Enhanced removal of triphosphate by MgCaFe-Cl-LDH: Synergism of precipitation with intercalation and surface uptake

Triphosphate (TPP) is an important form of phosphate pollutants while its removal investigation has been just started now. This research examined the removal of triphosphate using Mg(2-x)Ca(x)FeCl-LDH (x = 0-2) as absorbents. We found that the removal of triphosphate over Mg(2)FeCl-LDH mainly underwent the surface adsorption and the near-edge intercalation, with the practical removal amount (9-11 mg(P)/g) corresponding to 10-15% of the theoretical one. In contrast, Ca(2)FeCl-LDH removed a higher amount of triphosphate (56.4 mg(P)/g). The comprehensive analysis of the triphosphate-uptake products with XRD/XPS/FTIR reveals that Ca(2)FeCl-LDH dissolves first and then released Ca(2+) ions react with triphosphate (TPP) to form insoluble Ca-TPP precipitate. Combination of these two different removal mechanisms enables Mg(0.5)Ca(1.5)FeCl-LDH to take up 84.2 mg(P)/g from aqueous solution under similar conditions. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.