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Removal of Nitrate and Phosphate from Water by Clinoptilolite-Supported Iron Hydroxide Nanoparticle

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Abstract

In this study, we used clinoptilolite-supported iron hydroxide NPs (\(\hbox {Fe(OH)}_{3}\)/Cp) for evaluating the simultaneous removal of \(\hbox {NO}_{3}^{-}\) and \(\hbox {PO}_{4}^{-3}\). Remediation was investigated in a range of initial concentrations of \(\hbox {NO}_{3}^{-}\) (0–25 mg/L) and \(\hbox {PO}_{4}^{-3}\) (0–25 mg/L) as a function of pH (2–8), nanoparticles concentration (1 and 0.5 g/L). To achieve the best result, the weight ratio of raw material in iron sulfate versus clinoptilolite (5:1, 2:1, 1:1, 2:1) was tested. The highest pollutant removal was obtained 93% for \(\hbox {PO}_{4}^{-3}\) in 5:1 ratio of Fe versus clinoptilolite and 81% for \(\hbox {NO}_{3}^{-}\) in 1:2 ratio of Fe versus clinoptilolite at the pH of 2. Kinetic data for \(\hbox {NO}_{3}^{-}\) and \(\hbox {PO}_{4}^{-3}\) were well fitted in the pseudo-first-order model and pseudo-second-order model, respectively. Based on the results, it may be concluded that \(\hbox {Fe(OH)}_{3}\)/Cp NPs can effectively be used for simultaneous removal of \(\hbox {NO}_{3}^{- }\) and \(\hbox {PO}_{4}^{-3 }\) from water resources.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Soil Science, Lorestan University, P.O. Box 68151-44316, Khorramabad, Iran

    Azadeh Mikhak, Akbar Sohrabi & Mohammad Feizian

  2. Department of Chemistry, Tarbiat Modares University, P.O. Box 14155-175, Tehran, Iran

    Mohammad Zaman Kassaee

  3. Faculty of Biosciences and Medical Engineering, University of Teknologi Malaysia, UTM, Johor Bahru, Malaysia

    Marjan Najafi Disfani

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  1. Azadeh Mikhak
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  2. Akbar Sohrabi
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Correspondence to Mohammad Zaman Kassaee.

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Mikhak, A., Sohrabi, A., Kassaee, M.Z. et al. Removal of Nitrate and Phosphate from Water by Clinoptilolite-Supported Iron Hydroxide Nanoparticle. Arab J Sci Eng 42, 2433–2439 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-017-2432-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-017-2432-3

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