Desalination RO reject brine as a novel-based porous geopolymer for phosphorus removal from contaminated media

Fatima Zahra Karmil; Sara Mountadar; Hanan El Alaoui-Belghiti; Fatima Majid; Anouar Rich; Mohammed Mountadar

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.142202

Desalination RO reject brine as a novel-based porous geopolymer for phosphorus removal from contaminated media

Chemosphere. 2024 Jun:358:142202. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.142202. Epub 2024 Apr 29.

Authors

Fatima Zahra Karmil¹, Sara Mountadar², Hanan El Alaoui-Belghiti³, Fatima Majid⁴, Anouar Rich⁵, Mohammed Mountadar⁶

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Water and Environment Analytical Chemistry and Environmental Process Engineering Team, Department of Chemistry, University Chouaïb Doukkali, P.O. Box 20, El Jadida, 24000, Morocco; Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Materials, Department of Chemistry, University Chouaïb Doukkali, P.O. Box 20, El Jadida, 24000, Morocco. Electronic address: karmil.f@ucd.ac.ma.
² Laboratory of Water and Environment Analytical Chemistry and Environmental Process Engineering Team, Department of Chemistry, University Chouaïb Doukkali, P.O. Box 20, El Jadida, 24000, Morocco. Electronic address: smountadar@gmail.com.
³ Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Materials, Department of Chemistry, University Chouaïb Doukkali, P.O. Box 20, El Jadida, 24000, Morocco. Electronic address: belghitihanan@gmail.com.
⁴ Laboratory of Nuclear, Atomic, Molecular, Mechanical and Energetic Physics, Department of Physics, University Chouaïb Doukkali, P.O. Box 20, El Jadida, 24000, Morocco. Electronic address: majidfatima9@gmail.com.
⁵ Laboratory of Coordination and Analytical Chemistry (LCCA), Applied Thermodynamics and Processes Team (ETAP). Department of Chemistry, University Chouaïb Doukkali, P.O. Box 20, El Jadida, 24000, Morocco. Electronic address: rich.anouar7@gmail.com.
⁶ Laboratory of Water and Environment Analytical Chemistry and Environmental Process Engineering Team, Department of Chemistry, University Chouaïb Doukkali, P.O. Box 20, El Jadida, 24000, Morocco. Electronic address: mounta_dar@yahoo.fr.

PMID: 38692361
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.142202

Abstract

Desalination reverse osmosis reject brine-based porous geopolymer (RO/GP) was produced and investigated as an improved adsorbent for phosphorus (P) removal from tainted seawater, brackish water, river water, and municipal wastewater effluent. The RO reject brine/geopolymer was produced by reacting metakaolin and fly ash with a Na-alkali activator and anhydrous RO brine as a sacrificial template. The influence of RO reject brine content on water absorption, porosity, mechanical, and structural properties were examined. The developed RO-based geopolymers exhibited the greatest porosity (58.3-84.2 % vol%), a significant ratio of open porosity to total porosity (67.7-92.1 %), and outstanding compression strength (3.6-10.4 MPa). The produced RO/GP structure has an adsorption capacity of 92.4 mg-P/g. The sequestration reaction of phosphorus by RO/GP is of pseudo-second-order kinetic behavior via Chi-squared (χ²), RMSE, and determination coefficient (R²) values. Regarding their agreement with Langmuir behavior, the phosphorus adsorption uptakes occur in homogeneous and monolayer states. The reaction is exothermic, spontaneous, and favorable. The RO/GP exhibits significant affinity for phosphorus co-existing with Cl^-, Na⁺, SO₄^2-, K⁺, HCO₃^-, and Ca²⁺. The RO/GP shows high safety during the adsorption investigation, with a total cost of 0.32 $/kg-P.

Keywords: Geopolymer; Phosphorus removal; Porous agent; RO reject brine; adsorption.

MeSH terms

Adsorption
Kinetics
Osmosis
Phosphorus* / chemistry
Polymers / chemistry
Porosity
Salts* / chemistry
Seawater / chemistry
Wastewater* / chemistry
Water Pollutants, Chemical* / chemistry
Water Purification* / methods

Substances

brine