Paving the chemical pathway from waste to resource

Phosphate as a pollutant in a complex water matrix is transformed to a resource
using engineered, phosphate selective sorbents to close the phosphorus cycle. We wish to design the optimum, sustainable filter material by understanding the
phosphate removal pathway on the atomic level under environmental conditions for strategic design of phosphate selective sorbents. Our sorbent is based on layered double hydroxides (LDH) anchored on a porous support and will be tested in several water matrices (rain, lake and wastewater) as a function of phosphate concentration, chemical condition. This is achieved by testing the sorbents under realistic condition and in close collaboration with the end-user. The project combines targeted inorganic synthesis, ecology, advanced characterization incl. solid state and hyperpolarized 129Xe NMR, analytical chemistry (adsorption studies) by an interdisciplinary research team spanning chemistry, biology, physics and a wastewater company.