Carpet Application in Phosphate Removal and Recovery as a Polymeric Ligand Exchanger Student:

Wool in carpets is formed by proteins, where many side chains are polar and ionisable, enabling wool to function as a polymeric ligand exchanger. This project has successfully bound either hydrated ferric oxide (HFO) nanoparticles (Figure 1) or a copper(II) salt onto waste carpet to form a sorbent material. The strongest binding was seen after first modifying the carpet by an alkaline oxidation prior to binding the HFO particles. The modified carpets successfully demonstrated the reversible sorption of phosphate anions (Figure 2) by an ion exchange principle.