Abstract
Currently, the discharge of wastewater and utilization of phosphorus (P) in human activities cause some environmental problems, such as high organic pollutants in aquatic environments which results in dirty water sources, and a shortage of phosphate rock reserves due to the high demand of P. Therefore, fuel energy and struvite crystallization from waste sources can be considered interesting alternatives. In this work, the modified catalyst for hydrogen production, along with solving environmental problems, was examined. The strontium (Sr) doped-titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles were synthesized by wetness impregnation method. The synthesized catalyst was characterized using UV-vis spectroscopy (UV-vis), photoluminescence (PL), X-ray diffraction (XRD), photoluminescence (PL), and scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS). The Sr-doped TiO2 catalysts had been utilized as the photocatalyst for the hydrogen production from synthetic human urine (a representative of waste source). The doping content of Sr in TiO2 varied from 0.5, 1, 2, and 4%, and the photocatalytic performances were compared with pristine TiO2 nanoparticles. The results showed that 1% Sr-doped TiO2 had the highest photocatalytic activity for hydrogen production and decreased the amount of chemical oxygen demand (COD) in the synthetic human urine. Subsequently, P could be recovered from the treated human urine in the form of struvite.
Highlights
A rapidly growing population in the world leads to various environmental problems, especially wastewater
Municipal wastewater has been used in conventional wastewater treatment processes to remove suspended solids and organic compounds before releasing them to rivers and land for reuse [1]
Hydrogen gas can be produced via a photocatalytic process with the use of TiO2 photocatalyst doped with alkaline earth metals (Sr) under visible light irradiation
Summary
A rapidly growing population in the world leads to various environmental problems, especially wastewater. Doping of transition and alkaline earth metals into TiO2 lattice by physical and chemical processes is a useful approach for obtaining visible light-sensitized catalysts [13]. Human urine is an interesting resource for P recovery because it can increase the production of fertilizers and the reduction in eutrophication, which is caused by the overwhelming concentration of phosphate in the released effluent [18]. The utilization of wastewater as a source for hydrogen energy production and P recovery was studied. Synthetic human urine which contained a high concentration of N and P was utilized for hydrogen energy production and struvite crystallization. Hydrogen gas can be produced via a photocatalytic process with the use of TiO2 photocatalyst doped with alkaline earth metals (Sr) under visible light irradiation. P was recovered from the synthetic human urine, which has never been reported before
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