Response of tenuous clay-polysaccharide flocs to hydrodynamic shearing

The response of suspended tenuous clay-polysaccharide flocs to hydrodynamic shearing was investigated in the laboratory via particle size analyses to understand the molecular-scale interactions between clay minerals and polysaccharides and their hydrodynamic behavior such as size kinetics, re-flocculation/breakdown, and shear strengths of the hybrid flocs. While the studied suspensions had a fixed clay concentration of 0.4 g/L, an array of other parameters was varied to reflect the complexity of clay-polysaccharide systems, including four types of clay minerals with varying layer charges and swellability (i.e., kaolinite, illite, and sodium- (Na-) and calcium- (Ca-) montmorillonites), two exopolymers of dissimilar polarities (i.e., xanthan and guar), six polysaccharide ( P ) to clay ( C ) weight ratios (i.e., P / C = 0, 1, 2, 5, 10, and 20 wt%), and three hydrodynamic shearing rates of 187, 429, and 1,100 1/s (i.e., corresponding to laminar, transitional, and turbulent flows, respectively). Results show that the clay-polysaccharide floc sizes are sensitive to the shear stress and also vary with different clay-polysaccharide systems. Four discrete particle groups were identified by statistical analyses, consisting of primary particle (PP), flocculi (FL), microfloc (MiF), and macrofloc (MaF), which exhibit distinct stabilities to shearing. The MaF is much weaker than MiF and can easily breakdown, as indicated by the decrease in MaF fraction with increasing shearing, while the MiF is the dominant particle group in transitional and turbulent flows. The fractions of PP and FL generally increase with shearing rate. Based on floc survivability in different flow conditions, the MaF's upper and lower bound shear strengths were estimated to be 0.95 and 0.17 Pa, respectively. The strongest MaF with a maximum shear strength of 0.95 Pa is formed in the clay-guar suspensions at a P / C of 10 wt%. Anionic xanthan only forms flocs with kaolinite with little surface charges, but cannot induce clay-polysaccharide flocs for illite and Ca/Na-montmorillonite with negative surface charges due to electrostatic repulsion. In contrast, neutral guar generates flocs with all 4 clay minerals due to the formation of hydrogen bonds, and MaF compounds usually are absent in turbulent flow (except kaolinite with a small fraction of MaF). These results further demonstrate the essential role of polysaccharide's polarity in dictating the flocculation dynamics, and, hence, sediment transport behavior. Practical implications of the findings are discussed in terms of the emerging technological applications of clay-polymer systems as well as the transport and modeling of natural aquatic cohesive sediment in biofilm-bearing waters. • Clay-polysaccharide floc sizes vary with clay mineral and biopolymer polarity. • Clay-polysaccharide interaction and flocculation are affected by flow shear stress. • The clay-biopolymer suspensions exhibit multimodal particle size distributions. • Floc strengths are compared and estimated based on floc survivability.