Artik Elisa Angkawijaya, Yen Nhi Tran-Chuong, Quoc Nam Ha, Phuong Lan Tran-Nguyen, Shella Permatasari Santoso, Vania Bundjaja, Alchris Woo Go, Hsien-Yi Hsu, Yi-Hsu Ju
Background: The pressing demand to increase agricultural productivity amid the rapidly growing population has exponentially boosted fertilizers usage. Phosphate (Pi) runoff from fertilizers induces eutrophication in water sources and severely affects its surrounding ecosystems. To cope with Pi accumulation problem, this study reported the synthesis of an environmentally friendly magnetic adsorbent, namely Fe3O4/thiamine (thF). Method: A one-step chemical oxidation and functionalization technique for thF synthesis was developed. X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), nitrogen (N2) sorption, and superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) analysis were conducted to ensure the formation of Fe3O4, confirm the successful incorporation of thiamine, and gain insight into the factors influencing the adsorptivity of thF-363. Significant Findings: The thF synthesized at 363 K (thF-363) produces an adsorbent with the highest Pi removal efficiency compared to other synthesis conditions. The thF-363 showed up to 1.51-fold higher adsorption capacity than the unmodified Fe3O4. The large surface area and occurrence of thiamine functional groups are the contributing factors in enhancing its adsorption capacity for Pi removal. The thF-363 did not adversely affect the growth of the model plant, Arabidopsis thaliana; demonstrating its suitability as an environmentally friendly adsorbents for Pi removal from eutrophicated water with the feasibility of magnetic separation from an aqueous system. © 2021 Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers
Graduate Institute of Applied Science, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, #43, Sec. 4, Keelung Rd., Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, #43, Sec. 4, Keelung Rd., Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Mechanical Engineering, Can Tho University, 3/2 Street, Can Tho City, Viet Nam; Department of Chemical Engineering, Widya Mandala Surabaya Catholic University, Kalijudan 37, Surabaya, Indonesia; School of Energy and Environment & Department of Materials Science and Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong; Shenzhen Research Institute of City University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, China; Taiwan Building Technology Center, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, #43, Sec. 4, Keelung Rd., Taipei, Taiwan