Reaction of sea shells with resemble phosphorus wastewater and application of products

Abstract

Hiroaki Onoda, Ryo Fukatsu, Masamoto Tafu

Background / Aim: The removal and reuse of phosphorus is necessary to resolve environmental problems. The recovery of rare earth elements is also required for the sustainable developments. The aim of this work is to solve above two problems. Method: In this work, we tried to remove phosphorus from wastewater with corbicula shell and Japanese littleneck shells. The obtained by-product was also used to recover rare earth cations. The chemical composition of by-products was investigated by ICP, XRD analyses, and SEM images. Results: The main composition of the precipitates was calcium hydrogen phosphate di-hydrate, CaHPO4•2H2O. These calcium phosphates recovered the rare earth cations. Conclusion: Samples synthesized from seashells had small difference on the recovery of rare earth elements with samples synthesized from commercial calcium carbonate.