Novel cellulose nanofiber aerogel for aquaculture wastewater treatment

A cellulose aerogel containing safe and environmentally-friendly crosslinkers (carboxy methyl cellulose/citric acid) was used to purify aquaculture wastewater through removing nitrate, nitrite, and phosphate compounds. The results showed that the produced aerogel has a specific surface area of 300 m/g, the density of 0.004 g/cm(3) and porosity of 99.68%. The optimum adsorbent were calculated at a constant weight of 0.1 g, pH = 6, time 60 min, concentration 100 mg/l, and temperature 30 degrees C. The adsorption isotherm models showed the most agreement with the Temkin and the Langmuir models and the second pseudo order, confirming the high capability of aerogel in physical and chemical adsorption. The highest removal efficiency of nitrate, nitrite, and phosphate obtained were 79.65, 73.04, and 98.18%, respectively. Cellulose nanofiber aerogel without additional coating and harmful chemical compounds could be used as an effective adsorbent in wastewater treatment. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.