Oxidation of ammonia using immobilised FeCu for water treatment

• Published in: Separation and purification technology 2021-01, Vol.254, p.117612, Article 117612
• Main Authors: Chan, M.K., Abdullah, N., Rageh, E.H.A., Kumaran, P., Tee, Y.S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ammonia removal; Bimetallic nanoparticle; FeCu; Nanoparticle immobilization
• ISSN: 1383-5866; 1873-3794
• DOI: 10.1016/j.seppur.2020.117612

[Display omitted] •FeCu removed ammonia by converting ammonia to nitrogen gas.•Pottery is a better substrate for FeCu immobilization compared to alginate.•FeCu-pottery removed ~73% of ammonia by oxidation.•FeCu-pottery can be reused for minimum 3 times without any leaching of Fe and Cu. Excessive discharge of ammonia into the water stream causes eutrophication, severe depletion of dissolved oxygen in water endangers the aquatic life. Nanoparticles show superior performance in removing tetrabromobisphenol A and dyes. However, the use of nanoparticle in treating ammonia has not been reported in the literature. Hence, the objective of this study is to find out the role of bimetallic nanoparticle FeCu in removing ammonia for the first time and the effect of immobilisation media in affecting the performance of FeCu. The stability and reusability of immobilised FeCu are also investigated. FeCu was immobilised in alginate beads and pottery before dispersed into the ammonia solution. Results showed that approximately 75% of ammonia was removed in the first 4 h by releasing nitrogen gas by using FeCu-alginate. Comparatively, FeCu-pottery exhibited a similar ammonia removal in the first 19 h using a double dosage of FeCu. However, it is difficult to reuse the FeCu-alginate as it was sensitive to the reducing agent, while FeCu-pottery can be reused for at least three times without significant sign of degradation. Economic feasibility study on the FeCu-pottery and FeCu-alginate has to be conducted in the near future for practical application.