Jenni Lie, Hardy Shuwanto, Ivan Winata, Pius Widya Putra, Shella Permatasari Santoso, Jhy-Chern Liu, Hairus Abdullah, Ardila Hayu Tiwikrama, Chiu-Wen Chen, Cheng-Di Dong
Phosphorus is a critical element essential not only as a nutrient but also for green energy development; however, it faces a high supply risk. Meanwhile, phosphate contamination in aquatic environments contributes to eutrophication, threatening ecosystem health. Adsorption using metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) has emerged as a promising strategy for phosphate removal from wastewater. In this study, a rare earth–based MOF, yttrium benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylate (Y-BTC), was investigated for its phosphate adsorption performance. The effects of phosphate concentration, contact time, and temperature on adsorption were systematically studied to elucidate the underlying mechanism. Y-BTC exhibited an exceptional adsorption capacity of 820.3 mg PO43− g−1 at 30 °C. Isotherm and kinetic analyses revealed that monolayer chemisorption was the dominant mechanism. Thermodynamic analysis further showed that the adsorption process was endothermic and spontaneous, with greater adsorption favorability at higher temperatures. Furthermore, Y-BTC demonstrated excellent reusability for both phosphate removal and recovery. This work not only highlights the potential of yttrium as a MOF-forming metal for environmental applications but also unveils the Y-BTC adsorption mechanism for phosphate, offering a sustainable approach for phosphate recovery from secondary sources such as wastewater. © 2025 Elsevier B.V.
Department of Chemical Engineering, Widya Mandala Surabaya Catholic University, Surabaya, 60114, Indonesia; Department of Marine Environmental Engineering, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Kaohsiung, 81157, Taiwan; Department of Industrial Engineering, Univesitas Prima Indonesia, Medan, 20118, Indonesia; Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, 10607, Taiwan; Department of Material Science and Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, 10607, Taiwan; Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, National Taipei University of Technology, Taipei, 10608, Taiwan