Phosphorus pollution control using waste-based adsorbents: Material synthesis, modification, and sustainability

Abstract

The utilization of waste materials to control phosphorus (P) pollution has been intensively studied as a promising strategy to achieve sustainable wastewater treatment. Although many methods are proposed and investigated to develop modified waste-based adsorbents, a core yet still-debated issue is their effectiveness and viability in real-world applications. Therefore, this critical review summarizes the current research state on the use of waste materials and their modified forms as adsorbents for dissolved reactive P removal from wastewater. Various performance improvement methods are compiled into the research outcomes to highlight three significant efforts that scientists have contributed to promoting the application of waste-based adsorbents: (i) how to enhance the P removal efficiency; (ii) how to scale up implementation; and (iii) how to achieve sustainable management. Furthermore, this review proposes a paradigm of waste-based absorbent in the P removal process to systematically formulate a complete sustainable management strategy for practical application. Overall, this review offers a guide for the development and application of waste-based adsorbents for P removal from wastewater.

Graphical abstract

KEYWORDS:

• Development and application
• phosphorus removal
• sustainable management
• waste-based adsorbents
• wastewater treatment

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was partially supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Hatch project (No. ILLU-741-337).