Abstract:
This work pretends to study the adsorption of microcystin-LR (MC-LR) and anatoxin-a (ATX-a) on nanofiltration
membranes and to understand the adsorption behaviour with the solution chemistry (background natural organic matter
(NOM) and in the presence of ATX-a). Results demonstrate that MC-LR adsorption increases with water recovery due to
the increase in MC-LR feed concentration. MC-LR adsorption is governed by hydrophobic interactions established
between the membrane surface and the MC-LR molecules, and between the MC-LR molecules. For ATX-a, adsorption
onto the membrane surface is governed by electrostatic attractions and the background NOM minimises the ATX
adsorption. When ATX-a and MC-LR are both present in water, adsorption is higher for ATX-a than for MC-LR and is
higher at pH 4 for both cyanotoxins.
