PVA/PEI crosslinked electrospun nanofibers with embedded La(OH)3 nanorod for selective adsorption of high flux low concentration phosphorus

Shiyang Li; Xiangfeng Huang; Jia Liu; Lijun Lu; Kaiming Peng; Rabin Bhattarai

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2019.121457

PVA/PEI crosslinked electrospun nanofibers with embedded La(OH)₃ nanorod for selective adsorption of high flux low concentration phosphorus

J Hazard Mater. 2020 Feb 15:384:121457. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2019.121457. Epub 2019 Oct 17.

Authors

Shiyang Li¹, Xiangfeng Huang², Jia Liu¹, Lijun Lu¹, Kaiming Peng¹, Rabin Bhattarai³

Affiliations

¹ College of Environmental Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Yangtze River Water Environment, Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, People's Republic of China.
² College of Environmental Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Yangtze River Water Environment, Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: hxf@tongji.edu.cn.
³ Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, 1304 W Pennsylvania Ave, Urbana IL 61801, USA.

PMID: 31668757
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2019.121457

Abstract

Phosphorus (P) is a limiting element causing eutrophication, and thus, its removal has elicited significant attention in recent years. In this study, a La(OH)₃ embedded nanorod loaded PVA/PEI crosslinked nanofiber membrane (LNPPM) was synthesized for phosphorus removal at a low concentration and under high flux conditions. Comparative tests demonstrated that an LNPPM exhibited a high phosphate adsorption capacity (165.9 mg P/g La) and performed well even under interference with the pH and coexisting ions (Cl^-, SO₄^2-, NO₃^-, and F^-). Through a continuous adsorption test, LNPPM also showed a fast adsorption efficiency with a 73.7% capacity used for C/C₀ = 0.5 under a low concentration and high flux phosphate solution. Fourier transform infrared, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, SEM-EDS, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy analyses indicated that the La(OH)₃ nanorod intensively and uniformly embedded into the nanofibers, providing an ideal condition for phosphate adsorption. A mechanistic analysis showed that the ligand exchange played a vital role in the phosphate adsorption of LNPPM. A cost index (capacity/synthesis cost) comparison with typical super phosphate adsorbents also indicated that LNPPM (795 mg P/USD) could be a viable option owing to its simple synthesis procedure, low synthesis cost, and considerable capacity. This technique shows promise for use in most dephosphorization applications.

Keywords: Cost index; Eutrophication; Super phosphate adsorbents; Water-based formula.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't