Tracking the Transformation of Nanoparticulate and Ionic Silver at

Oct 11, 2017 - Herein, we demonstrate the on-line coupled system of hollow fiber flow field-flow fractionation (HF5), minicolumn concentration, and in...
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Tracking the Transformation of Nanoparticulate and Ionic Silver at Environmentally Relevant Concentration Levels by Hollow Fiber Flow Field-Flow Fractionation Coupled to ICPMS Zhiqiang Tan, Yongguang Yin, Xiaoru Guo, Meseret Amde, Myeong Hee Moon, Jing-fu Liu, and Guibin Jiang Environ. Sci. Technol., Just Accepted Manuscript • DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.7b03439 • Publication Date (Web): 11 Oct 2017 Downloaded from http://pubs.acs.org on October 12, 2017

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Tracking the Transformation of Nanoparticulate and Ionic Silver at

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Environmentally Relevant Concentration Levels by Hollow Fiber Flow

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Field-Flow Fractionation Coupled to ICPMS

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Zhi-Qiang Tan,† Yong-Guang Yin,† Xiao-Ru Guo,† Meseret Amde,†

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Myeong Hee Moon, ‡ Jing-Fu Liu,*,† and Gui-Bin Jiang†

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Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing

State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research

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100085, China

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* Corresponding Author

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*E-mail: [email protected]. Phone: +86-10-62849192.

Department of Chemistry, Yonsei University, Seoul 03722, Korea

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ABSTRACT

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It is a great challenge to monitor the physical and chemical transformation of

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nanoparticles at environmentally relevant concentration levels, mainly because the

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commonly used techniques like dynamic light scattering and transmission electron

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microscope are unable to characterize and quantify trace level nanoparticles in

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complex matrices. Herein, we demonstrate the on-line coupled system of hollow fiber

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flow field-flow fractionation (HF5), mini-column concentration and inductively

21

coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS) detection as an efficient approach to

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study the aggregation, and chemical transformation of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs)

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and ionic Ag species in the aqueous environment at ng/mL levels. Taking advantage

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of the in-line dialysis of HF5, the selective capture of Ag(I) species by the resin in

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mini-column, and the high selectivity and sensitivity of ICPMS detection, we

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recorded the aggregation of 10 ng/mL AgNPs in complex matrices (e.g., NOM,

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Na+/Ca2+); revealed an interesting tiny AgNPs formation process of photo-reduction

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of trace level Ag(I) that is different from larger AgNPs generated at high

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concentration of Ag(I) by accurate characterization; and respectively identified and

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quantified newly born thiol-complexed Ag(I) and residual Ag(I) in the

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inter-transformation of Ag(I) and AgNPs in domestic wastewater by simultaneously

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detecting the S and Ag signals via ICPMS.

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■INTRODUCTION

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Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have drawn remarkable attention from the scientific

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community in recent years, mainly due to their wide applications, high environmental

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reactivity, and potential risks.1-3 Once released into aquatic environments, AgNPs are

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likely to undergo a variety of transformations like aggregation,4-6 dissolution and

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re-reduction,7,8 which can affect the transport, bioavailability, and toxicity of AgNPs.

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To understand the transformations and potential risk of AgNPs, it is crucial to

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characterize and determine the pristine AgNPs and formed Ag species at

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environmentally relevant conditions. Studying the aggregation processes of AgNPs is

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of importance as it significantly affects its transport, transformation and toxicity in the

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environment.7 However, evaluating the aggregation of AgNPs at environmentally

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relevant concentrations in complex matrices remains challenging. While dynamic

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light scattering (DLS) serves as a classic technique to monitor the size change in

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studying the aggregation of AgNPs,9 it is unable to distinguish AgNPs from the

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coexisting suspended particulates such as natural organic matter (NOM) aggregates

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sized from nm to µm. More importantly, the low sensitivity of DLS makes it only

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applicable for measuring particulate materials at relatively high concentration (e.g.,

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µg/mL).10-12 Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is also usually used to probe

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the size distribution and variation of AgNPs, but TEM observation has to be

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performed at relatively high nanoparticle concentrations (> µg/mL), otherwise a lot of

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TEM images are needed to obtain their particle size information.13

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Besides aggregation, it is also important to understand the chemical

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transformation of AgNPs and ionic Ag species (IAg) that is relevant to the size- and

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species-correlated toxicological effects in the environment. Because of the medium

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redox potential of silver,14 both oxidative dissolution of AgNPs into Ag(I) and 3

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reduction of Ag(I) into AgNPs were observed simultaneously in the environment, 15-18

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thus IAg and AgNPs are deemed to be coexisting in AgNPs colloids and the

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environment. Moreover, it was generally recognized that IAg and small sized AgNPs

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express pronounced toxic effect in comparison to the large sized AgNPs.19-21

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Therefore, it is essential to distinguish the various environmentally relevant chemical

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species of AgNPs. Ultrafiltration22 or cloud point extraction23 could effectively

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achieve separation of IAg from AgNPs, but commonly were used as off-line

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pretreatments before characterization or quantification. Although X-ray absorption

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fine structure or X-ray fluorescence spectroscopies showed excellent separation

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resolution for Ag species in complex matrices,24,25 these techniques failed to directly

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analyze Ag species at environmentally relevant concentration levels due to their

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limited sensitivity. Inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICPMS) featured

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with accurate determination of elements and multi-elemental analysis with high

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sensitivity and wide dynamic range.26 Single particle ICPMS (SP-ICPMS) has gained

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great attention in analysis of AgNPs and dissolved Ag(I) with the advantage of

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simplicity and speed, but its applicability in complex samples is limited due to matrix

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effects.27,28 Moreover, the size characterization sensitivity is low (~20 nm) for

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AgNPs.29 Therefore, coupling efficient and robust separation techniques with

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sensitive detectors (e.g., ICPMS) would pave an effective way for accurate

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quantification and tracking transformation of Ag species at environmentally relevant

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concentration levels in the environment.

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Among hyphenated techniques with ICPMS as the detector, field-flow

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fractionation (FFF) served as competitive choice to characterize AgNPs due to the

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mild separation, high selectivity and broad application in continuous size separation

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range (e.g., 1 nm to 100 µm).30-32 Among the FFF techniques, flow FFF was 4

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considered as the most universal mainly due to its simplicity in instrument and

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operation and versatility in various targets analysis, thus flow FFF coupled with

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ICPMS was regard as one of the most promising tools to characterize AgNPs.33-35

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Poda et al. employed flow FFF coupled with ICPMS to investigate particle size

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distribution of AgNPs in aqueous matrices including biological matrices after

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exposure, and obtained comparable size results with that of DLS and TEM.36 Recently,

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Lee et al. described the potential applicability of flow FFF offline hyphenated with

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SP-ICPMS in characterizing AgNPs in real aqueous samples.37 Collectively, the

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hyphenation of AF4 and ICP-MS was proved to be a suitable technique for AgNPs

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separation and characterization in various matrices. However, in the focusing step in

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flow FFF, Ag(I) and tiny AgNPs with diameter less than the membrane pore were

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dialyzed and discarded as the waste35,36, thus there is no published study focused on

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speciation analysis of IAg and AgNPs using conventional flow FFF based methods.

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Hollow fiber flow field-flow fractionation (HF5), as an emerging variant of flow FFF,

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featured with low cost in disposable channels and simple assembly, which effectively

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reduced the run-to-run sample carryover problem from the sample matrix.38 In HF5,

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separation was conducted in a cylindrical HF membrane instead of the thin

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ribbon-like open channel in conventional flow FFF, and the flow field was applied

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perpendicularly to the HF axial direction. Compared with the AF4 channel, the low

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channel volume of HF5 channel resulted in less sample dilution. The reduced radial

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flow rate used in HF5 made it more compatible with various detectors (especially

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ICPMS), and sample fractions dialyzed during focusing process and eluted during

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fractionation process could be easily collected for further analysis.39 A recent study

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described the coupling of HF5 with multi angle light scattering detector to

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characterize the dispersed AgNPs in aqueous media, and to off-line quantify the 5

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separately collected Ag(I) and AgNPs.40 To improve applicability of HF5-based

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method in Ag speciation analysis, we recently on-line coupled HF5 and mini-column

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concentration (MCC) with multiple detectors including UV−vis spectrometer (UV),

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DLS and ICPMS for identification, characterization, and quantification of two IAg(I)

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species and five different sized AgNPs at ng/mL level,41 demonstrating its potential

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for studying the transformation of Ag species at environmentally relevant

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concentrations.

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In this work, by using our recently developed hyphenated method,41 we

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investigated the aggregation and chemical transformation of AgNPs and IAg species

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in aqueous environments at environmentally relevant concentrations. The aggregation

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of trace level AgNPs in the presence of NOM and Na+/Ca2+ was monitored for the

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first time via the size distribution and variation of AgNPs depicted in the ICPMS

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elution profiles. The chemical transformation products of Ag(I), different sized

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AgNPs and thiol-complexed Ag(I) were also identified and quantified in sunlit

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NOM-solutions and domestic wastewaters, respectively.

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■MATERIALS AND METHODS

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Chemicals and Materials. Citrate coated AgNPs with nominal size of 10 nm (10

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nm-AgNP) and 20 nm (20 nm-AgNP) (each 20 µg/mL) were bought from

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Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis, MO). Ag(I) standard solution (GSB04-1712-2004) at

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concentration of 1000 µg/mL was purchased from the National Institute of Metrology

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(Beijing, China). Analytical grade AgNO3 was obtained from Beijing Chemical Co.,

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Ltd. Suwannee River natural organic matter (SRNOM) (1R101N) was bought from

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the International Humic Substance Society (St. Paul, MN). L-Cysteine (Cys) (99%)

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was obtained from J & K Scientific Ltd. (Beijing, China). Surfactant FL-70 and NaN3,

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two carrier solution additives, were from Thermo (Fair Lawn, NJ) and Ameresco 6

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(Framingham, MA) respectively. Gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) with certified

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diameters of 10 nm (8011), 30 nm (8012) and 60 nm (8013) purchased from the

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National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST, Gaithersburg, MD) were used

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to calculate AgNPs diameters based on retention time (tR). Amberlite IR120 resin in

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sodium, NaClO4, Ca(ClO4)2, Na2S2O3 and H2O2 were purchased from Sinopharm

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Chemical Reagent Co. Ltd. (Beijing, China). The resin needed to be cleaned and

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activated prior to use.41 The poly(ethersulfone) (PES) HF with a nominal molecular

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mass cut-off (MWCO) of 10 kDa was bought from Kaihong Membrane Technology

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Co., Inc. (Hangzhou, China).

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Characterization and Quantification of Various Ag Species. HF5 was on-line

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coupled

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(HF5/MCC-UV/ICPMS)

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quantification of various Ag species. Detailed configuration and operation of the

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hyphenated system are described elsewhere41 and also provided in the Supporting

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Information (SI). Briefly, the whole analytical run cycle consist of three on-line steps:

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(I) focusing/relaxation of AgNPs and isolation of Ag(I) species, (II) fractionation,

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characterization, and quantification of AgNPs, (III) quantification of Ag(I) species.

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Given that particle retention in HF5 is dependent on the size, the particle size or size

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distribution of the target particles can be calculated with standard particles (e.g.,

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AuNPs).40,42 Considering the material-dependent retention behavior possibly due to

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the particle-particle and particle- accumulation wall interactions,43 in step II the

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AgNPs size was obtained with a calibration curve obtained by plotting tR measured

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under the same fractionation conditions against the known size of standard AuNPs

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(Figure S2A), the acceptable standard metallic NPs,44 from ICPMS fractograms of the

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Au (197Au) and Ag (107Ag) signals (Figure S2B), and concentrations of fractioned

with

MCC

and

dual

detectors

to

achieve

the

including

separation,

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and

ICPMS

characterization,

and

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AgNPs were acquired by ICPMS (7700 series, Agilent Technologies, Palo Alto, CA).

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Free Ag(I), newly born Ag(I) complex and AgNPs with diameter less than the HF pore

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size, named tiny AgNPs, could be quantified respectively as follows: free Ag(I) ions

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or weak Ag(I) complexes adsorbed onto the Amberlite IR120 resin through

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ion-exchange with Na+ in mini-column concentration (MCC) during step I were

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desorbed by Na2S2O3 and quantified by ICPMS detector in step III; For tiny AgNPs

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againt absorption by the resin in MCC due to the electrostatic repulsion, they were

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transferred directly to the detectors and quantified by ICPMS in step I. Strong Ag(I)

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complexes co-eluted with tiny AgNPs in step I could be calculated based on the

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difference of the detected Ag amount in the step III of the two runs with or without

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introducing of diluted H2O2, respectively. The introducing of diluted H2O2 could

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dissolve tiny AgNPs into Ag+ and adsorbed onto the Amberlite IR120 resin.

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Additionally, the HF channel was replaced once the recovery of total Ag (including

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AgNPs and IAg(I)) in the whole run was less than 65%.

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Aggregation of AgNPs in the Presence of NOM and Mono- and Divalent Cations.

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In view of that chloride (e.g., from NaCl, CaCl2) could induce the bridging between

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individual citrate coated AgNPs due to AgCl deposit from dissolved Ag(I) ions,45 a

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series of aqueous solutions of NaClO4 and Ca(ClO4)2 were chosen to evaluate the

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influences of mono- and divalent cations on the aggregation of AgNPs (10 ng/mL) in

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NOM solutions. Firstly, influences of focusing time and NOM concentration on the

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size of AgNP aggregates were investigated to confirm the capability of HF5 to

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maintain AgNPs intact in complex matrices through the whole separation.

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Furthermore, the scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM, JEOL,

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JEM-2010F, Japan) with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) is used to

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determine the shape and the distribution of different elements on the surface of AgNPs 8

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incubated with NOM with resolution 0.02 nm at 200 kV. Given that critical

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coagulation concentrations for 2 µg/mL citrate coated AgNPs in NaClO4 and

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Ca(ClO4)2 were 81.55 mM and 2.11 mM in the presence of pristine NOM,9 various

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amount of NaClO4 (0.01-100 mM) and Ca(ClO4)2 (0.001-5 mM) were selected to

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incubate with 10 ng/mL 10 nm-AgNP in NOM (20 µg/mL dissolved organic matter,

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DOC) aqueous solution at pH 7.4 adjusted by 5 mM borate buffer at room

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temperature for 1 hour. The HF5/MCC-UV/ICPMS system directly provided size

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information about the AgNPs reacted.

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Transformation of Ag(I) into AgNPs under Simulated Natural Conditions. Two

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significantly different concentrations of AgNO3 (33.97 µg/mL and 33.97 ng/mL

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respectively) and SRNOM (20 µg/mL DOC) were separately added into borate buffer

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(5 mM, pH 8.0) under sunlight. A UV-vis spectrometer (UV-3600, Shimadzu, Japan)

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was employed to monitor AgNPs generated during the first 6 hours. The size of

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AgNPs formed in 0.2 mM AgNO3 solution was characterized ex situ by high

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resolution TEM (2100F, JEOL, Japan; details for TEM sample preparation are

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described elsewhere41). Both a fraction (10 times dilution) of AgNPs formed in 33.97

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µg/mL AgNO3 solution and AgNPs generated in 33.97 ng/mL AgNO3 solution were

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characterized and quantified by our proposed system directly.

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Inter-Transformation

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Inter-transformation of Ag(I) and AgNPs was conducted in domestic wastewater

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obtained from a municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) located in Qinghe

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(Beijing, China). In the preliminary experiment, the concentrations of Ag(I) and

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AgNPs in the influent of WWTP were found to be below the limit of detection (LOD)

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of the proposed system. Therefore, the influent was spiked with Ag(I) and 10

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nm-AgNPs (each 10 ng/mL) for this study. After 1 h, the mixture was directly

of

Ag(I)

and

AgNPs

in

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Wastewater.

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analyzed by HF5/MCC-DLS/UV/ICPMS system to examine the inter-transformation

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products.

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■RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

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Aggregation of AgNPs in the Presence of NOM and Mono- or Divalent Cations.

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To verify the applicability of the developed HF5/MCC-UV/ICPMS system to

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characterize the aggregation of AgNPs, the possible impact of the relaxation/focusing

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step on the size of aggregated AgNPs was assessed by measuring the average size of

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aggregated AgNPs in NOM (20 µg/mL DOC, average concentration in natural surface

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water46) solutions containing 10 mM NaClO4 and 0.5 mM Ca(ClO4)2, respectively,

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with focusing times in the range of 4-8 min. Results presented a slight impact of the

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focusing time on AgNP aggregation (data not shown). To evaluate in-line cleanup of

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complex matrices, we compared the tR values of AgNPs in samples containing just

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different concentrations of NOM (0, 10, 20, 50, 100 µg/mL DOC). Interestingly, the

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elution profile of the ICPMS detector shows a slightly gradual increase of tR from

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11.9 ± 0.14 min to 17.3 ± 0.26 min (mean ± SD, n = 3) as NOM concentration

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increased from 0 to 100 µg/mL DOC. As shown in Figure 1A, the diameter of the

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dominant AgNPs, calibrated from the linear regression equation of diameter of the

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standard AuNPs against tR, increased from 8.8 ± 0.39 nm to 23.2 ± 0.70 nm (mean ±

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SD, n = 3), demonstrating the probable formation of “NOM corona” structures around

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AgNPs.47 To testify whether the increment of retention time in the presence of NOM

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was resulted from the carry-over of HF used in complex matrices, we evaluated the

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AgNPs size variation at a relatively high NOM concentration (50 µg/mL DOC) with a

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new HF membrane. No significant change in retention times was observed for AgNP

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colloids injected before and after NOM injection, verifying the fact that the adsorption

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of NOM onto the membrane was largely minimized due to the electrostatic repulsion 10

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in view of the alkaline mobile phase (pH 9.6) used and the negatively charged PES

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membrane.48 The identical extended retention time of AgNPs to that by HF used for

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several times indicates that the changes in tR (especially in high NOM concentration)

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could be ascribed to “NOM corona” structures forming rather than the carry-over

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effect. To further verify the corona structure, STEM-EDS was adopted to investigate

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nanostruactures and element distribution of AgNPs in the NOM solution (50 µg/mL

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DOC) after incubation at room temperature for 1 hour. The red rectangular frame in

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Figure 1B defines the region for mapping Ag, C and O distribution. Both C and O

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enrichment areas significantly overlap Ag-enriched area, demonstrating the NOM

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wrapping around AgNPs to form corona structure, which could lead to the increment

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of hydrodynamic size of AgNPs in aqueous solution.

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Figure 1. Effect of the NOM concentration on the average size of AgNPs (10

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nm-AgNP, 10 ng/mL) in the presence of different amount of NOM (0, 10, 20, 50, 100

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µg/mL DOC) (A) and STEM images and EDS mapping results of Ag, C and O (5

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µg/mL 10 nm-AgNPs in 50 µg/mL NOM).

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Then, aggregation of 10 ng/mL AgNPs in 20 µg/mL NOM solutions containing

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various amount of NaClO4 (0.01-100 mM) was studied. Only NOM peaks were found

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in the initial 8 min of the UV-vis elution profile (Figure S3A), due to the low

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sensitivity of UV detector. In the HF5-ICPMS elution profile (Figure 2A), both the tR

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and peak shape of AgNPs changed with the increase of NaClO4 concentration,

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demonstrating the aggregation of AgNPs even in the presence of NOM. The diameter

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of the dominant AgNPs, calculated from the tR, progressively increased from 12.5 nm

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to 24.7 nm with NaClO4 concentration (0.01–100 mM) (Figure 2B). The aggregation

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of AgNPs was further investigated in the presence of 0.001–5 mM Ca(ClO4)2. Similar

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to that of NaClO4, no significant peak of AgNPs was found here in the UV-vis elution

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profile (Figure S3B). As shown in the ICPMS elution profiles (Figures 2C and 2D),

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the dominant AgNP diameter increased from 11.5 nm to 18.2 nm. Variation in both the

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retention time and peak shape of the dominant AgNPs eluted in Ca(ClO4)2 solutions

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was more significant than that in the presence of the same concentration of NaClO4,

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agreeing with the previous results that Ca2+ ions had a greater electrostatic screening

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effect on AgNPs compared with Na+ ions.49 Given that the AgNPs colloids used

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inevitably contain smaller particles with diameters less than the nominate 10 nm, the

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peak appeared before 10 min in step (II) (Figures 2A and 2C) may stem from small

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single dispersed AgNPs.50 In view of that high ionic strength promotes NOM

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aggregation,51 one possible explanation for the slight change of tR for NOM peaks

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with increasing salt concentration (Figure S3) is that the compact structure of

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aggregated NOM at high salt concentrations promotes their dialyzing during focusing.

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Moreover, the increased ionic strength could effectively shield the electrostatic

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repulsion between NOM and membrane.52 Therefore, the retention time of NOM peak

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decreased with increasing salt concentration. To some extent, NOM could provide

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charge or steric stabilization of nanomaterial to enhance their dispersion, but this

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dispersing effect was significantly minimized at higher ionic strength solution.47 Flow

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field-flow fractionation, as a mild separation method, has proven to be a successful 12

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alternative for DLS in investigating aggregation behavior of nanoparticles,53,54 but the

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hyphenation with relatively insensitive detectors (UV or multi-angle light scattering)

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has been an obstacle for its application in low concentration of nanoparticles. In spite

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of the similar aggregation of AgNPs at µg/mL level to that at ng/mL as reported,9 the

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hyphenated system here for the first time provided a promising approach to track

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aggregation of AgNPs at environmentally relevant concentration due to the high

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efficient separation capability of HF5 and sensitive detection of Ag by ICPMS.

284 285

Figure 2. Elution profiles of ICPMS (A and C) and size (B and D) of AgNPs (10

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ng/mL 10 nm-AgNP) in NOM solution (20 µg/mL DOC) (Error bars in B and D

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represent one standard deviation of three replicates). Operation procedures:

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focusing/relaxation of AgNPs and isolation of Ag(I) (I), fractionation and

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characterization of AgNPs (II), and quantification of Ag(I) (III). Experimental

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conditions: PES HF channel, 10 kDa pore cut-off; injected volume, 100 µL; carrier

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solution, 0.1% (v/v) FL-70 with 0.02% (w/v) NaN3; inlet flow rate, 1.50 mL/min;

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radial flow rate, 0.60 mL/min; axial flow, 0.90 mL/min; focusing time, 8 min; eluting

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flow rate, 0.90 mL/min. 13

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Transformation of Ag(I) to AgNPs in Photoreduction of NOM. To compare

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characterization capability of the proposed method with the TEM method, a high

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amount of AgNPs was generated in the NOM solution (20 µg/mL DOC) containing

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33.97 µg/mL AgNO3 incubated under natural sunlight. The picture (Figure S4A) and

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the UV-vis spectra (Figure S4B) indicate that the photo-transformation of Ag(I) into

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AgNPs reached equilibrium in less than 6 h. Figure 3A presents the

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HF5/MCC-UV/ICPMS elution profile of AgNPs and Ag(I) in the irradiated solution

301

after 10-fold dilution, as recorded by UV and ICPMS detectors. The mean particle

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diameters corresponding to these two peaks (tR= 5.6 and 7.9 min), calculated from tR,

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were around 2.4 and 8.4 nm, agreeing well with the bimodal size distribution (2.3 nm

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and 7.3 nm diameter) observed by TEM measurements (Figures 3C and D). It is

305

understandable that the particle diameter measured by TEM is smaller than the

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hydrodynamic diameter measured by the HF5/MCC-UV/ICPMS (e.g. 7.3 nm by TEM

307

vs 8.4 nm by HF5-ICPMS). For the smaller AgNPs, the similar diameter from TEM

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(2.3 nm) compared with that from HF5-ICPMS (2.4 nm) again verified the

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comparable characterization capability of the proposed method with TEM. Therefore,

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considering the difficulties of TEM in recognizing and counting smaller or tiny

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AgNPs, the present method could provide more accurate information on a wider range

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of particle size distributions. The final sharp peak (tR= 16.5 min) in the ICPMS profile

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suggests that there was still a large amount of unreacted free Ag(I) in the sample. The

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relative amount of Ag(I) calculated from the ratio of Ag(I) (tR = 16.5 min) and AgNPs

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(tR = 5.6 and 7.9 min) is 17.6%, which is slightly lower than the one obtained by

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ultrafiltration-ICPMS (21%) (details in the SI). It should be noted that in the

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ultrafiltration procedure, the photo-produced tiny AgNPs could possibly penetrate the

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membrane into the filtrate,18 and thus overestimate the unreacted Ag(I). 14

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A trace amount of AgNO3 as low as 33.97 ng/mL was then reacted with NOM

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(20 µg/mL DOC) to track the transformation of Ag(I) at environmentally relevant

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concentrations. As show in Figure 3B, in the focusing/relaxation step (step I, tR < 8

322

min), the detected wide peak was ascribed to tiny AgNPs. Two peaks (tR = 8.4 and 8.9

323

min) in the fractionation step (step II, 8 min < tR < 20 min) were assigned to the void

324

peak and larger AgNPs (mean diameter 2.3 nm), respectively. The peak from the

325

residual free or weak complex of Ag(I) trapped by the resin and desorbed by Na2S2O3

326

was recorded in the elution step (step III, tR > 20 min). To further verify the

327

assignation of the wide peak (tR < 8 min), we conducted a second run by introducing

328

diluted H2O2 (2%, v/v) in the radial outlet, in which procedure only tiny AgNPs,

329

rather than thoil-binding Ag(I), could be oxidized into Ag(I) as previously observed.41

330

This peak disappeared in the second run, and the Ag(I) peak increased

331

correspondingly. The ratio of peak area of tiny AgNPs (tR < 8 min) in the first run to

332

the incremental peak area of Ag(I) in the second run is 95%, further verifying the

333

wide peak in the focusing/relaxation step almost solely belongs to the tiny AgNPs.

334

The formation of tiny AgNPs and absence of larger AgNPs (e.g., 8.4 nm in Figure 3A)

335

at 21.6 ng/mL Ag(I) precursor suggested that low concentrated Ag cluster could

336

constrain their fusion and subsequent formation of larger AgNPs.55 This result also

337

highlights the necessity of studying the transformation of Ag(I) at environmentally

338

relevant concentrations.

339

It is noteworthy that during the 6 h irradiation, there is no significant color

340

change for the two NOM solutions with and without AgNO3 (Figure S4C), which was

341

consistent with the UV-vis results in Figure S4D. Unfortunately, the amount of AgNPs

342

formed were also too low to be identified by TEM, even with more than 50 µL of the

343

AgNPs solution successively loaded on the carbon coated copper grid (TEM images 15

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not shown). These results demonstrated that the proposed method is superior to

345

UV-vis and TEM in tracking tiny AgNPs formation process of photo-reduction of

346

trace level Ag(I), which is significantly meaningful considering the low concentration

347

of Ag(I) in real aqueous environments. Of note, this study does not aim to simulate

348

real-world formation of AgNPs, instead it is a fundamental study on understanding the

349

role of NOM in transformation of different amount of Ag(I) to AgNPs, so nucleation

350

and formation of AgNPs with increased incubation time are beyond the scope of the

351

study.

352 353

Figure 3. HF5/MCC-UV/ICPMS elution profile of mixtures of NOM and AgNO3 at a

354

concentration of 33.97 µg/mL (A) and 33.97 ng/mL (B), TEM image (C) and

355

size-distribution (D) of the photo-reduced AgNPs in NOM solution containing 33.97

356

µg/mL AgNO3. Operation procedures: focusing/relaxation of AgNPs and isolation of

357

Ag(I) (I), fractionation and characterization of AgNPs (II), and quantification of Ag(I)

358

(III). Experimental conditions: PES HF channel, 10 kDa pore cut-off; injected volume,

359

100 µL; carrier solution, 0.1% (v/v) FL-70 with 0.02% (w/v) NaN3; inlet flow rate,

360

1.50 mL/min; radial flow rate, 0.60 mL/min; axial flow, 0.90 mL/min; focusing time, 16

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4 min (A) or 8 min (B); eluting flow rate, 0.90 mL/min.

362

Inter-Transformation of Ag(I) and AgNPs in Domestic Wastewater. The notable

363

performance of the proposed method encouraged us to further apply it to track the

364

inter-transformation of Ag(I) and AgNPs in the influent of WWTP, which is one of

365

the major sinks of the released Ag(I) and AgNPs from industrial and

366

consumer products.56 As shown in Figure 4, a new peak (tR = 2.3 min) appeared in the

367

focusing/relaxation step (step I), indicating the spiked Ag(I) and AgNPs ( each 10

368

ng/mL) partially transformed into the thoil-binding Ag(I) (Ag-SR) or tiny AgNPs,

369

though the free Ag(I) can still be detected in the final elution step (step III). In

370

preliminary experiments, the concentration of S2- in the influent sample was found to

371

be less than 2.0 ng/mL, the LOD of ion chromatographic system (ICS-5000, Thermo

372

Fisher Scientific Inc.) equipped for amperometry with a silver working electrode, thus

373

the transformation of Ag(I) into Ag2S NPs was negligible. To ascertain Ag-SR and

374

tiny AgNPs, the signals of S (48S) and Ag (107Ag) were simultaneously recorded by

375

another ICPMS (8800 series, Agilent Technologies, Palo Alto, CA). For both the

376

blank and spiked samples, a peak (tR = 2.3 min) was detected in the ICPMS profile of

377

48

378

suggested that the new 107Ag peak at tR = 2.3 in the spiked sample should be ascribed

379

to Ag-SR. Unfortunately, the component of Ag-SR could not be further identified

380

based on our available detectors, but could be off-line identified by other techniques

381

(e.g., electrospray ionization mass spectrometry) in the future study. To test if tiny

382

AgNPs were present in the transformation process, peak areas of the new 107Ag peak

383

with or without the introduction of H2O2 in the focusing step were compared. No

384

significant difference in peak areas was observed, indicating the absence of tiny

385

AgNPs. Furthermore, we tried to indirectly identify the new

S, with tR and peak shape agreed well with the new

107

Ag peak (tR = 2.3 min). This

17

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107

Ag peak by injecting

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Ag(I) and the mixture of Ag(I) and cysteine (Cys) into the system, respectively. As

387

shown in Figure S5, the Ag-Cys peak (tR = 2.5 min) detected in the mixture of Ag(I)

388

and Cys agreed well with the Ag-SR peak (tR = 2.3 min) in the spiked wastewater

389

sample. These results suggest that the new

390

wastewater samples could be solely assigned to Ag-SR, indicating the great potential

391

of the proposed method in separation and identification of various species of Ag(I). In

392

the fractionation step (step II), the spiked AgNPs were eluted at 8.1 min. To test the

393

proposed method in quantifying different species of Ag in complex matrices, the

394

recovery of total Ag (including free Ag(I), Ag-SR and AgNPs) in spiked solutions

395

was calculated to be within a range from 69.3% to 112%, demonstrating the reliability

396

of the proposed method. Despite the fact that ICPMS equipped with triple quadrupole

397

ICP-MS (ICP-QQQ) is recognized to be able to sensitively and selectively determine

398

S element, no obvious peak was observed in the range of 4-15 min (i.e., the

399

fractionation and characterization of NP step) aside from thiol-complexed Ag(I)

400

together with NOM identified before 4 min in Figure 4, indicating the absence of

401

Ag2S as the sulfidation product of Ag(I) or AgNPs. The relative short reaction period

402

(i.e., 1 h) in this study likely accounts for the subtle displacement of citrate by S.

403

Thus, long-term incubation (e.g., 120 h57) usually needed for the displacement and

404

sulfidation is worthy to study in future.

107

Ag peak detected in the spiked

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Figure 4. Transformation of AgNPs and Ag(I) (both were spiked at 10 ng/mL) in an

407

influent of WWTP. Operation procedures: focusing/relaxation of AgNPs and isolation

408

of Ag(I) (I), fractionation and characterization of AgNPs (II), and quantification of

409

Ag(I) (III). Experimental conditions: PES HF channel, 10 kDa pore cut-off; injected

410

volume, 100 µL; carrier solution, 0.1% (v/v) FL-70 with 0.02% (w/v) NaN3; inlet

411

flow rate, 1.50 mL/min; radial flow rate, 0.60 mL/min; axial flow, 0.90 mL/min;

412

focusing time, 4 min; eluting flow rate, 0.90 mL/min.

413

Environmental Implication. The HF5/MCC-UV/ICPMS system provides an

414

efficient technique to investigate both physical and chemical transformations of

415

AgNPs and Ag(I) at environmentally relevant concentrations. Findings in this study

416

firmly reveal different effects of Ca2+ and Na+ on the aggregation of AgNPs at ng/mL

417

in the presence of NOM, facilitating more environmentally meaningful evaluation of

418

the physical transformation of AgNPs under more realistic conditions. The

419

remarkable difference in size of AgNPs generated from photo-reduction of Ag(I) at

420

two different concentrations discovered here again highlights the necessity of further

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421

studying transformations of AgNPs and Ag(I) at environmentally relevant

422

concentrations in predicting the source and fate of AgNPs in the environment. In

423

addition, the high separation efficiency and anti-interference capability of HF5 based

424

method make it applicable to more complex biological media, such as cellular

425

cultures and body fluids, which is beneficial to estimate potential risks on human and

426

environmental health. Moreover, the high selectivity and multi-element detection

427

capability of ICPMS detection make it a prospective method in widely studying the

428

heteroaggregation (e.g., with natural suspended mineral particle) and chemical

429

transformation

430

metal-containing nanoparticles (e.g., the dissolution of CdSe quantum dot) at

431

environmentally relevant concentrations under realistic scenarios.

432

■ASSOCIATED CONTENT

433

Supporting Information Available

434

The Supporting Information is available free of charge on the ACS Publications

435

website at DOI: XXXXXX.

436

Additional experimental details and results as noted in the text.

437

Notes

438

The authors declare no competing financial interest.

439

■ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

440

Financial support from National Key Research and Development Program of China

441

(2016YFA0203102),

442

(2015CB932003), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21577150,

of

AgNPs

the

(e.g.,

National

selenylation

Basic

and

Research

20

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sulfidation)

Program

and

of

other

China

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and 21522705) is gratefully acknowledged. Z. Q. Tan also acknowledges the support

444

from the Youth Innovation Promotion Association CAS.

445

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Triplet-State Natural Organic Matter Loss by Energy Transfer and Electron Transfer

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Hydrophilic Membrane Surfaces: Effects of pH and Ionic Strength. J. Membr. Sci.

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2000, 165 (1), 31–46.

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(53) Assemi, S.; Tadjiki, S.; Donose, B. C.; Nguyen, A. V.; Miller, J. D. Aggregation

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of Fullerol C60(OH)24 Nanoparticles as Revealed Using Flow Field-Flow

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Fractionation and Atomic Force Microscopy. Langmuir 2010, 26 (20), 16063–16070.

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B. Photoreduction and Stabilization Capability of Molecular Weight Fractionated

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Natural Organic Matter in Transformation of Silver Ion to Metallic Nanoparticle.

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Environ. Sci. Technol. 2015, 48 (16), 9366–9373.

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(56) Mueller, N. C.; Nowack, B. Exposure Modeling of Engineered Nanoparticles in

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the Environment. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2008, 42 (12), 4447–4453.

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C-Conjugated

Silver

Nanoparticles

Using Asymmetrical

28

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Flow

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Environmental Science & Technology

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Table of Content Art

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