Ammonia-Nitrogen Removal by Hydroxyapatite Prepared from Waste Fish Scale

Abstract

The pollution of ammonia-nitrogen in water became more serious with the development of the industry. In this paper, hydroxyapatite (HAP) was prepared from waste fish scales; the XRD, FTIR, SEM, TEM and Raman were used to characterize the prepared samples, and the prepared HAP samples were studied as degradation photocatalyst and adsorbing material for the removal of ammonia-nitrogen. The ammonia-nitrogen removal efficiency (ANRE, Removal Rate = (Initial Concentration–Current Concentration)/Initial Concentration × 100%) of the samples was also discussed. The results showed that the HAP sample, which was calcinated at 800 °C for 2 h, had the best ANRE, which was 41%. The UV-Vis, EIS, and PL were used to analyze the reason for the different ANRE. The reason for the high ANRE was attributed to the samples’ superior adsorption capability resulting from their large specific surface area, as well as their superior properties for photocatalytic degradation. This was a meaningful work to explore a treatment of ammonia-nitrogen by HAP.