A Novel Ca-Modified Biochar for Efficient Recovery of Phosphorus from Aqueous Solution and Its Application as a Phosphorus Biofertilizer

Recovery phosphorus (P) from P-contaminated wastewater is an efficient and environmentally friendly mean to prevent water pollution and alleviate the P shortage crisis. In this study, oyster shell as calcium sources and peanut shells as carbon sources (mass ratio 1:1) were used to prepare a novel Ca...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Yue Xu, Huan Liao, Jing Zhang, Haijun Lu, Xinghua He, Yi Zhang, Zhenbin Wu, Hongyu Wang, Minghua Lu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022-08-01
Series:Nanomaterials
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/12/16/2755
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Summary:Recovery phosphorus (P) from P-contaminated wastewater is an efficient and environmentally friendly mean to prevent water pollution and alleviate the P shortage crisis. In this study, oyster shell as calcium sources and peanut shells as carbon sources (mass ratio 1:1) were used to prepare a novel Ca-modified biochar (OBC) via co-pyrolysis, and its potential application after P adsorption as a P biofertilizer for soil was also investigated. The results shown that OBC had a remarkable P adsorption capacity from wastewater in a wide range of pH 4–12. The maximum P adsorption capacity of OBC was about 168.2 mg/g with adsorbent dosage 1 g/L, which was about 27.6 times that of the unmodified biochar. The adsorption isotherm and kinetic data were better described by Langmuir isotherm model (R<sup>2</sup> > 0.986) and the pseudo second-order model (R<sup>2</sup> > 0.975), respectively. Characterization analysis of OBC before and after P adsorption by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and specific surface area and porosity analyzer (BET) indicated that the remarkable P adsorption capacity of OBC was mainly ascribed to chemical precipitation, electrostatic adsorption, and hydrogen bonding. Pot experiment results showed that OBC after P adsorption could significantly promote the germination and growth of <i>Spinacia</i>, which manifested that OBC after P adsorption exhibited a good ability to be reused as P fertilizer for soil.
ISSN:2079-4991