Recovery of phosphorus from aqueous solution by magnetic TiO2*/Fe3O4 composites

Considering the phosphorus pollution in the water and the shortage of phosphate rock resources, the TiO 2 */Fe 3 O 4 composite is prepared by sol–gel method to adsorb and recover phosphate from wastewater. The physio-chemical properties combined with adsorption experiment results show that the phosphate adsorption of TiO 2 */Fe 3 O 4 is mono-layer chemical adsorption with electrostatic attraction and ligand exchange. The adsorption capacity reaches 64.6 mg/g at 25 °C in pH 6 and the phosphate recovery rate is over 85% after 5 recycling times. The TiO 2 */Fe 3 O 4 , which is easily separated magnetically from water with excellent phosphate removal performance of municipal sewage, is a promising specific phosphate adsorbent.