Simultaneous removal of phosphate and antibiotic from hydrolyzed urine by novel spherical particles

Phosphate recovery from wastewater is regarded as promising strategy to achieve sustainable supply of non-renewable natural resources. In this study, a novel technique for spherical materials preparation was developed to achieve both phosphate recovery and antibiotic removal from urine. Phosphate removal and sulfamethoxazole (SMX) degradation performance of the synthesized spherical materials was studied in synthesized urine and real urine. MgB, made from magnesium oxide (10%) and biochar (10%), was the most effective in phosphate removal and SMX degradation. Struvite formation and radical production were the mechanisms of phosphate removal and SMX degradation, respectively. The phosphate removal capacity of MgB was 0.181 g/g and the removal cost was around 0.245 RMB/g phosphate. Meanwhile, the combination of MgB and persulfate could achieve a 98% degradation efficiency of SMX, which could eliminate the hazardous impurity in final product. Furthermore, this technique has also been validated useful in treating real hydrolyzed urine.