Engineering MgFe-Layered Double Hydroxide/Biochar Composites from Date Palm Residues for Enhanced Removal of Nitrate, Ammonium, and Phosphate from Aqueous Solutions
4 affiliations
- 1Eco-Environmental Protection Research Institute, Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shanghai 201403, China
- 2Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Low-Carbon Agriculture, Shanghai 201403, China
- 3Department of Soils and Water, Faculty of Agriculture, Benha University, Benha 13736, Egypt
- 4Department of Soils and Water, Faculty of Agriculture, New Valley University, New Valley 72511, Egypt
Abstract
Excessive N and P discharges into aquatic environments contribute to water pollution and eutrophication. Thus, there is an urgent need for low-cost and sustainable adsorbents for contaminant removal. In this study, biochar was prepared from date palm fronds, leaves, and pits through slow pyrolysis followed by MgFe-LDH modification at a Mg/Fe molar ratio of 3:1. The FTIR results demonstrate that the MgFe-LDH modification added more hydroxyl groups, interlayer carbonate species, and metal–oxygen bonds. The removal efficiency of the investigated nutrients increased considerably with increasing sorbent dosage, with MgFe-LDH modification being most effective. Generally, sorption followed typical hyperbolic adsorption patterns, approaching equilibrium after 120–180 min. Both Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms adequately described nutrient sorption on unmodified biochars, while the Freundlich model provided a better fit on MgFe-LDH. LDH/BC derived from pits exhibited excellent adsorption capacities, i.e., 105 mg/g for NO3-, 103 mg/g for NH4+, and 135 mg/g for PO43-. Pseudo-second-order kinetics best described NH4+ adsorption, while both pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order models were well fitted to NO3- and PO43- adsorption. Overall, MgFe-LDH modification offers a promising engineering strategy for converting date palm residues into multifunctional adsorbents and offers insight into the design of waste-derived materials for nutrient recovery and eutrophication control.
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BibTeX
@article{zhang2026engineering,
title = {{Engineering MgFe-Layered Double Hydroxide/Biochar Composites from Date Palm Residues for Enhanced Removal of Nitrate, Ammonium, and Phosphate from Aqueous Solutions}},
author = {Xu Zhang and Jiaming Guo and Li Zhou and Yong Xue and Mohamed H. H. Abbas and Mohammed E. Younis and Mohamed S. Shaban and Ahmed A. Abdelhafez and Naxin Cui},
journal = {Inorganics},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/inorganics14110273},
url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6740/14/11/273},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Engineering MgFe-Layered Double Hydroxide/Biochar Composites from Date Palm Residues for Enhanced Removal of Nitrate, Ammonium, and Phosphate from Aqueous Solutions
AU - Xu Zhang
AU - Jiaming Guo
AU - Li Zhou
AU - Yong Xue
AU - Mohamed H. H. Abbas
AU - Mohammed E. Younis
AU - Mohamed S. Shaban
AU - Ahmed A. Abdelhafez
AU - Naxin Cui
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/24
JO - Inorganics
DO - 10.3390/inorganics14110273
UR - https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6740/14/11/273
AB - Excessive N and P discharges into aquatic environments contribute to water pollution and eutrophication. Thus, there is an urgent need for low-cost and sustainable adsorbents for contaminant removal. In this study, biochar was prepared from date palm fronds, leaves, and pits through slow pyrolysis followed by MgFe-LDH modification at a Mg/Fe molar ratio of 3:1. The FTIR results demonstrate that the MgFe-LDH modification added more hydroxyl groups, interlayer carbonate species, and metal–oxygen bonds. The removal efficiency of the investigated nutrients increased considerably with increasing sorbent dosage, with MgFe-LDH modification being most effective. Generally, sorption followed typical hyperbolic adsorption patterns, approaching equilibrium after 120–180 min. Both Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms adequately described nutrient sorption on unmodified biochars, while the Freundlich model provided a better fit on MgFe-LDH. LDH/BC derived from pits exhibited excellent adsorption capacities, i.e., 105 mg/g for NO3-, 103 mg/g for NH4+, and 135 mg/g for PO43-. Pseudo-second-order kinetics best described NH4+ adsorption, while both pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order models were well fitted to NO3- and PO43- adsorption. Overall, MgFe-LDH modification offers a promising engineering strategy for converting date palm residues into multifunctional adsorbents and offers insight into the design of waste-derived materials for nutrient recovery and eutrophication control.
SN - 2304-6740
ER -