An in situ grown amorphous ZrO₂ layer on zeolite for enhanced phosphate adsorption

Abstract

Zeolite supported amorphous zirconia layer with high specific surface area, abundant adsorption sites and excellent reusability hold a bright prospect in phosphate adsorption, yet it is proven to be still challenging to precisely regulate its synthesis.

The Removal of Phosphate from Aqueous Solutions by Sepiolite/ZrO2 Composites: Adsorption Behavior and Mechanism

“…Due to the remarkable selectivity of phosphate ions and high chemical stability, zirconium oxide/hydroxide has great potential to remove phosphate from water [11,12]. In order to prevent agglomeration and provide a high content of active species for phosphate adsorption, zirconium oxide/hydroxide nanoparticles have been dispersed on different low-cost supports with high surface areas and appropriate porosity, such as zeolite [13,14], bentonite [15][16][17], mesoporous SiO 2 [18], polymeric anion exchanger [19,20], chitosan [21], etc.…”

“…In general, the deposition of ZrO 2 on supports has been carried out in various ways, but usually using ZrOCl 2 •8H 2 O dissolved in water [13,[23][24][25][26] or Zr(OC 3 H 7 ) 4 dissolved in toluene [18,27]. When ZrOCl 2 •8H 2 O was used, ZrO 2 was deposited mostly as nanoparticles and Zr(OC 3 H 7 ) 4 dissolved in toluene was used to provide a dispersion of ZrO 2 functionality at a molecular level, which ensured high surface exposure of adsorption sites and, thus, high adsorption capacity [18,27].…”