Surface modification of filter medium particles with silane coupling agent KH550

In order to increase the oily wastewater treatment performance, the hydrophobicity of quartz sand filter medium was improved by surface modification using 3-aminopropyltriethoxy silane coupling agent (KH550). The interfacial interactions between quartz sand surface and KH550 as well as the wettability of quartz sand filter before and after surface modified were studied. Fourier transform infrared (FfIR) spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses showed that the silane coupling agent molecular binds strongly to quartz sand surface. Scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) observation showed that a thin layer was formed on the surface of modified quartz sand. Wettability study confirmed that the hydrophobicity of surface modified quartz sand was extremely increased than original quartz sand. The results indicate that the silane coupling agent play an important role in improving the hydrophobicity of quartz sand filter, and the oily wastewater treatment performance is greatly improved after surface modified. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.