Adsorption of phosphate on iron oxide doped halloysite nanotubes

<p dir="ltr">Excess phosphate in water is known to cause eutrophication, and its removal is imperative. Nanoclay minerals are widely used in environmental remediation due to their low-cost, adequate availability, environmental compatibility, and adsorption efficiency. However, the re...

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Main Author: Dema A. Almasri (14152743) (author)
Other Authors: Navid B. Saleh (1929187) (author), Muataz A. Atieh (14152746) (author), Gordon McKay (1755814) (author), Said Ahzi (8968706) (author)
Published: 2019
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Summary:<p dir="ltr">Excess phosphate in water is known to cause eutrophication, and its removal is imperative. Nanoclay minerals are widely used in environmental remediation due to their low-cost, adequate availability, environmental compatibility, and adsorption efficiency. However, the removal of anions with nanoclays is not very effective because of electrostatic repulsion from clay surfaces with a net negative charge. Among clay minerals, halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) possess a negatively charged exterior and a positively charged inner lumen. This provides an increased affinity for anion removal. In this study, HNTs are modified with nano-scale iron oxide (Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>) to enhance the adsorption capacity of the nanosorbent. This modification allowed for effective distribution of these oxide surfaces, which are known to sorb phosphate via ligand exchange and by forming inner-sphere complexes. A detailed characterization of the raw and (Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>) modified HNTs (Fe-HNT) is conducted. Influences ofFe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> loading, adsorbent dosage, contact time, pH, initial phosphate concentration, and coexisting ions on the phosphate adsorption capacity are studied. Results demonstrate that adsorption on Fe-HNT is pH-dependent with fast initial adsorption kinetics. The underlying mechanism is identified as a combination of electrostatic attraction, ligand exchange, and Lewis acid-base interactions. The nanomaterial provides promising results for its application in water/wastewater treatment.</p><h2>Other Information</h2><p dir="ltr">Published in: Scientific Reports<br>License: <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0" target="_blank">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0</a><br>See article on publisher's website: <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-39035-2" target="_blank">http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-39035-2</a></p>