Investigation of effect of electric field on silver nanoparticles in order to separation of them from aqueous medium using electrocoagulation process.

The behavior of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) under an applied electric field depends primarily on their stabilizing agent. This research aimed at investigating the behavior of AgNPs and their stabilizers under the electrocoagulation (EC) process. In two separate experiments, sodium citrate and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) were used as the nanoparticles’ stabilizers. Stability of the particles was studied while applying an electrical current with various voltages. Efficiency of the EC process was investigated for these different AgNPs sols. In the case of sodium citrate for various voltages, the plasmon resonance peak of the sample was disappeared after applying the electric field for 90 min, reflecting the removal of AgNPs in the sol by 99.91%. In the case of PVP for various voltages of the EC process for 10 min, the absorbance peak disappeared, and removal efficiency of AgNPs reached 99.98%. Effect of stabilizer concentration on the EC process was investigated. As sodium citrate concentration increased, the stability of AgNPs under an equall applied electric field increased, while the increase of the PVP concentration did not influence on the stability of AgNPs. Kinetic of AgNPs removal was also studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]