Removal of phosphate from coating wastewater using magnetic Fe-Cu bimetal oxide modified fly ash

In this work, magnetic Fe-Cu bimetal oxide modified fly ash was used to remove phosphate from coating wastewater. The influences of pH, dosage amount and adsorption time on the removal of phosphate were investigated. The experimental results showed that pH had a significant effect on the adsorption of phosphate. The removal percentage of phosphate reached a maximum at pH 10. The removal efficiency of phosphate increased with the increase in adsorbent dosage. A kinetic study showed that the phosphate adsorption was well described by a pseudo second order model. The adsorption isotherm of phosphate could be described by the Langmuir model and Freundlich model. The Langmuir maximum capacity Q(0) was 12.69 mg/g and the value of n of the Freundlich model was 3.82. The experimental results indicated that magnetic Fe-Cu bimetal oxide modified fly ash was a potential adsorbent for the removal of phosphate from the wastewater.