Developing porous copper/aluminium-chitosan biosorbent hydrogel beads for the removal of phosphate from wastewater

Excess phosphorus is one of the principal causes of eutrophication, which causes severe ecological imbalance and harm to human health. In this study, several chitosan (CS)/copper and aluminum (CNT, ACH) hydrogel beads were created and tested for phosphorus removal. Further Microcrystalline cellulose and Cellulose Nano Fiber were also used to create stable CS/CNT - ACH hydrogel beads. The optimized CNT/CS settings with 0.2 mg CNT demonstrated outstanding removal efficacy. It effectively removed phosphate from an aqueous solution with a pH range of 4.5-5.5 using a completely mixed batch of 0.01M sodium dihydrogen phosphate, with 80% phosphate absorption achieved after 48 hours of contact time. The measured maximum adsorption capacity at pH 5.5 solution was 11.39 mg per 0.0206g of the beads (10 beads). The FTIR study revealed that all three varieties of synthesized beads have a healthy microstructure. Furthermore, the findings of the kinetic study indicated a low absorption rate at 15ºC and a moderate absorption rate at 45ºC. The adsorbent efficiently removed phosphate during 12 hours of contact time, according to a batch adsorption study, using 20 beads weighing 0.0412g. Electrostatic attraction and ion exchange can both be responsible for phosphate absorption. Furthermore, 10 of the 21 control MCC and CNF beads could remove more than 60% phosphate after 48 hours of contact time with identical solute distributions. This adsorbent might be deployed to effectively treat phosphorus-contaminated water to prevent eutrophication.