Abstract
In this work, highly porous amorphous calcium carbonate (HPACC) and mesoporous magnesium carbonate (MMC) were tested as potential phosphate (PO43-) sorbents in water. The performance of these sorbents at a PO43- initial concentration between 0 – 1000 mg/L was evaluated. These highly porous materials were found to have enhanced PO43- uptake at low concentrations (<100 mg/L) when compared with commercial CaCO3 and MgCO3. The enhanced uptake on HPACC and MMC at low concentration was due to the high surface area and the porosity of these sorbents. The presence of NaCl salt of up to 1000 mg/L had very little effect on the performance of HPACC (<10% decreased uptake capacity), but the PO43- uptake on MMC reduced to close to zero. HPACC with its high PO43- uptake at low concentration could be relevant for real life application of PO43- ions removal from water.