture
wastewater
~3.0 105e6.0 105
5, 7
8.01 104, 3.08 105
(Guibal and
Roussy, 2007)
~75e94
Ink-containing
packaging wastewater
Surfactant-free
polystyrene latex
3, 5
~4e9
89.5
78e95
~2.23 10 e3.83 10
Reference
6 c
Soluble proteins in
surimi wash water
pH of the
Brief
occulation description
DD (%)
6 c
1.90 10 e1.92 10
High-MW chitosan slightly decreased the process

efciency due to the reduced availability of amine
groups and the polymer's less exible structure.
The molar ratio between dye molecules and amine
groups ([n]) respected the stoichiometry between
the sulfonic groups and the protonated amine
groups at the initial pH of 5.
The MW of chitosan did not signicantly inuence
the maximum removal of humic substances. Chitosans
with the highest DDs were the most efcient coagulants.
The MW of chitosan did not affect the coagulation/
occulation of humic acid.
Chitosan-alginate complexes were used as occulants
at a constant mixing ratio of 0.2.
The superior effectiveness
of the complexes was conrmed but differences among
chitosan types did not correlate with MW and DD.
The MW had no major effects on coagulation/occulation
performance.
Flocculation efciency increased with increases in either
MW or DD, but the effects were slight.
~6.21 103e3.62 105
90
Pulp/calcium carbonate ~7.70 104e4.44 105

from papermaking
~85.7e87.5 Not clear
MW and DD had a limited effect on

occulation performance,
which is related to pH and occulant dose.
A high DD and low pH improved the occulation
performance of chitosan.
High-MW chitosan was best at removing turbidity and
suspended solids as well as at lowering biological and
chemical oxygen demand (BOD and COD).
Low-MW chitosan
was best at removing NH3 and PO3
4 from wastewater.
Flocculation efciency increased with increasing MW.
(Vogelsang
et al., 2004)
(Guibal
et al., 2006)
(Wibowo
et al., 2007)
(Roussy
et al., 2005a)
(Ashmore and
Hearn, 2000;
Ashmore
et al., 2001)
(Roussy
et al., 2005c)
(Chung, 2006)
(Chung
et al., 2005)
(Nicu
et al., 2013)
Weight-average molecular weight.

Number-average molecular weight.
Viscosity-average molecular weight.
No details.
effects were slight. At high DD, the optimal dose of chitosan was
independent of the MW but the required dose was reduced because
of the higher charge density on the chitosan backbone at lower pH.
In this system, charge neutralization was the dominant mechanism.
The authors therefore recommended high DD under acidic conditions to obtain an optimum coagulation efciency. However, using
chitosan with a low DD, the occulation efciency improved with
the MW of the polymer increased, indicating the predominance of a
bridging effect. In addition, increasing the ionic strength of the
dispersion medium could broaden the occulation concentration
range.
Roussy et al. compared several chitosan preparations with
different DDs and MWs in a synthesized organic suspension
comprising mushroom powder and TW (Roussy et al., 2005c). The
inuence of MW on chitosan's removal efciency was reduced
substantially by slightly increasing the polymer concentration. And
the DD effect was insignicant, especially at DDs >90% possibly due
to counterion condensation effects (Manning, 1974; Oosawa, 1971).
However, the occulation process was very sensitive to pH. At pH 5,
the chitosan concentration needed to achieve acceptable occulation was less than half that at a pH close to neutral. Under the acidic
conditions, the DD and MW had limited effects on the occulation
efciency of chitosan; however, at lower chitosan concentrations,
the removal efciency increased with increasing MW. At a nearneutral pH, at which a higher chitosan concentration was
required, the coagulation performance was slightly improved by
increasing the DD and decreasing the MW of chitosan. Generally,
charge neutralization was the dominant occulation mechanism in

this case.
Chung used various chitosans with different DDs and MWs to
remove a mixture of organic compounds and inorganic nutrients
from aquaculture wastewaters (Chung, 2006; Chung et al., 2005).
For chitosans with similar MWs, both DD and pH signicantly
affected the occulation performance. The nal results showed
improved treatment efciency at a high DD and low pH (Chung,
2006). At a constant DD of 90%, greater removal efciencies of
turbidity, suspended solids (SS), BOD, and COD were obtained with
high-MW chitosans, whereas NH3 and PO3
4 were better-removed
using low-MW forms of the polymer. Moreover, high-MW chitosan was better than low-MW forms in the elimination of SS of
various particle sizes (Chung et al., 2005).
Nicu et al. compared the ability of three chitosan preparations
with different MWs to remove calcium carbonate (GCC) and pulp/
GCC suspensions in papermaking (Nicu et al., 2013). The occulation behavior of chitosan against the pulp/GCC suspension was very
different than determined against the GCC suspension alone, due to
the additional presence in the former of cellulose bers; however,
chitosan's performance was close to that of a traditional cationic
occulant, polyethylene imine. Chitosans with a higher MW had a
greater efciency and stronger afnity towards cellulose bers and
therefore greater occulation efciency.
In summary, the structural features of chitosan play a larger role
in the occulation of organic than inorganic pollutants in water.
This can be explained by the more complicated surface structure of
72
100
Maximum removal (%)
(a)
80
60
40
20
0
50
60
70
80
90
100
100
Maximum removal (%)
(b)
80
60
40
20
0
100
200
300
400
Molecular weight (kDa)

Fig. 3.4. The apparent maximum removal ratios of color (-), UV absorbance (C), and
TOC (:) from articial raw water at pH 5 using different chitosans plotted against (a)
the chitosans' degree of deacetylation and (b) number-average molecular weight
(Vogelsang et al., 2004).
x75 (mg/g cell d.w.)
10
Degree of deactelylation
99%
51%
0.1
250
500
750
1000
1250
number-average DP
Fig. 3.5. Chitosan-HCl concentration at 75% occulation (75) as a function of
number-average degree of polymerization (DPn) for chitosans with the degree of
deactelylation 99% and 51% respectively, after 24 h of sedimentation. Bacteria
(3e4 109 cells/mL) were resuspended in PBS with pH 6.8 and ionic strength 0.1 mol/L
(Strand et al., 2001b).
organic pollutants, which carry an abundance of functional groups.

The more efcient occulation performance is due to a broad range
of highly specic occulation mechanisms that are independent of
MW and DD. However, in real wastewater systems, the diverse
contributions from the different compounds in the wastewater
Fig. 3.6. Chitosan-HCl concentration at 75% occulation (75) as a function of the

degree of deactelylation, after 24 h of sedimentation. Bacteria (3e4 109 cells/mL)
were resuspended in PBS pH 6.8 (a) and acetate/NaCl pH 5.0 (b) with ionic strength
0.1 mol/L (Strand et al., 2001b).
result in complex interactions that remain to be dissected through

in-depth investigations.
3.1.2.3. Bacterial suspensions. The efcient treatment of biological
colloids, such as bacteria, is required in many biotechnological
processes, including separation and downstream processing.
Studies of the ability of chitosan-based occulants to occulate
various species of bacteria from water are date back to the 1980s
(Eriksson and Hardin, 1987; Lazarenko et al., 1986; Medvedev et al.,
1985). Hughes et al. reported that chitosan was effective in occulating and separating Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis from
broth by hydrogen bonding between chitosan and cell surface
polymers, in addition to electrostatic interactions (Hughes et al.,
1990).
Hydrogen bonding as the main non-electrostatic interaction
promoting the occulation of E. coli cells by chitosan was conrmed
by Agerkvist (Agerkvist, 1992) in a study of the benets of urea
addition to the test system. The author tested four different chitosan preparations with different DDs and MWs in the selective
occulation of E. coli cell debris generated during b-galaclosidase
purication. High-MW chitosan produced large and shear-resistant
ocs whereas low-MW forms resulted in small and shear-sensitive
ocs; the former was ascribed to non-equilibrium bridging effects. In that study, changes in the MW only slightly affected the
chitosan dose, although the occulation window was much broader
with low-MW than with high-MW polymers. By contrast, the dose
was signicantly inuenced by the charge density on the chitosan
backbone, as a decrease in the DD from 93% to 39% increased the

optimal occulation dose by 100e150%. Rehn et al. similarly found
that the occulation of E. coli cells with high-MW and high-DD
chitosan yielded good oc stability and rapid sedimentation
(Rehn et al., 2013).
Strand et al. investigated various chitosan preparations with
different MWs and with DDs ranging from 38 to 99.8%, in their
small-scale assay of the occulation of E. coli suspensions, performed in tubes (Strand et al., 2001b). In agreement with other
studies (Agerkvist, 1992; Rehn et al., 2013), their results showed
that the coagulation of E. coli was improved with increasing MW
(Fig. 3.5). Flocculation occurred over a wide MW range, even at a
degree of polymerization much lower than 200. However, the effects of DD were the opposite based on Fig. 3.6, as an increase in the
fraction of acetylated units resulted in better occulation efciency
and lower chitosan doses. The decrease in DD from 99.8% to 40%
allowed a dose reduction of approximately 10-fold, at both pH 5
and pH 6.8. The mechanisms were suggested to be related to contributions from segment-segment attraction, due to the presence of
the acetyl units, and/or specic interactions between the N-acetylglucosamines of chitosan and certain surface components of
E. coli (Strand et al., 2003). The authors also investigated the effects
of pH and ionic strength. There was little pH effect in the range of
pH 4e7.4, whereas at pH > 7.4 a higher chitosan concentration was
required, in part because of the polymer's insolubility under weakly
alkaline conditions. An increase in ionic strength enabled a
decrease in the effective chitosan concentration and led to a
broadening of the occulation range attributable to decreased
electrostatic repulsions among the double layers of the bacterial
colloids at higher ionic strengths (Strand et al., 2001b).
In another study (Strand et al., 2002), three types of wellcharacterized chitosans with various MWs and DDs were used to
occulate eight different gram-positive and gram-negative bacterial species. The authors found that gram-negative bacteria had the
highest occulation efciencies with the lowest DD (51%) chitosan
sample in their measured range, while, for the three gram-positive
species, highly charged chitosan type with DD approximately 99%
seemed to be better. They could not obtain the evidence of a correlation between the surface charge or hydrophobicity of the bacteria and the optimal structural characteristics of chitosan. The
authors concluded that purely electrostatic interactions do not play
a dominant role in the occulation of gram-negative bacteria and
the presence of GlcNAc residues on chitosan was clearly benecial.
It was therefore suggested that, in studies of bacterial occulation
mechanisms, investigation of the surface morphology of the target
bacteria, especially at the nanometer scale, would be more productive than classical determination of surface charges and
hydrophobicity.
Kaseamchochoung et al. studied the inuence of the DD and
MW of chitosan on the occulation of anaerobic sludge in a granulation process which is signicant for the performance of upow
anaerobic sludge bed systems (Kaseamchochoung et al., 2006). The
key bacterial populations were acetogenic bacteria and Methanosaeta species. Chitosan with an 85% DD was shown to be more
effective than chitosan with a 70% DD at all studied pH values, but
the enhancement of occulation was greater with low-MW than
with high-MW chitosan. The efciency of chitosan in occulating
bacterial suspensions may thus depend on the type of bacteria. An
additional consideration is that anaerobic granulation is a complex
process in which not only physical but also various biological and
microbiological factors are involved.
The occulation of bacterial colloids may destroy the cells
directly since the normal nutrients transfer has been inhibited after
chitosan adsorption on the cell wall (Goy et al., 2009). However, the
detailed synergistic mechanisms still need to further study. In fact,
73
chitosan, especially chitosan oligomers, has good antimicrobial effects. These are also a function of the structural characteristics of
chitosan (Goy et al., 2009; Rabea et al., 2003; Yalpani et al., 1992). In
their sterilization by chitosan, gram-positive and gram-negative
bacteria have opposing MW dependencies (Zheng and Zhu,
2003), whereas the antimicrobial action of chitosan is usually
better with increasing DD. Nonetheless, the inuence of the DD on
antimicrobial activity is weaker than that of MW (Goy et al., 2009).
In summary, the nal performance of chitosan in the occulation of different target wastewaters containing inorganic, organic,
and bacterial pollutants or a mixture thereof is clearly related to its
structural characteristics. But, as pointed out for organic pollutants,
the relationship between structural factors (DD and MW) and the
occulation of bacterial suspensions by chitosan is an irregular one,
given the diverse structural characteristics and abundant functional
groups of bacterial cells (Strand et al., 2001b). In these cases, occulation will predominantly involve some highly specic forces
between the chitosan occulants and the bacteria. Systematic investigations of the surface structure of common bacterial contaminants, especially at the molecular level, are needed to better
understand the mechanisms of occulation and thus to improve
the performance of chitosan-based occulants.
3.2. Modied chitosan occulants
As mentioned above, although chitosan has been used directly
as a occulant, its low MW, inactive chemical properties, and poor
water solubility (Jiang, 2001; Muzzarelli and Muzzarelli, 2005;
Rinaudo, 2006) considerably weaken its efciency. To further
improve its performance, chemically modied forms have been
synthesized (Dao et al., 2016; Jiang, 2001; Muzzarelli and
Muzzarelli, 2005; Prashanth and Tharanathan, 2007; Rinaudo,
2006; Yang et al., 2011a; Zhang, 2006) by taking advantage of the
abundance of the free amines and hydroxyl groups on the chitosan
backbone to introduce various functional groups. These modied
forms exhibit improved water solubility, MW ranges, charge density, and multi-functionality, allowing their use in a much wider
range of applications (Jiang, 2001; Muzzarelli and Muzzarelli, 2005;
Rinaudo, 2006).
It is a signicant strategy to chemically modify chitosan on the
basis of the characteristics of the target pollutants and structureactivity relationships, e.g., by introducing certain functional
groups (Jiang, 2001; Rinaudo, 2006; Yang et al., 2011a). In the case
of most inorganic suspended particles and many organic pollutants,
their negative surface charge has been targeted by introducing
cationic functional groups, such as quaternary ammonium salts,
onto the chitosan backbone. The enhanced charge neutralization
effects have resulted in a more efcient occulation performance.
Among the methods used to modify chitosan, the most common
are etherication/amination (Bratskaya et al., 2009; Chang et al.,
2009; Li et al., 2004a; Yang et al., 2011b), graft copolymerization
(Laue and Hunkeler, 2006; Wang et al., 2008; Yuan et al., 2010),
acylation (Hsien and Rorrer, 1995; Lee et al., 2005), esterication
(Jiang, 2001; Rinaudo, 2006), and oxidation (Jiang, 2001; Rinaudo,
2006). In applications of chitosan-based occulants in wastewater
treatment, the two main chemical modication methods are
etherication/amination (Bratskaya et al., 2009; Chang et al., 2009;
Li et al., 2004a; Yang et al., 2011b) and graft copolymerization (Laue
and Hunkeler, 2006; Wang et al., 2008; Yuan et al., 2010). Thus, in
the following section we describe both modication techniques,
focusing on the conditions used in their preparation and methods
to control their structural properties, including the degree of substitution by various functional groups and the grafting ratio. We
then conclude this section by considering the effects of these
modications on the occulation efciencies in various target
74
Table 3.3
Examples of modifying agents used in etherication/amination reactions for preparation of chitosan-based occulants.
Types
Modifying agents
Cationic
groups
3-Chloro-2-hydroxypropyl
trimethyl ammonium chloride
(CTA)
Structure
(Ali et al., 2010; Ali and Singh, 2009b; Antonopoulou et al., 2013; Cai et al., 2010; Dong
et al., 2014; Huang et al., 2013; Lu et al., 2011; Yang et al., 2011b; Yang et al., 2012b)
2, 3-Epoxypropyl trimethyl
ammonium chloride (ETA)
(Cheng et al., 2013; Li et al., 2004a; Li et al., 2004b; Lin et al., 2012; Liu et al., 2011; RojasReyna et al., 2010; Zhang et al., 2010b)
N-methyl piperazine
(Dharani and Balasubramanian, 2015)
2,4-bis(dimethylamino)-6chloro-(1,3,5)-triazine
(Jia et al., 2016)
Carboxyalkyl Monochloroacetic acid

groups
Others
References
(Cai et al., 2010; Chen and Park, 2003; Chen et al., 2006; Hebeish et al., 2006; Li et al.,
2010; Lu et al., 2011; Mourya et al., 2010; Sun et al., 2008; Yang et al., 2011b; Yang et al.,
2012b; Yang et al., 2013a; Yang et al., 2014a)
Acrylic acid
(Bratskaya et al., 2009; Pestov et al., 2007; Zhang et al., 2014b)
Glycidyl methacrylate
(Jiang et al., 2011)
Chlorosulfonic acid
(Rios-Donato et al., 2012)
wastewaters.
3.2.1. Etheried/N-alkylated chitosan occulants
3.2.1.1. Etherication/amination. Etherication/amination
are
common and simple methods for introducing functional groups
onto chitosan, via its abundant free hydroxyl and amine groups,
respectively. The proton in the eOH or eNH2 of chitosan is activated and then can be displaced via a nucleophilic reaction with the
modifying agents summarized in Table 3.3. Etherication consists
of the transformation of an eOH group to form a eCeOeCe
structure, yielding etheried chitosan. Amination involves the
substitution of eNH2 with a eCeNeCe structure, yielding Nalkylated chitosan. In most cases, the reactivity of eNH2 is higher
than that of eOH (Cheng et al., 2013; Jiang, 2001; Li et al., 2004a,
2004b; Lin et al., 2012; Liu et al., 2011; Rinaudo, 2006; RojasReyna et al., 2010; Zhang et al., 2010b). Among the various hydroxyl groups on the glucosamine ring of chitosan, C6eOH is the
most reactive, because of the reduced steric hindrance and higher
electronegativity of its oxygen. Thus, etherication reaction mostly
take place on C6eOH groups (Jiang, 2001; Lu et al., 2011; Rinaudo,

2006; Yang et al., 2011b, 2012b, 2013a, 2014a).
Table 3.3 lists several commonly used modifying agents, most of
which are either positively or negatively charged. The former
include 3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyl trimethylammonium chloride
(CTA), 2, 3-epoxypropyl trimethyl ammonium chloride (ETA), etc.
These cationic groups are generally introduced onto chitosan to
enhance its charge neutralization effects. CTA can be easily converted to ETA under alkaline treatment (Ali and Singh, 2009b; Ali
et al., 2010). The negatively charged agents are those that add
carboxyalkyl (carboxymethyl, carboxyethyl, and carboxybutyl)
groups to improve the water solubility and chelating effects of
chitosan in wastewater containing high concentrations of positively
charged pollutants. In addition, besides containing-oxygen organic
acids, others such as sulfate could be also introduced onto chitosan
by similar methods. However, the types of modifying agents used in
actual applications listed in Table 3.3 are still limited due to
complicated synthesis techniques and increased cost.
An example of the preparation of a quaternary chitosan using
NaOH
4
1
OH
3
1 O
OH
NH
NH2
(-)
6
CH2OH
(-)
(+)
CH2
CHCH2N(CH3)3Cl
4
OH
3
0.11
100
0.10
99
0.09
98
0.08
97
0.07
96
0.06
95
0.05
94
0.04
1 O
20
30
40
50
60
Transmittance (%)
Optimal doses (mg/L)
6
CH2OH
6
CH2OH
75
93
Substitution degree of CTA (%)
2
NH
CH2
Fig. 3.10. Optimal doses of various CMC-CTA samples (-) and their corresponding
transmittance (:) of the supernatant as a function of the substitution degree of CTA
(Yang et al., 2012b).
CHCH2N(CH3)3Cl
OH
coagulationeocculation of colloidal suspensions of kaolinite,

bentonite, and alumina.
Chitosan also readily reacts with aldehydes or ketones to form
Schiff's bases under neutral conditions. After the reduction of chitosan by sodium borohydride, many useful N-alkylated products
can be easily synthesized (Jiang, 2001; Muzzarelli et al., 1982;
Muzzarelli and Muzzarelli, 2005; Rinaudo, 2006). For example, Ncarboxybutyl chitosan is prepared using levulinic acid as the
modifying agent (Fig. 3.9) (Delben et al., 1994; Muzzarelli et al.,
1989; Stefancich et al., 1994).
Fig. 3.7. Details of an amination reaction.
6
CH2OH
6
CH2OH
5
CH3I
4
1
OH
3
OH
NMP, NaOH, NaI
4
3
1 O
2
N+
NH2
CH3
CH3
CH3
3.2.1.2. Effects of the degree of functional group substitution on

wastewater occulation. The degree of functional group substitution in chitosan-based occulants is a very important structural
factor affecting the nal occulation performance. Accordingly,
during etherication/amination reactions, the dose of the modifying agent, the alkalization time, alkalization temperature, and the
proportions of alkali and solvents in the reaction medium can inuence the nal structure of the chitosan derivatives. Among them,
adjusting the DS of introduced functional groups can be easily
accomplished by carefully controlling the mass feed ratio of chitosan and the modifying agent (Huang et al., 2013; Li et al., 2004b;
Lu et al., 2011; Yang et al., 2012b).
3.2.1.2.1. Chitosan-CTA occulants. As mentioned above, CTA or
ETA modied chitosan (chitosan-CTA) is a kind of popular quaternary chitosan occulants. Li et al. prepared a series of chitosan-CTA
occulants differing in their degrees of CTA substitution and MWs
using ETA as the modifying agent (Li et al., 2004a). The effects of the
degree of CTA substitution and the MW on the adsorption and
occulation properties of the quaternary chitosans were then
studied for potential retention-aids with respect to CaCO3 llers in
alkaline papermaking. The optimum occulation concentration
Fig. 3.8. Direct amination.
CTA as the modifying agent is shown in Fig. 3.7. After activation by a

strong base, i.e. sodium hydroxide, the H in the nucleophilic
center of eNH2 is displaced by eCH2CH(OH)CH2N(CH3)3. Quaternary ammonium salts can be also formed directly from the
amino groups of chitosan in the special type of amination reaction
(Li et al., 2010) shown in Fig. 3.8.
The introduction of negatively charged carboxyl groups onto the
chitosan backbone is most frequently achieved using monochloroacetic acid as the modifying agent. In addition, carboxyethyl
chitosan has been synthesized using acrylic acid under different
conditions (Bratskaya et al., 2009; Pestov et al., 2007; Zhang et al.,
2014b). Among the acidic groups that can be added, chitosan sulfate
was synthesized using chlorosulfonic acid as the modifying agent
(Rios-Donato et al., 2012). The complex mixture of chlorosulfonic
acid and dimethyl formamide (DMF) was dissolved in toluene and
then added to pretreated chitosan in an etherication reaction. The
obtained chitosan sulfate product has been used in the
CH2OH
5
O
4
1
OH
3
NH2
CH2OH
OH
O
CH2OH
4
1
OH
3
NaBH4
4
1
OH
NH
OH
O
Fig. 3.9. Preparation of N-carboxybutyl chitosan.
OH
O
76
Table 3.4
The occulation experimental results by different CMC-CTA occulants at the pilot scale (Yang et al., 2012b).
Sample names
CMC-CTA1
CMC-CTA 2
CMC-CTA 3
CMC-CTA 4
Substitution degree of CTA (%)
22.0
48.0
52.0
60.0
Water temperature ( C)
23.1
23.3
22.5
22.6
After sand ltration
Raw water
8.79
7.78
6.68
5.03
1.32
0.89
0.71
0.47
44.8
36.8
40.7
43.2
CH2OR1
CH2OH
P2O5/MeSO3H
OR1
Before sand ltration
constant (k) calculated from a occulation kinetics model was

shown to increase as the degree of CTA substitution increased, due
to the more efcient charge neutralization and bridging occulation effects conferred by the larger number of cationic ions on the
chain backbone of CMC-CTA (Yang et al., 2012b). Furthermore, we
obtained similar ndings in two other systems: CTA-modied
chitosan (chitosan-CTA) (Huang et al., 2013) and CTA-modied
chitosan-graft-polyacrylamide (chitosan-CTA-g-PAM) (Lu et al.,
2011), discussed below. Our results showed that chitosan-based
occulants with a higher cationic content have better water solubility, higher occulation performance, and a lower dose
requirement.
3.2.1.2.2. Other modied chitosans. Chitosan can also be modied by the addition of anionic groups to improve the occulation of
positively charged pollutants. Bratskaya et al. prepared a series of
N-carboxyethylated chitosans (CECs) in which the DS of carboxyethyl groups ranged from 0.7 to 1.6 per glucosamine unit of chitosan (Bratskaya et al., 2009). The polymers were used to occulate
positively charged heavy metals hydroxides at pH > 7.5, i.e., higher
than their isoelectric points. The occulation performance of these
CECs was highly dependent on the pH of the medium and the DS of
the CEC derivatives. The higher the pH and the DS, the narrower the
occulation window and the stronger the negative effect of occulant overdosing on heavy metal removal. According to the estimated oc settling rates and the residual metal concentrations, the
optimal DS of the CEC derivatives in the precipitation of metal
hydroxides was 0.7e1.0. Moreover, occulation by the CEC derivatives rather than chelating was the predominant mechanism of
metal removal under the tested conditions, as evidenced by the
strong correlation between the electrokinetic properties of the
metal colloids and the efciency of their removal (Bratskaya et al.,
2009).
In addition to the DS and MW, the ne structure of the functional groups introduced onto the glucosamine ring of chitosan has
been studied with respect to the occulation efciency. Zhao et al.
obtained two phosphorylated chitosan derivatives with a similar
DS (~0.5 per glucosamine unit of chitosan) but different structures,
i.e., O-phosphorylated chitosan (OPC) and N-methylene phosphonic chitosan (NMPC) (Zhao et al., 2012). The compounds were
synthesized, respectively, by the esterication of the hydroxyl
group of chitosan using P2O5 in methanesulfonic acid and by the
decreased with the increasing degrees of CTA substitution.

Increasing the charge density of the polyelectrolyte strengthened
the electrostatic interactions between quaternary chitosans and
negatively charged CaCO3 particles; thereby improving CaCO3
occulation. However, higher-MW chitosan-CTA was less efcient.
Charge patching was suggested to be the predominant mechanism
of CaCO3 occulation by quaternary chitosans.
Ali et al. also evaluated the effects of CTA substitution and MW
on the occulation performance of CTA-modied chitosan (Ali
et al., 2010). They prepared a series of chitosan-CTA polymers
with different degrees of CTA substitution and different MWs by
altering the molar ratio of CTA to chitosan in the reaction mixtures.
They then compared the efciency of the various chitosan-CTA
preparations vs. native chitosan in the occulation of kaolin and
iron-ore powder suspensions. The results indicated that not all of
the modied chitosans had a better occulation performance than
native chitosan. Among the different chitosan-CTAs, those with a
moderate MW and a moderate charge density had the best occulation performance against either of the model suspensions. The
authors concluded that both polymer bridging and charge
neutralization contributed to the occulation performance. The
differences between the results of Li et al. (Li et al., 2004a). And
those of Ali (Ali et al., 2010) can be ascribed to the different characteristics of the treated wastewaters. In addition, the linear charge
density of chitosan-CTAs with a much higher degree of CTA substitution would be lower, according to counterion condensation
theory (Manning, 1974; Oosawa, 1971), resulting in a reduction of
the occulation efciency.
Yang et al. successively modied chitosan with CTA and monochloroacetic acid in typical etherication and amination reactions
(Yang et al., 2011b, 2012b). A series of amphoteric chitosan-based
occulants (CMC-CTA) with different degrees of CTA substitution
but a consistent content of carboxymethyl groups was obtained by
controlling the mass feed of CTA to chitosan. The degree of CTA
substitution of the nal products increased with an increase of the
mass feed of CTA, before gradually reaching a plateau. CMC-CTA
with a higher CTA content had a better occulation performance
and the dose requirement was lower when the occulants were
tested both at laboratory scale using a kaolin suspension (Fig. 3.10)
and in a pilot-scale study using raw water from the Zhenjiang part
of the Yangtze River of China (Table 3.4). Moreover, the rate
Average turbidity (NTU)
5oC , 2h
OH
R1=H,
4
1
OH
3
HCHO/H3PO3
70oC , 6h
P O
4
1
OH
3
NH2
NH2
OPC
CH2OH
NR2R3
NMPC
R2, R3 = H,
OH
Fig. 3.11. Preparation of O-phosphorylated and N-phosphorylated chitosans (Zhao et al., 2012).
H OH
C
P O
H OH
77
Table 3.5
Examples of monomers used in graft copolymerization reactions for preparation of chitosan-based occulants.
Monomer Monomers
type
Non-ionic Acrylamide
Cationic
Anionic
Structure
Reference
(Ali and Singh, 2009a; Jia, 2012; Laue and Hunkeler, 2006; Lu et al., 2011; Pal et al., 2012;
Wang et al., 2008; Wang et al., 2011; Wang et al., 2012; Yang et al., 2011b; Yang et al., 2012c;
Yuan et al., 2010; Zhang et al., 2010a; Zhang et al., 2012; Zhu et al., 2012)
N-vinyl formamide
(Mishra et al., 2008)
N,N-dimethylacrylamide
(Tripathy et al., 2010)
(2-Methacryloyloxyethyl)
trimethyl ammonium
chloride
(Laue and Hunkeler, 2006; Jiang et al., 2011; Wang et al., 2007; Wang et al., 2009; Wang
et al., 2011; Wang et al., 2012; Yang et al., 2014a; Yang et al., 2014b;
Zhu et al., 2012)
3-(Acrylamide)propyl
trimethylammonium bromide
(Serita, 1995)
N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone
(Srivastava et al., 2010)
diallyl dimethyl lammonium

chloride
(Yang et al., 2015)
(Meth)acrylic acid
(Izvozchikova et al., 2003; Mishra et al., 2009)
2-Acrylamidoglycolic acid
(Yadav et al., 2012)
selective incorporation of methylene phosphonic groups on the

amino groups of chitosan using formaldehyde/H3PO3 in water
(Fig. 3.11). In experiments measuring turbidity removal from kaolin
suspensions, the removal efciency of OPC was much higher than
that of NMPC (~90% vs. 60%). The lower occulation efciency of
NMPC was attributed to the decreased acid strength of its Nmethylene phosphate groups. These results highlighted the
importance of the acidity of the phosphate groups introduced onto
the modied chitosan in determining occulation efciency.
The inconsistent effects of the DS on the occulation performance of etheried or N-alkylated chitosan occulants can be
attributed to several factors such as the different characteristics

of various wastewaters and the ne structures of occulants
(Ali et al., 2010; Li et al., 2004a). Generally, increasing the DS
within a suitable range can improve the occulation of
pollutants containing opposite surface charges, via enhanced
charge neutralization effects. An additional consideration is the
effects of the distribution of introduced functional groups on the
chitosan backbone. These have not been fully investigated
because of the difculty in accurately determining and characterizing the ne structures of modied chitosan at the molecular
level.
78
Fig. 3.12. Different morphologies of graft copolymers. (a) Longer and (b) shorter but similar number of grafted chains prepared by high and low concentrations of monomers,
respectively, but a constant amount of chitosan and a constant irradiation/initiator dose. (c) Shorter but more numerous and (d) longer but fewer grafted chains obtained by a high
and low total irradiation/initiator dose, respectively, but a constant amount of chitosan and a constant monomer dose.
Fig. 3.13. Graft copolymerization of chitosan with acrylamide (Wang et al., 2008).
3.2.2. Grafted chitosan occulants

3.2.2.1. Graft copolymerization. Graft copolymerization is a rapidly
advancing eld in the chemical modication of polymers (Ceresa,
1973; Flory, 1953). Grafting consists of the introduction of synthetic functional polymers as side chains on the polymer backbone,
thus enabling various molecular designs.
Chitosan-grafted copolymers have been widely used in wastewater treatment (Lee et al., 2014; Wang et al., 2008; Yang et al.,
2014a; Yuan et al., 2010). A graft copolymerization reaction for
chitosan usually involves three steps: the dissolution of chitosan
into a homogenous aqueous solution, initiation of the reaction, and
grafting after feeding of the desired amount of the selected
monomer. The whole reaction is performed under an inert gas atmosphere. The dissolving medium is typically a dilute acidic medium, such as acetic acid or hydrochloric acid, and the graft reaction
is initiated by radiation, either gamma ray or microwave (Singh
et al., 2012), or ceric ammonium nitrate (CAN) and persulfates.
The monomers that can be fed into the system may be nonionic,
cationic, or anionic. Several examples are listed in Table 3.5.
The nonionic monomer most commonly grafted onto chitosan is
acrylamide, since the utility of polyacrylamides (PAMs) in water
purication is well-established. These chitosan-graft-polyacrylamides (chitosan-g-PAMs) are discussed in detail in Sect.
3.2.2.2.1. However, because the majority of pollutants are negatively charged, the most commonly grafted chitosans bear cationic
groups, such as quaternary ammonium salts, for improved charge
neutralization effects. Moreover, anionic groups are also introduced
via etherication/amination reactions, as discussed above, and
using graft copolymerization. The resulting modied chitosans by
anions have improved charge density, greater intramolecular
electrostatic repulsion properties, a more extended conformation,

and enhanced bridging occulation effects. Thus anionic chitosanbased occulants exhibit better water solubility and chelating effects in wastewater mostly containing positively charged
pollutants.
3.2.2.2. Effects of grafting ratio on occulation of various wastewater.
The properties of graft copolymers are mostly determined by their
structural features, such as the grafting ratio, charge density, and
the length and number of the attached polymer chains, which are
affected by the synthesis conditions, especially the total irradiation,
the initiator dose, and the amount of the fed monomer. Graft
copolymerization is thus one of the most attractive approaches for
constructing versatile molecular environments (Ceresa, 1973;
Rinaudo, 2006). At constant amounts of chitosan and irradiation/
initiator dose, the grafting ratio usually increases with increasing
amounts of monomers (Wang et al., 2007; Yuan et al., 2010). When
both the amount of chitosan and the monomer dose are held
constant, the graft copolymers contain fewer but longer side chains
when the total irradiation dose or initiator concentration is reduced
(Ali and Singh, 2009a). Fig. 3.12 shows the different morphologies
of the graft copolymers prepared under the various conditions.
3.2.2.2.1. Chitosan-g-PAM occulants. As noted in Sect. 3.2.2.1,
chitosan-g-PAM are widely used, nonionic grafted chitosan occulants. Wang et al. synthesized chitosan-g-PAM initiated by
gamma ray in acid-water solution (Fig. 3.13) and investigated the
effects of acetic acid concentration, total irradiation dose, dose rate,
and monomer concentration on the grafting percentage (Wang
et al., 2008). The results showed the negligible effect of the acetic
acid concentration whereas the grafting ratio increased with
79
100
(a)
T(%)
98
96
94
92
90
100
200
300
400
Grafting Ratio ( % )
12
2.5
(c)
(b)
2.0
T ( NTU )
T ( NTU )
10
1.5
1.0
6
100
200
300
0.5
400
100
200
300
400
Fig. 3.14. The effects of grafting ratio of various chitosan-g-PAM samples on the occulating properties, (a) in a laboratory-scale study using a kaolin suspension and (b, c) in a pilotscale study of raw water from the Zhenjiang part of the Yangtze River of China (b) before and (c) after sand-ltrating (Yuan et al., 2010; Zhang et al., 2010a).
Table 3.6
Comparison of the occulation performance of the different chitosan-based occulants, in both laboratory- and pilot-scale studies.
Flocculant (reference)
Chain architecture
DS with
CTAa (%)
DS with carboxymethyl Grafting ratio of

groupsa (%)
PAMb (%)
Chitosan-g-PAM (Yuan et al., 2010; Zhang et al.,

2010a)
Chitosan-CTA-g-PAM (Lu et al., 2011)
44.7
Chitosan-CTA (Huang et al., 2013)

Carboxymethyl chitosan-CTA (Yang et al.,
2011b; Yang et al., 2012b)
Laboratory scalec
Pilot scaled
e
Optimal dose TRE

(mg/L)
(%)
Optimal dose TREf

(mg/L)
(%)
286
0.10
93.2
1.0
90.1
286
0.10
92.1
1.3
90.0
89
0.05
93.3
1.1
90.5
60
48.3
0.80
90.4
1.1
88.4
DS (%) W(substituent)/W(chitosan) 100%; here, W(substituent) and W(chitosan) are the mass weights of the substituent and chitosan, respectively.
Grafting ratio (%) W(grafted chain)/W(chitosan) 100%; here, W(grafted chain) and W(chitosan) are the mass weights of the grafted chain and chitosan, respectively.
The initial turbidity of synthetic water (kaolin suspensions) is 75 NTU (measured at 25 C and pH 7.0).
d
The initial turbidity of raw water (the Zhenjiang portion of the Yangtze River of China) is between 20 and 60 NTU depending on when it is measured.
e
Turbidity removal efciency (TRE, %) (Ttreated Tuntreated)/(100 Tuntreated) 100%; here, Tuntreated and Ttreated are the transmittances of untreated and treated water,
respectively.
f
Turbidity removal efciency (TRE, %) (Traw Ttreated)/Traw 100%; here, Traw and Ttreated are the turbidity of raw water and water treated by occulation but before sand
ltration, respectively.
b
c
increasing total irradiation dose. A lower irradiation dose rate

improved the grafting ratio at a xed total irradiation dose, whereas
a higher monomer concentration resulted in a higher grafting ratio.
The authors found that chitsoan-g-PAM was better than chitosan
alone and that chitosan-g-PAM efciently occulated kaolin suspensions, especially under alkaline conditions. They also demonstrated shorter settling rates at various pH values when chitosan-g-
PAM was synthesized with a grafting ratio of 166% vs. 56%.

Ali and Singh also prepared chitosan-g-PAM in acidewater solution but used CAN as the initiator (Ali and Singh, 2009a). They
obtained various chitosan-g-PAM preparations with different
grafting ratios and distributions of the grafted chain by controlling
the amounts of CAN feeding and acrylamide. In occulation experiments in which kaolin, iron ore, silica, and bentonite power
80
Fig. 3.15. Graft copolymerization of chitosan with a cationic monomer (2-methacryloyloxyethyl) trimethyl ammonium chloride (DMC).
2013), and carboxymethyl chitosan-CTA (CMC-CTA) (Yang et al.,

2011b, 2012b). In the laboratory-scale experiments, chitosan-CTA,
with its high positive charge density, showed the best occulation efciency, the lowest optimal dose and the highest turbidity
removal efciency (TRE), indicating the importance of charge
neutralization effects in the purication of a kaolin suspension.
However, in the pilot scale experiments using raw water, there was
little difference in the occulation efciencies of the four occulants. This result probably reects the more complicated mixture of
compounds present in the water samples but also their efcient
removal by all of the tested occulants. Although the grafted PAM
chains on chitosan-g-PAM and chitosan-CTA-g-PAM partially shield
the positive charges distributed on their chain backbones, the
branch structure of polymeric occulants results in enhanced
bridging effects. As for the amphoteric occulant of CMC-CTA
containing both cationic and anionic groups, it may more suit the
real water due to its notably improved solubility and salt-resistance
in the wide pH range.
3.2.2.2.2. Chitosan-g-PDMC occulants. As discussed above,
quaternary ammonium salts can be grafted onto chitosan to
improve its positive charge density. Wang et al. grafted the cationic
monomer 2-methacryloyloxyethyl trimethyl ammonium chloride
(DMC) onto chitosan using gamma ray initiation (chitosan-g-
suspensions were evaluated in settling and jar tests, the chitosan-gPAM occulants with the fewest but longest PAM side chains and
the highest intrinsic viscosity showed the best settling performance and were able to bridge the largest number of colloidal
particles before their occulation.
We prepared a series of chitosan-g-PAM also using CAN as the
initiator (Yuan et al., 2010; Zhang et al., 2010a). In our system, the
grafting ratio increased with increasing acrylamide monomer
concentrations. The effects of the grafting ratio on the efciency of
occulation were investigated in a laboratory-scale study using a
kaolin suspension and in a pilot-scale study of raw water from the
Zhenjiang part of the Yangtze River of China shown in Fig. 3.14. The
addition of branched PAM chains efciently improved bridging
occulating but shielded the cationic groups on the chitosan
backbone, thus reducing charge neutralization effects. However,
the nal occulating effects reected the cooperation of these two
mechanisms. These results demonstrate the importance of a proper
grafting ratio in the preparation of chitosan-g-PAM occulants with
optimal occulating properties.
Table 3.6 compares the occulation performance of four
chitosan-based occulants differing in their chain architectures and
charges: chitosan-g-PAM (Yuan et al., 2010; Zhang et al., 2010a),
chitosan-CTA-g-PAM (Lu et al., 2011), chitosan-CTA (Huang et al.,
CH2OCH2COO-
CH2OH
O
OH
ClCH2COOH
NH2
NH2
Chitosan
CMC
CH2OCH2COO-
CH2OCH2COO-
CH2 CHCNH2
O
O
Ce4+
OH
NaOH
HO
C H HC
or
O C HC
H
NH
NH2
c b
c b
[ CH2CH ]
[ CH2CH ]
NH2
NH2
CMC-g-PAM
Fig. 3.16. Preparation of carboxymethyl chitosan-graft-polyacrylamide (CMC-g-PAM) (Yang et al., 2012c).
PDMC; Fig. 3.15) (Wang et al., 2007). A systematic investigation of

the effects of the total irradiation dose, dose rate, monomer concentration, and temperature on the grafting ratio showed that the
grafting ratio increased with an increasing total irradiation dose up
to 450 Gy and with increasing reaction temperature. An increase in
the monomer concentration increased the availability of DMC
molecules to react with the chitosan macroradicals, leading to an
increase in the grafting ratio.
The same research group also tested potassium persulfate as an
initiator in the synthesis of chitosan-g-PDMC (Wang et al., 2009).
Temperature and monomer concentration were shown to be the
most important factors inuencing the graft percentage. The water
solubility of chitosan-g-PDMC increased with increasing grafting
ratio and the occulant was completely dissolved in water when
the grafting ratio exceeded 236.4%. This chitosan-g-PDMC with a
higher grafting ratio showed better occulation in acidic, neutral,
and alkaline conditions when used to treat pulp mill wastewater
(Wang et al., 2009). Serita prepared grafted chitosan occulants
using 3-(acrylamide)propyl trimethylammonium bromide and
tested their efciency in the occulation of a 5% kaolin suspension.
The occulating ability of the graft copolymers increased with
increasing graft chain length and graft ratio (Serita, 1995).
3.2.2.2.3. Other modied chitosans. Graft copolymerization and
etherication/amination reaction can be applied in succession to
chemically modify chitosan by introducing various functional
groups. Yang et al. used this combined approach, synthesizing
carboxymethyl chitosan (CMC) onto which they grafted PAM
(Fig. 3.16), yielding the novel, amphoteric, chemically bonded
composite occulant CMC-g-PAM (Yang et al., 2012c, 2013a). The
graft reaction was initiated by CAN in acid-water. CMC-g-PAM was
tested in the occulation of both an anionic (Methyl Orange) and a
cationic (Basic Bright Yellow) dye in water (Yang et al., 2013a). The
results indicated that the introduction of excess PAM chains in
CMC-g-PAM increased the optimal occulant dose, decreased the
color removal efciency, and worsened the oc properties. These
ndings reected the fact that although the PAM chains improved
bridging and sweeping effects, excess amounts screened the
charges on the chitosan backbone and thus reduced charge
neutralization by CMC-g-PAM. Therefore, the grafting ratio of PAM
should be controlled such that it remains in a suitable range.
Besides a single monomer, two or more different monomers can
be used to prepare bi- or multi-graft chitosan copolymer occulants with diverse functionality (Wang et al., 2011, 2012). Wang
et al. prepared a series of graft chitosan occulants in aqueous
solution using acrylamide and DMC as co-monomers and CAN as
Fig. 3.17. Window of application (WA) as a function of the number of exclusive PDMC
branches per chitosan chain (Laue and Hunkeler, 2006).
81
the initiator (Wang et al., 2011). Graft chitosans containing more

DMC groups had a better occulation performance, because of the
increased number of positive charges and greater charge neutralization effects.
Laue and Hunkeler prepared a series of chitosan copolymers
also grafted with DMC and AM and using CAN as the initiator (Laue
and Hunkeler, 2006). The occulation performance of these grafted
chitosans in the purication of model kaolin suspensions was more
robust than that of PAM and completely synthetic polycations with
the same charge density. This was most likely due to the long chain
branches and rigid nature of the backbone, which may have provided a more extended conformation of the chitosan in solution
and a higher effective charge density.
The effects of the length and number of grafted chains, the
charge density, and the ionic strength on occulation performance
have been investigated quantitatively (Laue and Hunkeler, 2006).
The length and number of graft chains was estimated from the
number-average MW, determined by size exclusion chromatography, and the composition of the polymer by Fourier transform
infrared spectroscopy. The authors created a mathematical
expression linking the window of application (WA) for occulants
with the number of branches of the grafted polymer and the salt
concentration. From Fig. 3.17, increasing both the number of
branches and the ionic strength of the aqueous solution increased
the WA. Moreover, a novel parameter (x), dened as the critical
charge ratio for occulation, was introduced. It was obtained from
the product of the lower limit concentration of occulants for a
given WA (lower bound of the WA, LLC) and the polymer charge
density (CDp) divided by the surface charge density of the suspended particles (sKaolin) as shown in Eq. (3.1).
LLC,CDp
sKaolin
(3.1)
At the point at which occulation begins, i.e., the LLC, this ratio
of charges (x) is equal to or close to 1, in which case simple charge
neutralization is the operative mechanism. Smaller values of this
ratio indicate bridging and charge patching neutralization effects.
In the authors' work (Laue and Hunkeler, 2006), x is 1 at the point
of incipient occulation (LLC), which strongly implicated bridging
and/or charge patching neutralization as the dominant occulation
mechanisms.
However, as is the case for the modifying agents used in the
preparation of etheried/N-alkylated chitosan occulants, the
types of graft monomers used in actual applications are limited by
the complicated synthesis techniques involved and the high costs.
Consequently, there have been few studies on the effects of
structural factors on the occulation performance of grafted chitosan occulants. Moreover, the occulation properties of polymeric occulants are determined not only by the grafting ratio but
also by the distribution of the introduced chemical substituents
along the chitosan backbone, which also has not been systematically investigated. Furthermore, there are far different chain architectures: linear and branching forms respectively, for
etheried/n-alkylated and grafted polymeric occulants even
containing the same chemical components, which may result in
distinct hydrodynamic properties in water and different occulation performance. However, very few work related to their
comparisons has been reported until now. In addition, most of the
relevant studies have been qualitative rather than quantitative,
due to the complicated characteristics of both the polymeric
occulants and the various contaminants in the target
wastewaters.
82
Fig. 4.1. The relationship between the preparation conditions, structural features, and occulation performance of a occulant.
4. Perspectives
4.1. In-depth investigations of chitosan-based occulants
Chitosan and its derivatives are known as effective, safe, and
cost-effective occulants with applications in a wide variety of
settings, including the treatment of industrial efuents as well as
potable water. However, maximizing the applications of chitosanbased occulants rst requires in-depth and molecular-level investigations of their mechanisms of action with respect to their
structural characteristics.
4.1.1. Various available studies
Most research into the mechanisms underlying chitosan-based
occulation and their relationship to the structural characteristics
of the respective occulants has been qualitative rather than
quantitative (Laue and Hunkeler, 2006). The challenge to such
studies is the difculty in analyzing the structural features of
chitosan-based occulants, including their short- and long-range
structures, and the complex interactions with the surface of the
targeted pollutants. The forces involved in these interactions
include covalent bonds, electrostatic interaction, hydrogen
bonding, van der Waals forces, and other highly specic forces
resulting in unusual occulation mechanisms. Besides, polymer
materials still own far different chain architectures, including
linear, grafting/branching, and star-like forms, resulting in diverse
application performance (Elias, 1984; Flory, 1953; Sperling, 2006).
Thus, more precise characterization awaits the development of
advanced technologies and more sophisticated analytic
instruments.
Because chitosan and its derivatives are typical polyelectrolytes,
their long-range structure in solution is critical to their nal occulation performance. Moreover, the optimal dose of chitosanbased occulants is usually in the range of 0.1e100 mg/L, which
according to polymer solution theory is extremely dilute (Flory,
1953; Elias, 1984; Qian, 2002). Therefore, besides traditional polyelectrolyte theories (Fuoss and Cathers, 1949; Fuoss and Strauss,
1948; Manning, 1974; Oosawa, 1971; Radeva, 2001), an understanding of the efcient performances achievable with much wider
polymer concentration ranges is needed to study the hydrodynamic structure of polymers under these conditions (Cheng, 1997;
Yang et al., 2012a). Such studies are also currently lacking.
4.1.2. Molecular structure control
Nonetheless, by taking advantage of the occulation mechanisms recognized thus far, the tailored structural features of
chitosan-based occulants, and their actual occulation performance, the structure-activity relationship could be well built and
effectively exploited. Accordingly, the interdependencies of the
preparation condition, structural features, and occulation performance can be obtained and are described in Fig. 4.1.
As diagrammed in Fig. 4.1, the selection or design of the optimal
occulant relies on precise molecular control to achieve the desired
occulation performance and optimize the occulation process.
Guided by these principles, we developed two types of amphoteric
starch-based occulants that effectively occulate both positively

and negatively charged colloidal contaminants in water (Yang et al.,
2014c, 2014d). This same strategy can also be applied to the preparation of high-performance chitosan-based occulants.
4.1.3. Flocs properties analysis
In addition to the molecular structures of the occulants and the
treated pollutants, the properties of the ocs formed in the occulation process, including oc size, fractal structure, regrowth
ability, and settling rate, must be considered in any detailed analyses of occulation mechanisms. These properties can be studied
by image analysis or light-scattering technique in combination with
fractal theory (Mandelbrot, 1983; Serra, 1992; Wei et al., 2009).
Among them, fractal dimension is one of the most important and
powerful quantitative parameters in the fractal concept (Zhou and
Franks, 2006), which indicates the space-lling capacity (Thomas
et al., 1999), i.e., the compactness of the oc. Larger fractal dimensions signify more compact ocs. There are two commonly
used fractal dimensions: two- (D2) and three-dimensional (i.e.,
mass fractal dimension, or DF) presentations. D2 is dened by the
power law relationship between the projected area (A) and the
characteristic length (l) (Eq. (4.1)), which is usually measured by
image analysis (Chakraborti et al., 2000; Cai et al., 2013). DF is the
power law relationship between mass (m) and l, which can be
obtained by light-scattering since light intensity (I) is directly
proportional to m and scatter vector (Q) is inverse to l (Eq. (4.2))
(Jarvis et al., 2005).
AflD2
(4.1)
IfQ DF
(4.2)
Many studies on this aspect of occulation have made use of

traditional occulants such as Al2(SO4)3, PAC, FeCl3, and PAM
(Chakraborti et al., 2000, 2003; Fabrizi et al., 2010; Jarvis et al.,
2005; Rasteiro et al., 2008; Yu et al., 2006, 2010), whereas much
less is known about natural polymer-based occulants (Li et al.,
2015a; Yang et al., 2012c; Yang et al., 2014b).
We recently studied the occulation performance of CMC-gPDMC including ocs properties for kaolin suspension, humic acid
solution and kaolin/humic acid mixed suspension under various pH
levels (Yang et al., 2014b). Flocs produced by CMC-g-PDMC had
larger sizes, denser structures and rapider settling velocity than
those by PAC under most corresponding conditions, resulting from
both strong charge attraction and enhanced approachability of its
comb-like copolymer. However, oc strength based on calculated
oc breakage coefcient was dependent on the interaction force
among primary particles in ocs, and occulation systems
following patching mechanism had stronger oc strength than
those obeying simple charge neutralization (Yang et al., 2014b).
Moreover, the kinetics of occulation are a function of oc formation and breakage, which together result in changing oc
structures that affect the nal occulation performance. From a
simple yet widely applied modied Smoluchowski model (Eq.
(4.3)) (Blanco et al., 2005; Chen et al., 2007), an updated equation
combining with the fractal dimension of DF (Eq. (4.4)) was developed and used to study the occulation processes of kaolin suspensions quantitatively (Yang et al., 2013b). From the obtained
kinetic parameters of ocs aggregation and breakage (k1 and k2),
the inuences of occulant type (inorganic (PAC), synthetic organic
(PAM) and natural polymer occulants (CMC-g-PAM)), dose, pH,
and mechanical mixing rate on occulation kinetics were thoroughly discussed (Yang et al., 2013b).

2
dNt =Ninitial
Nt
Nt
Ninitial k1
k2
dt
Ninitial
Ninitial
P
Nt
Ninitial
P
j
D t
xj;t dj;t F
Flocculation
Molecular
weight
Cationic or
anionic groups
(4.3)
Antimicrobial
activity
F initial
xi;initial di;initial
k2 ,ek2 ,t
k1 ,Ninitial ,ek2 ,t k2 k1 ,Ninitial
(4.4)
Here, Ninitial and Nt are the number concentrations of particles at the

initial time and time t, respectively; xi(j),t is the fractional number of
particles classied as type i(j), which has a oc size of di(j),t.
However, a real occulation process is still associated with the
aspects of collision efciency, hydrodynamic interactions, and particle surface characteristics (Kusaka et al., 2011; Li et al., 2011;
Smoczynski et al., 2009; Thomas et al., 1999) besides ocs properties. Given the complexity of the occulation process and its importance not only in water treatment but also in many industrial elds,
including mining operations, oil extraction, and paper production, a
comprehensive understanding of occulation is needed to achieve its
wider and more effective implementation. Acquiring this knowledge
requires close multidisciplinary cooperation among researchers in
environmental science and engineering, polymer chemistry and
physics, colloidal chemistry, theoretical chemistry, etc.
4.2. Cost performance of chitosan-based occulants

4.2.1. Cost of chitosan-based occulants
One of the most important bottlenecks restricting practical applications of chitosan-based occulants is their cost. The unit price
of chitosan is still much higher than that of traditional inorganic
occulants. Hwang and Srinivasan used chitosan to remove lipids
from cheese whey by chitosan (Hwang and Srinivasan, 1995). A
preliminary economic analysis indicated that the additional cost
involved in the manufacture of fat-free whey protein isolate using
chitosan was about $0.50/kg of whey protein. Xu et al. estimated
that the cost of chitosan for dewatering of cultures of the microalga
Chlorella sorokiniana is ~$200/ton (Xu et al., 2013), which is not
commercially viable, although chitosan has highly effective. Gupta
et al. compared the recovery cost of Scenedesmus sp. biomass using
chitosan vs. a polyamine polymer (Gupta et al., 2014). The proximate cost of harvesting 1 kg of algal biomass was approximately
$51 for chitosan but only $0.5 for the polyamine polymer. However,
chitosan is still used in some settings to obtain high additional
value (Cheng et al., 2005; Chi and Cheng, 2006).
Reducing the cost of chitosan applications also requires novel
strategies in the extraction and deacetylation of chitin. Nonetheless, simple, effective, and inexpensive modication techniques can
be used to improve the functionality, application efciency, and
nal cost performance of chitosan-based occulants. Farid et al.
analyzed the cost of harvesting the microalga Nannochloropsis sp.
using chitosan nanopolymer (Farid et al., 2013). The harvesting cost
in the production of 1 kg of dry biomass was ~$0.0246: $0.0225 for
chitosan and $0.0021 for acetic acid, which demonstrated the
feasibility of using nanochitosan as a occulation agent. Dong et al.
83
Scale and
corrosion
inhibition
Fig. 4.2. The relationship between occulation, antimicrobial activity, and corrosion
and scale inhibition in chitosan-based multifunctional water treatment agents.
occulated algal water in different pH solutions using quaternized

carboxymethyl chitosan (CMC-CTA) (Dong et al., 2014). Although
the unit price of CMC-CTA is higher than that of PAM, Al2(SO4)3, and
FeCl3, the optimal dose of chitosan is much lower, making CMC-CTA
a competitive and feasible coagulant.
There are also other, more affordable natural polymer materials,
such as cellulose (Cai et al., 2013, 2015; Liu et al., 2014; Sievanen
et al., 2015), starch (Krentz et al., 2006; Singh et al., 2000, 2013;
Wang et al., 2013a), and tannin (Wang et al., 2013b), which, after
appropriate modication, may provide efcient alternatives. The
optimal molecular design of these other potential occulants and
their use as an alternative to chitosan-based occulants will
depend on the characteristics of the target water body.
4.2.2. Combined occulation with chitosan-based occulants

Chitosan-based occulants can be also combined with other
materials such as PAC, Al2(SO4)3, FeCl3, montmorillonite, soils and
PAM in water purication as coagulant aids or one of main components in composite occulants (Assaad et al., 2007; Lee et al.,
2012, 2014; Li and Pan, 2015; Ng et al., 2012; Petzold and
Schwarz, 2014). This strategy could obviously improve their occulation efciency and reduce the cost. More importantly, the applications of direct occulation using only polymeric occulants are
mostly limited to organic-based wastewater with high concentration of suspended and colloidal solids; such as food, paper and pulp,
and textile efuents (Lee et al., 2014). Thus, combined occulation
process is still preferable and widely employed by most of the industries (Chong, 2012).
Zemmouri et al. compared the occulation performance of
chitosan used individually and as coagulant aid of Al2(SO4)3 for
treating the raw water from Beni-Amrane dam (Zemmouri et al.,
2013). The turbidity removal by latter strategy was 97%, but that
by the former was only 87%. Zonoozi et al. also assessed of the
application chitosan as a coagulant aid in conjunction with PAC
towards dye-containing solutions. Chitosan could noticeably
improve the dye removal efciency of PAC. Small amounts of chitosan (3 or 5 mg/L) enhanced the dye removal efciency of PAC up
to 2.5 times for Acid Blue 292 (Zonoozi et al., 2011). Assaad et al.
used chitosan-montmorillonite system to remove metal ions (Co2,
Ni2, and Cu2) by coagulation-occulation. The result showed that
when chitosan and montmorillonite were used simultaneously,
they would display a synergy phenomenon (Assaad et al., 2007).
Perez et al. also used a combined occulation technique by FeCl3
and chitosan for harvesting of marine microalgae Chaetoceros gracilis (Perez et al., 2016), which is feasible and highly efcient even at
84
very low doses of chitosan and FeCl3. Furthermore, salinity was the
variable with the greatest inuence on this occulation process.
Besides as coagulant aids, chitosan and its derivatives can be
combined with other materials and used as composite occulants.
Ng et al. obtained a novel composite coagulant of chitosan with PAC
and evaluated its coagulation process for natural organic material
(NOM) removal (Ng et al., 2012). At a low Al dose (2.16 mg/L), a
much higher NOM removal from synthetic water was achieved by
the composite coagulants in comparison to that removed by PAC or
PAC and chitosan added separately (Ng et al., 2012). Zeng et al.
prepared a composite occulant consisted of chitosan, PAC and
silicate to treat the sewage of Tsinghua University (Zeng et al.,
2008). The percentage of removing COD, SS and Al3 in the
treated water using this composite occulant were enhanced by
1.8e23.7%, 50% and 61.2e85.5%, respectively in comparison to PAC,
but its cost was cut down 7e34%. They also prepared another
composite occulant by chitosan, PFS and PAM to treat papermaking wastewater (Zeng et al., 2012). At optimal conditions, the
removal of COD and SS reached 72.5% and 98.5%, which increased
15.2% and 6.4% respectively compared with traditional occulant
PAM/PAC. While input cost was cut down by 18.4%. Liu et al. synthesized a quaternized chitosan/organo-montmorillonite nanocomposite by microwave irradiation-assisted method to occulate
CaCO3 suspensions (Liu et al., 2011). The optimal dose of this
composite was only 0.005 mg/L, which is much lower than 15 mg/L
of cationic starch, a common occulant. In Pan's group, they composite chitosan with many clays, minerals, and local soils into
highly effective occulants for removal of harmful cyanobacterial
blooms by increasing their netting and bridging effects (Li and Pan,
2015; Li et al., 2015b; Zou et al., 2004; Zou et al., 2006). In short,
combined occulation is an economic and efcient occulation
process.
4.2.3. Multi-function chitosan-based occulants
Traditional water treatment agents are of single functionality,
which has resulted in a wide variety of agents and the need for high
doses, complicated devices, and labor-intensive operations. The
development of multifunctional water treatment agents containing
occulation, bacteriostasis/sterilization, and corrosion and scale
inhibition activities would have obvious advantages, given the
complex mixtures of pollutants that are often encountered (Xiao,
2008). Moreover, combining the various functionalities into one
agent would reduce the actual cost of treatment and greatly expand
the application range of these multifunctional compounds. In 1971,
Redmore designed one of earliest multifunctional water treatment
agents made of imidazoline phosphoramide (Redmore, 1971). Its
functionalities included occulation as well as scale and corrosion
inhibition, but the feeding dose varied according to the application.
Besides their use as occulants, chitosan and its derivatives can
be employed under various conditions as bacteriostatic/bactericidal
agents (Goy et al., 2009; Yang et al., 2014a) as well as corrosion and
scale inhibitors (Zhang et al., 2014a). In tests of our recently synthesized CMC-g-PDMC, its occulation performance in treating
various raw water containing dyes (Wu et al., 2015), high turbidity
(Yang et al., 2014b), high contents of humic substances (Yang et al.,
2014b), and bacteria (E. coli) (Yang et al., 2014a) was satisfactory.
The test results indicated that, besides occulation, CMC-g-PDMC is
an effective bactericidal agent. Similarly, the carboxymethyl quaternized oligochitosan evaluated by Zhang et al. exhibited good
scale inhibition and bactericidal properties (Zhang et al., 2014a).
Fig. 4.2 summarizes the structural relationships of chitosanbased multifunctional water treatment agents with respect to
occulation, antimicrobial activity, and corrosion and scale inhibition. From the viewpoint of molecular structure, good occulation
is often achieved with higher MW chitosans; however, corrosion
and scale formation are best prevented by chitosans with a lower

MW and wider MW distribution due to their rapid molecular
migration, effective lattice distortion, and dispersion effects.
Introduced quaternary ammonium salt groups typically improve
both occulation and antimicrobial activity, because of their strong
electrostatic interactions with the mostly negatively charged
colloidal and bacteria suspensions (Goy et al., 2009); conversely,
additional anionic groups are effective in scale inhibition (Hasson
et al., 2011; Martinod et al., 2008), besides abundant amine and
hydroxyl groups on chitosan.
Chitosan-based multifunctional water treatment agents with
improved functionality and nal cost performance can be manufactured using currently available methods. However, there are few
reports describing their use in eld operations, including in-depth
investigations of the synergy between occulation, corrosion and
scale inhibition, and antimicrobial activity. Such studies would
provide a theoretical basis for the development of multifunctional
water treatment agents with well-founded structure-activity
relationships.
4.3. Safety of chitosan-based occulants
4.3.1. Toxicity of chitosan-based occulants
Safety is an important factor in the use of any water treatment
agent and especially in the treatment of potable water. Natural
polymers, including chitosan, are generally regarded as nontoxic
and safe. As described above, chitosan was used to remove lipids
from cheese whey (Hwang and Srinivasan, 1995). Toxicological
studies have also shown chitosan to be nontoxic, including as a food
additive. Sekine et al. treated turbid river water on-site using chitosan, followed by acute toxicity testing using the larva of Oryzias
latipes (Sekine et al., 2006). The chitosan-treated supernatant water
was shown to be very safe, but the broader effect of chitosan on
living organisms is not yet clear. To test the safety of CMC-g-PDMC,
Yang et al. carried out acute toxicity assays in which they assessed
the risk of secondary pollution posed by the grafted occulant and
by the efuents of the treated water under optimal conditions
(Yang et al., 2014b). The test organism was Daphnia magna and the
assays were performed according to Chinese National Standard GB/
T 13266-91. The 24-h half-maximal effective concentration of CMCg-PDMC was one log-unit larger than that of PAC, indicating its
much lower toxicity. The efuents treated by CMC-g-PDMC had no
effect on immobilization of Daphnia magna provided further evidence of the safety and potential applicability of this chitosanbased occulant.
4.3.2. Risk of the disinfection by-products
Besides the possible toxicity of the residual occulants in the
efuents, the secondary pollution risk of the disinfection byproducts from the disinfection process must also be taken into
account. However, conicting results have been reported thus far.
Rizzo et al. evaluated the disinfection by-products in toxicity tests
of Daphnia magna (Rizzo et al., 2008). They found a higher toxicity
of chlorinated water coagulated with chitosan than with metal
coagulants (ferric chloride and aluminum sulfate). The toxicity of
coagulated/chlorinated surface waters with complex mechanisms
derives from the characteristics of the surface water and the
chemicals used in the oxidation/disinfection step. By contrast,
Vasyukova et al. reported that total trihalomethane (THM) formation was lower in chitosan-treated chlorinated water than in
chlorinated raw water (Vasyukova et al., 2010), suggesting that
chitosan is a suitable coagulant for drinking water treatment.
~o evaluated the use of chitosan as a coagulant
Capelete and Branda
in the treatment of eutrophic water contaminated with Microcystis
aeruginosa cells and measured THM formation by chlorine
~o, 2013). Compared to Al2(SO4)3,

oxidation (Capelete and Branda
chitosan more effectively removed turbidity, apparent color,
absorbance at 254 nm, and Microcystis aeruginosa cells. Moreover,
no THM was detected after chlorine oxidation. However, more
detailed evaluations of the acute toxicity of both the residual occulants in the efuents of treated water and the disinfection byproducts following chlorine oxidation are needed to conrm the
safe use of chitosan and its derivatives.
5. Conclusion
Above all, chitosan and its derivatives have many notable advantages that warrant further studies leading to their broadranging application. In the eld of water treatment, several
important issues regarding the cost and safety of chitosan-based
occulants must be resolved before they can be widely used in
practical applications. More importantly, the optimal structureactivity relationships of chitosan-based occulants should be well
built, since the nal occulation performance of chitosan-based
occulants is highly dependent on their structural factors. Besides
those normal parameters including DD, MW, degree of functional
groups substitution, and grafting ratio, the ne structural information such as the distribution of substituted functional groups or
grafted chains on the chitosan backbone and chain architectures
(linear, branching and star-like forms) are seriously important for
further understanding of their distinct performance to various
target contaminants. However, the work related to this topic is not
systematical and even very limited yet. Due to the complexity of
both polymer structures with multiple levels, short- and longrange, and distinct characteristics of various pollutants in water, a
multidisciplinary investigation is preciously necessary for a
comprehensive understanding of occulation.
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Water Research 95 (2016) 59e89

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

A review on chitosan-based occulants and their applications in water

R. Yang et al. / Water Research 95 (2016) 59e89

R. Yang et al. / Water Research 95 (2016) 59e89

Pendergast and Hoek, 2011), and biotechnology (dos Santos et al.,

copolymer of D-glucosamine (GlcN) and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine

in which correct constants of K and a are the key to obtain accurate

K 1:64 1030 DD14:0 r 0:996

a 1:02 102 DD 1:82r 0:998

In addition to its long chain structure, chitosan has abundant

R. Yang et al. / Water Research 95 (2016) 59e89

Heavy metal ionscontaminated

Raw natural water

Textile and paper

Chitosan (Divakaran and Pillai, 2001; Roussy et al., 2004), chitosan-g-PAM

as coagulants, occulants, coagulant aids, and as components in

R. Yang et al. / Water Research 95 (2016) 59e89

Simple charge neutralization

Unevenly distributed surface charges are incompletely neutralized.

based occulants and their occulation performance could not give

derivatives, can be categorized as simple charge neutralization,

The occulation mechanism referred to as charge neutralization

R. Yang et al. / Water Research 95 (2016) 59e89

Fig. 2.1. Protonation of chitosan in acidic medium.

suspended particles aggregate to form large ocs and therefore

2.1.2. Charge patching

2.1.3. Charge neutralization by chitosan occulants

where LB is the Bjerrum length, at which the electrostatic repulsion

R. Yang et al. / Water Research 95 (2016) 59e89

Fig. 2.2. Intra-chain hydrogen bonds (I) and (II) of chitosan.

temperature, the LB in aqueous medium is 0.7 nm (Russel et al.,

2.2.2. Bridging occulation using chitosan occulants

The intrinsic contribution lp,0 is strongly related to the stability

R. Yang et al. / Water Research 95 (2016) 59e89

occulants. Since, as discussed above, the DD inuences the charge

occulation (Bolto and Gregory, 2007; Guibal et al., 2006; Renault

where k1 is the aggregation rate, a denotes the collision efciency,

R. Yang et al. / Water Research 95 (2016) 59e89

1.62 106e4.70 106

2.79 104e3.00 105

4.51 104e3.08 105

0.15 104e2.33 105

NaClO4, 0.01 mol/L

NaCl, 0.001 mol/L

The optimal chitosan dose decreased linearly with

DD and MW had only slight effects on

Viscosity-average molecular weight.

improved solubility, and therefore better occulation. Accordingly,

structure, i.e., the morphology and conformation of the polymer

R. Yang et al. / Water Research 95 (2016) 59e89

3.1.2. Effects of structural factors on occulation of various

Charge Density (meq/g)

in Scheme 3.1. As shown in this scheme, increasing the DD increases

Degree of deacetylation (%)

Optimal chitosan dose (meq/g)

Degree of deacetylation (%)

molecules, which resulted in more effective electrostatic patch

K 1:64 1030 DD14:0 r 0:996

a 1:02 102 DD 1:82r 0:998