Preparation of mesoporous zirconia ceramic fibers modified by dual surfactants and their phosphate adsorption characteristics

Phosphate removal is an essential measure in controlling the eutrophication of water. In this work, the electrospinning mesoporous zirconia fibers with high surface area were prepared and used as adsorbents to remove phosphate in aqueous solutions for the first time. The electrospinning mesoporous zirconia fibers which had large surface area and uniform pore size were prepared by the use of ammonium lauryl sulfate (ALS) and triblock co-polymer Pluronic (P-123) as dual surfactants. The morphology and composite were represented by XRD, TGA/DTA, FT-IR, SEM, and TEM. The specific surface area and pore properties of fibers were investigated by nitrogen adsorption-desorption method. These mesoporous zirconia fibers performed an outstanding phosphate adsorption ability whose maximum adsorption capacity could reach 222.79 mg/g, meanwhile, a nice cycle performance was also observed as the removal rate could remain 92.5% after 5 cycles on the initial concentration of 30 mg/L. The Freundlich model and the pseudo-second-order kinetic model were both fitted with the adsorption data properly. Besides, the fibers also performed a nice ability in anti-interference against the changes of solution pH value and co-existing ions. Thus, the prepared mesoporous zirconia fibers would be a potential adsorbent of phosphate removal process under the conditions of actual wastewater treatment, with the advantages of the excellent adsorption efficiency, low in production cost, high repeatable utilization and environment friendly.