Abstract
Against the growing world demand for food and the possibility of recovering some nutrients, this work focused on the evaluation of the use of Bioclastic Granules (BG) from the algae Lithothamnium calcareum as sorbent material for the removal/recovery of phosphorus from aqueous solutions. The main variables that affect the sorption process, pH, initial concentration of phosphate, and GB, as well as the contact time, were evaluated. The effect of pH was very significant, obtaining the best results of PO43− removal at pH 5. In the coarser granulometric fractions (+ 106 − 150 and + 210 − 300 μm), the best removals were observed (around 75%). Regarding the initial PO43− concentration in the solutions, the highest removal (in the range of 74 to 78%) was observed in the lowest concentrations (5 to 70 mg L−1) and the best uptake (10 to 14 mg g−1) at higher concentrations (200 to 420 mg L−1). The PO43− sorption data fitted the Freundlich model well, with kF of 1.35 L mg−1 and n of 2.43. A qmax of 14.35 mg g−1 was obtained using the Langmuir model. Regarding the sorption data over time, a better fit to the pseudo-first-order kinetic model was observed, obtaining a calculated qeq of 6.56 mg g−1 and a k1 of 0.0073 min−1. The incorporation of PO43− ions in the GB structure was confirmed through the characterization results before and after the sorption experiments using X-ray fluorescence (FRX) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques.
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This study was funded by the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) and Carlos Chagas Filho Foundation for Research Support of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Faperj).
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Conceptualization: Diego Macedo Veneu, Gabriel Gonçalves Amaral Silva, and Cristiane Ribeiro Mauad; methodology: Diego Macedo Veneu, Gabriel Gonçalves Amaral Silva, and Alexandre Lioi Nascentes; investigation: Diego Macedo Veneu, Gabriel Gonçalves Amaral Silva, Cristiane Ribeiro Mauad, and David Villas Boas de Campos; writing—original draft preparation: Diego Macedo Veneu, Gabriel Gonçalves Amaral Silva, Lidia Yokoyama, Marisa Bezerra de Mello Monte, Alexandre Lioi Nascentes, and David Villas Boas de Campos; project administration: Lidia Yokoyama, Marisa Bezerra de Mello Monte, and David Villas Boas de Campos. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
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Veneu, D.M., Silva, G.G.A., Nascentes, A.L. et al. Phosphorus recovery from aqueous solutions using Bioclastic Granules (Lithothamnium calcareum). Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 71270–71283 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-27365-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-27365-8