High capacity aqueous phosphate reclamation using Fe/Mg-layered double hydroxide (LDH) dispersed on biochar.

Phosphate is a primary plant nutrient, serving integral role in environmental stability. Excessive phosphate in water causes eutrophication; hence, phosphate ions need to be harvested from soil nutrient levels and water and used efficiently. Fe-Mg (1:2) layered double hydroxides (LDH) were chemically co-precipitated and widely dispersed on a cheap, commercial Douglas fir biochar (695 m/g surface area and 0.26 cm/g pore volume) byproduct from syn gas production. This hybrid multiphase LDH dispersed on biochar (LDHBC) robustly adsorbed (~5h equilibrium) phosphate from aqueous solutions in exceptional sorption capacities and no pH dependence between pH 1-11. High phosphate Langmuir sorption capacities were found for both LDH (154 to 241 mg/g) and LDH-modified biochar (117 to 1589 mg/g). LDHBC was able to provide excellent sorption performance in the presence of nine competitive anion contaminants (CO, AsO, SeO, NO, CrO, Cl, F, SO, and MoO) and also upon remediating natural eutrophic water samples. Regeneration was demonstrated by stripping with aqueous 1 M NaOH. No dramatic performance drop was observed over 3 sorption-stripping cycles for low concentrations (5 ppm). The adsorbents and phosphate-laden adsorbents were characterized using Elemental analysis, BET, PZC, TGA, DSC, XRD, SEM, TEM, and XPS. The primary sorption mechanism is ion-exchange from low to moderate concentrations (10-500 ppm). Chemisorption and stoichiometric phosphate compound formation were also considered at higher phosphate concentrations (>500 ppm) and at 40 °C. This work advances the state of the art for environmentally friendly phosphate reclamation. These phosphate-laden adsorbents also have potential to be used as a slow-release phosphate fertilizer.