Abstract

Aqueous phosphate pollution can dramatically impact ecosystems, introducing a variety of environmental, economic, and public health problems. While novel remediation tactics based on nanoparticle binding have shown considerable promise in nutrient recovery from water, they are challenging to deploy at scale. To bridge the gap between the laboratory-scale nature of these nanostructure solutions and the practical benchmarks for deploying an environmental remediation tool, we have developed a nanocomposite material. Here, an economical, readily available, porous substrate is dip coated using scalable, water-based processes with a slurry of nanostructures. These nanomaterials have tailored affinity for specific adsorption of pollutants. Our Phosphate Elimination and Recovery Lightweight (PEARL) membrane can selectively sequester up to 99% of phosphate ions from polluted waters at environmentally relevant concentrations. Moreover, mild tuning of pH promotes at will adsorption and desorption of nutrients. This timed release allows for phosphate recovery and reuse of the PEARL membrane repeatedly for numerous cycles. We combine correlative microscopy and spectroscopy techniques to characterize the complex microstructure of the PEARL membrane and to unravel the mechanism of phosphate sorption. More broadly, through the example of phosphate pollution, this work describes a platform membrane approach based on nanostructures with specific affinity coated on a porous structure. Such a strategy can be tuned to address other environmental remediation challenges through the incorporation of other nanomaterials.

Full Text
Paper version not known

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.