Zeolites for the nutrient recovery from wastewater

Muscarella, Sofia Maria; Badalucco, Luigi; Laudicina, Vito Armando; Mannina, Giorgio

doi:10.1016/b978-0-323-99920-5.00012-3

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Despite the aforementioned promises and potential benefits, the main challenges are rooted in the complex tasks for the identification of suitable adsorbent materials that meet the following essential criteria: being readily available, inexpensive, and possessing a high degree of efficiency [5]. In this regard, zeolites emerge as the most promising candidates for nitrogen removal and represent a good option for achieving environmentally sustainable solutions for resource recovery from wastewater [5][6][7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Natural zeolites, as well as their modified or synthesized forms, emerged as formidable adsorbents in the realm of nutrient removal from wastewater. This acclaim is rooted in their remarkable cation exchange capacity [1,6,11]. Notably, recent research has yielded compelling evidence affirming zeolites' proficiency in adsorbing NH 4 + ions from diverse aqueous solutions, thereby encompassing the complex milieu of wastewater.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ammonium Recovery from Synthetic Wastewaters by Using Zeolitic Mixtures: A Desorption Batch-Study

Muscarella,

Laudicina,

Badalucco

et al. 2023

Water

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Resource recovery from wastewater is very important in view of a circular economy approach in the water field. Among the different technologies applied to realize circular economy, an attractive option is the use of nutrient-enriched media that can be utilized as slow-release fertilizers. Zeolites have been re-discovered for their key role in ammonium (NH4+) adsorption from treated wastewater. Although many studies have been carried out to assess the ability of zeolites to adsorb NH4+, only few papers concerning NH4+ desorption from zeolites are available in the literature. Therefore, this study investigated NH4+ desorption from mineralogically different zeolites, before (ZNS and ZNC) and after (ZSS and ZSC) their treatment with sodium chloride. The zeolites differed in mordenite content. The amount of the desorbed NH4+ varied from 78 to 84% of the total NH4+ adsorbed. In particular, the NaCl-treated materials showed the largest desorption (27.6 ± 0.2 mg L−1, and 27.9 ± 0.7 mg L−1, ZSS, and ZSC, respectively) as compared to the untreated zeolites (22.9 ± 0.3 mg L−1, and 24.2 ± 0.3 mg L−1, ZNS, and ZNC, respectively) because of the different affinity of the cations for the zeolite surface. A monomodal pseudo-first-order model best approximated the desorption kinetics, suggesting only one mechanism of NH4+ desorption from zeolites. Such a mechanism is based on the ion exchange between dissolved Na+ and adsorbed NH4+. The desorption kinetics also showed that NH4+ desorbed slower from the NaCl-treated zeolites than the untreated ones. This effect was explained by the different affinity of Na+ and NH4+ for the zeolite surfaces as due to the diverse sizes of the Na+ and NH4+ hydration spheres. By revealing the effect of zeolite mineralogy and surface treatments in the desorption of NH4+, this study can suggest new and effective synthetic strategies for the achievement of cheap new materials to be applied in environmental remediation within a circular economy perspective.

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