Simultaneous removal of NH4+ and PO43- from simulated reclaimed waters by modified natural zeolite. Preparation, characterization and thermodynamics

Natural zeolite was modified by NaCl, AlCl3 and thermal treatment for the removal of NH4+ and PO43− ions. The characteristics of the modified zeolite (AlZ) and its mechanism for the NH4 + and PO43− removal were studied and compared. The results showed that the surface area and the Na+ and Al3+ content increased whereas the content of Ca2+, K+ and Mg2+ decreased after zeolite modification. On natural zeolite when activated with the 1 M NaCl and 10 cm3 /g of pillaring dosage, high adsorption efficiencies for the NH4 + (97.80%) PO43− (98.60%) were obtained. The results of various analyses indicated that the Na+ exchange is the main mechanism for NH4 + removal whereas the adsorption mechanism for PO43− followed the complexation with Al–OH groups present in the AlZ. In addition, the kinetics study showed that the adsorption of NH4+ and PO43− followed pseudo-second order model while the adsorption isotherm of NH4 + and PO43− is consistent with the Langmuir isotherm model. Moreover, the Gibbs free energy change for the simultaneous removal of the ions indicates that NH4 + is adsorbed faster compared to PO43−. The simultaneous removal of NH4 + and PO43− by AlZ adsorbent is cost effective in water treatment at low ion concentrations.

---

Opracowanie rekordu w ramach umowy 509/P-DUN/2018 ze środków MNiSW przeznaczonych na działalność upowszechniającą naukę (2018).