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Construction of 3D network aluminum sludge-based hydrogel beads: combination of macroization, amino functionalization, and resource utilization

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Abstract

An aluminum sludge-based composite material was constructed against the problems of phosphorus pollution and the waste of aluminum sludge resources. Utilizing metal Ce doping and hydrogel microbeads with pore preparation, the adsorption performance of the original sludge was improved. Meanwhile, the macroscopic body was constructed, and on this basis, polyethyleneimine (PEI) was introduced to complete the amino functionalization further to enhance the adsorption of phosphorus by the adsorbent, and NH-CeAIS-10 microbeads were successfully prepared. In adsorption, microbeads with larger specific surface area and richer functional groups are better choice compared to original sludge. The results of SEM, BET, FT-IR, and XPS analyses indicate that the adsorption of phosphorus by the microbeads is mainly achieved through electrostatic interactions, ligand exchange, and the formation of inner-sphere complexes. According to the Langmuir model, the maximum phosphorus adsorption capacity of NH-CeAIS-10 was 29.56 mg g−1, which was four times higher compared to native aluminum sludge. This also confirms the significant enhancement of phosphorus adsorption through the modification of aluminum sludge. Besides, in dynamic adsorption column experiments, the material exhibited up to 99% removal in simulated wastewater for up to 30 days, demonstrating the great adsorption potential of NH-CeAIS-10 in engineering applications.

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The dataset used and/or analyzed during this study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42377060) and Scientific Innovation Practice Project of Postgraduates of Chang’an University (300103723055).

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Contributions

Aixia Chen: writing—reviewing and editing. Xinyuan Wang: writing—original draft preparation and conceptualization. Ruirui Hu: methodology. Xiao Wei: software. Luxue Lv: data curation. Tong Shen: visualization. Jinzhou Wang: investigation and supervision. Shanshan Xing: investigation and supervision. Chunbo Yuan: investigation and supervision.

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Correspondence to Aixia Chen.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Responsible Editor: Guilherme Luiz Dotto

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Highlights

• Successfully prepared 3D networked aluminum sludge-based hydrogel microbeads.

• Increased the adsorption capacity of the material for phosphorus by a factor of four.

• Showed 99% removal rate in simulated wastewater by adsorption column experiments.

• Provides a solution to the problem of massive waste of aluminum sludge resources.

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Supplementary file1 (DOCX 295 KB)

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Chen, A., Wang, X., Hu, R. et al. Construction of 3D network aluminum sludge-based hydrogel beads: combination of macroization, amino functionalization, and resource utilization. Environ Sci Pollut Res 31, 12052–12070 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-31825-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-31825-0

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