Adsorptive Removal of Phosphate Ions from Aqueous Solutions using Zirconium Fumarate

Abstract

In this study, zirconium fumarate of metal-organic framework (MOF-801) was solvothermally synthesized at 130 ℃ and characterized through powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) analyses and porosity measurements from N2 sorption isotherms at 77 K. The ability of MOF-801 to act as an adsorbent for the phosphate removal from aqueous solutions at 25 ℃ was investigated. The phosphate removal efficiency (PRE) obtained by 0.05 g/L adsorbent dose at an initial phosphate concentration of 60 ppm after 3 h was 72.47%, whereas at 5 and 20 ppm, the PRE was determined to be 100% and 89.88%, respectively, after 30 min for the same adsorbent dose. Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area and pore volume of the bare MOF-801 sample were 478.25 m2/g and 0.52 cm3/g, respectively, whereas after phosphate adsorption (at an initial concentration of 60 ppm, 3 h), the BET surface area and pore volume were reduced to 331.66 m2/g and 0.39 cm3/g, respectively. The experimental data of kinetic (measured at initial concentrations of 5, 20 and 60 ppm) and isotherm measurements followed the pseudo-second-order kinetic equation and the Freundlich isotherm model, respectively. This study demonstrates that MOF-801 is a promising material for the removal of phosphate from aqueous solutions.