Effects of sulfidation on ZnO nanoparticle dissolution and aggregation in sulfate-containing suspensions

Industrial metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs) have recently attracted considerable attention because of their potentially hazardous impacts on ecosystems and microbial colonies in biological wastewater treatment plants. NPs dissolution and aggregation greatly determine the fate of such NPs in the environment and are relevant to their potential toxicities. Hence, we investigated the effects of sulfate on the dissolution and aggregation of ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs). In addition, ZnO-NPs were sulfidized at different sulfide concentrations in an anaerobic abiotic environment to investigate the effects of sulfidation on ZnO-NPs aggregation and solubility. Increasing the sulfate concentration from 0 to 200 mg/L significantly increased ZnO-NPs dissolution from 3.99 to 6.18 mg Zn²⁺/L, whereas ZnO-NPs sulfidation reduced the Zn²⁺ dissolution rate from 1.82 mg Zn²⁺/L for pristine ZnO-NPs to 0.59 mg Zn²⁺/L for sulfidized ones. Increasing the sulfate concentration and the sulfidation of the ZnO-NPs induced aggregation by suppressing electrostatic repulsion. The results indicate that the sulfidation of ZnO-NPs prevents the particle dissolution and is an attractive method of reducing their antimicrobial activity.