Inexpensive Hydrogel Transforms Contaminated Water into a Source of Reusable Phosphorus

Posted on Quantum Server Networks

Hydrogel for Phosphorus Recovery

A research team at North Carolina State University has developed an inexpensive and reusable hydrogel that can filter phosphorus from contaminated water, offering a sustainable solution to both water pollution and the global demand for phosphorus in agriculture and industry. Their work, published in Langmuir, demonstrates a material that is not only cost-effective but also capable of reclaiming phosphorus for reuse, making it an environmentally friendly technology with vast potential applications.

Why Phosphorus Recovery Matters

Phosphorus is an essential element for life and a critical component of fertilizers that sustain global food production. However, two pressing issues exist: limited natural phosphorus reserves, primarily mined at environmental cost, and the pollution of waterways caused by phosphorus runoff, leading to eutrophication and “dead zones.” Finding a way to recycle phosphorus efficiently addresses both challenges simultaneously.

The Hydrogel Innovation

The hydrogel combines two low-cost, commercially available polymers: polyethyleneimine (PEI), which binds phosphorus effectively, and poly(methyl vinyl ether-co-maleic anhydride) (PMVEMA), which forms a robust gel structure. This combination allows water to pass through while capturing phosphorus efficiently.

In tests, the PEI/PMVEMA hydrogel removed over 90% of phosphorus from wastewater and reclaimed up to 99% of it for reuse. Importantly, the hydrogel can be reused multiple times with minimal performance loss. Even after three cycles, recovery rates remained above 97%.

Cost-Effective and Scalable

Current phosphorus filtration technologies are expensive, costing $20–300 per pound of phosphorus captured. By comparison, this hydrogel costs just $23 per pound if used once, $8 per pound if reused twice, and less than $0.50 per pound if reused 50 times. Such dramatic cost reductions highlight its scalability and commercial promise.

The team has already filed a provisional patent and is seeking industry partners to bring the hydrogel into practical use for wastewater treatment, environmental remediation, and phosphorus harvesting for agricultural and industrial sectors.

Future Directions

While the hydrogel shows remarkable promise for water applications, the researchers are now exploring its ability to extract phosphorus directly from contaminated soils — a more complex but potentially transformative challenge. Success in this area would expand the material’s impact, helping close the loop on phosphorus use in global agriculture.

Read the original article on Phys.org

Footnote: This blog article was prepared with the help of AI technologies to enhance research synthesis and presentation.

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#Hydrogel #PhosphorusRecovery #CleanWater #SustainableAgriculture #MaterialsScience #WaterRemediation #Recycling #QuantumServerNetworks #Innovation

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