A study by response surface methodology (RSM) on optimization of phosphorus adsorption with nano spherical calcium carbonate derived from waste

Abstract

Abstract A nano spherical CaCO3 (NSC) derived from solid waste (precipitated from tris(α-chloropropyl) phosphate and triethyl phosphate mixed wastewater) was prepared as adsorbent for phosphorus removal from aqueous solution. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to develop an approach for the evaluation of phosphorus adsorption process, and Box-Behnken design was performed to investigate the effects of various experimental parameters (temperature, contact time, initial pH and dosage of absorbent) on phosphorus adsorption. The model results of experimental data gave a high correlation coefficient (R2 = 0.9658), and a predictive model of quadratic polynomial regression equation and optimum level values were established successfully. It was found that the adsorption efficiency and adsorption capacity reached 97.05% and 123.79 mg/g, respectively, under conditions of temperature of 45 °C, initial pH 5.3, contact time of 11 h, and absorbent amount of 392 mg/L. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis testified new phase, Ca10(PO4)6CO3, was produced in the adsorption process. Apart from that, adsorption behavior fitted well with the Langmuir isotherm model and logistic growth model. The thermodynamic study indicated that phosphorus removal by NSC as adsorbent was a spontaneous, endothermic, and mainly chemical adsorption process.