Nutrient pollution is a costly problem with widespread negative health and ecological effects. An ideal solution to these problems is capturing such nutrients in a form that is amenable to application as a fertilizer, thus turning a pollutant into a valuable resource. We have developed magnesium aluminum oxide and magnesium iron oxides from calcining a layered double hydroxide that are good adsorbents for both phosphate and nitrate. The material possesses excellent capacity for sorption of the highly difficult to capture nitrate ions due to a molecular imprinting process. These materials can capture plant nutrients from municipal wastewater and aquaria and can then be utilized as time release fertilizer. The possibility of using this low-cost material as a soil additive to prevent fertilizer runoff will also be discussed.

Sustainable prevention and remediation of plant nutrients via sorbent-to-fertilizer technology

Where thousands of chemistry professionals meet to share ideas and advance scientific and technical knowledge. Spring 2023 abstracts, posters, and presentations will launch at the end of March.

ACS Spring 2023

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.