Silver nanoparticle behaviour in lake water depends on their surface coating

The present study examines the stability of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) of three different coatings – citrate (CIT), polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) and lipoic acid (LIP) and two sizes - 20 and 50 nm in lake water (LW) over time. Using a combination of asymmetric flow field-flow fractionation (AsFlFFF), surface plasmon resonance (SPR), and single particle inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (SP-ICP-MS), the influence of size, surface coating, exposure time, as well as the presence and nature of dissolved organic matter (DOM) on the transformation of AgNPs at low environmental concentrations was thoroughly investigated. The results revealed that the AgNP stability in lake water are complex interplay between the surface coating characteristics, exposure time and presence and nature of DOM. Among the studied variables surface coating was found to play the major role of determining AgNPs behaviour in lake water. PVP-coated AgNPs agglomerated to a lesser extent as compared with the CIT- and LIP-AgNPs. For a given surface coating, DOM of pedogenic and aquagenic origin increased the stability of the AgNPs (LW + EPS > LW + SRHA > LW). Moreover, extracellular polymeric substances (EPS; aquagenic origin) stabilized lipoic acid-coated AgNPs more effectively than Suwannee River Humic Acids (SRHA; pedogenic origin), showing that DOM nature has to be also considered for improved understanding the AgNP stability in aquatic environment