PHOSPHATE REMOVAL FROM REAL WASTEWATER USING MAGHEMITE BEADS

Sa？etak The present study aimed at research of phosphate adsorption onto poly(vinyl-alcohol) PVA alginate beads in comparison with maghemite modified beads from wastewater. The characterisation of material was performed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction. The influence of pH and the quantity of maghemite nanoparticle was studied. The results of phosphate adsorption onto PVA-alginate beads showed 45 % of initial PO43- concentration removal from wastewater while the maghemite PVA-alginate beads showed better adsorption activity at 70 % of initial PO43- removal. The optimal dose was determined at 0.9 g of PVA-M beads (containing 0.01 g maghemite) added to the 50 mL wastewater. The efficiency of phosphate removal from wastewater was relatively low due to content of coexistent anions, including SO42？, CO32？, NO3？ and Cl？, which compete with phosphate for the binding sites, hindering PO43？ to form inner sphere complexes