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This study aimed to assess the impacts of organic loading rate (OLR) (435–870 mgCOD/L·d) on nutrients recovery via a double-chamber microbial fuel cell (MFC) for treating domestic wastewater. Electricity generation was also explored at different OLRs, including power density and coulombic efficiency. Experimental results suggested the MFC could successfully treat municipal wastewater with over 90% of organics being removed at a wider range of OLR from 435 to 725 mgCOD/L·d. Besides, the maximum power density achieved in the MFC was 253.84 mW/m2 at the OLR of 435 mgCOD/L·d. Higher OLR may disrupt the recovery of PO43−-P and NH4+-N via the MFC. The same pattern was observed for the coulombic efficiency of the MFC and its highest value was 25.01% at the OLR of 435 mgCOD/L·d. It can be concluded that nutrients and electrical power can be simultaneously recovered from municipal wastewater via the dual-chamber MFC.

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is currently considered a promising technology for wastewater treatment. This study aims to evaluate the feasibility of a double-chamber MFC in terms of: (i) operating mode (batch mode, self-circulation mode, single-continuous mode) of anolyte on the nutrient accumulation in the catholyte, (ii) aeration conditions (anode effluent with aeration supplied in catholyte; anode effluent without aeration supplied in catholyte; cathode effluent with aeration supplied in catholyte and cathode effluent without aeration supplied in catholyte) on the nutrient recovery and (iii) types of separators (cation exchange membrane (CEM), forward osmosis (FO), and nonwoven (NW)) to remove nutrients toward their recovery from municipal wastewater. Results showed that there was no negligible increase in the phosphate concentration of the catholyte at the three different modes but accumulation of ammonium. At different aeration conditions, nutrients can be recovered by chemical precipitation at high pH generated by the MFC itself. Basically, phosphate was removed by microbial absorption and recovered by chemical precipitation while ammonium was accumulated by current generation and recovered as precipitates. It was found that double-chamber MFC with the CEM as the separator reported the best nutrients removal with >97.58% of NH4+-N and >94.9% of PO43−-P removed/recovered, followed by the MFC with the nonwoven and FO membrane, respectively. Thus, the double-chamber MFC is feasible for recovering nutrients in a comprehensive bioelectrochemical system.

A novel La-incorporated nanostructured ternary (hydr)oxides adsorbent (MALZ) was prepared and employed for enhanced phosphate removal in this study. The results of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) indicated that MALZ presented an amorphous surface with Mg, Al and La homogeneously dispersed on the outer region of zeolite. Effective phosphate removal was obtained over a wide pH range of 4–10 and the equilibrium pH after phosphate adsorption was in near neutrality. A relatively fast adsorption of phosphate was observed in the kinetics experiment, and the maximum adsorption capacity of MALZ (12.5 wt% La) was determined at 80.8 mg P/g at pH 6.6 in the equilibrium adsorption isotherm study. The coexisting anions (e.g., Cl−, SO42− and NO3−) had insignificant effects on phosphate adsorption. The adsorption–desorption experiment suggested that MALZ could be regenerated by 0.5 M NaOH solution and maintained 75.8% of its initial phosphate adsorption capacity at the fourth adsorption–desorption cycle. The combined results of zeta potential analysis, SEM, XRD and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy demonstrated that electrostatic attraction, ligand exchange of surface hydroxyl groups by phosphate and the complexation of forming inner-sphere complex (LaPO4·xH2O) were the main adsorption mechanisms. Furthermore, La played a key role in the complexation of phosphate, while the introduction of Mg and Al further facilitated the dispersion of La and enhanced the surface charge of the adsorbent.

The magnesia–pullulan composite (MgOP) achieved effective fluoride removal in previous research. In the present study, an acid-base titration experiment was conducted to investigate the properties of MgOP surface and further explore the mechanism of fluoride adsorption on MgOP. Results showed that the presence of chloride ions could improve fluoride adsorption on MgOP; however, additional nitrate ions had negligible impacts. A diffuse layer model and chemical equilibrium software (Visual MINTEQ 3.1) were used to simulate the acid-base titration data. The effects of initial pH values on the rate of fluoride uptake by MgOP were also studied. Moreover, aluminum salts were added to the fluoride solution with MgOP for the pH neutralization of treated water, in which aluminum chloride was preferred.

Wastewater has been investigated as a source for nutrient recovery for two reasons: firstly it contains a high concentration of nutrients; and secondly, it exists in large quantities. Recovering nutrient from wastewater can minimize the environmental footprint of wastewater treatment; simultaneously, the recovered nutrient can be added to fertilizer production to ensure food security. The membrane technique integrated with chemical and biological processes as a membrane hybrid system is a promising method to recover nutrient from wastewater since the membrane can enrich nutrient. It can subsequently increase the technical and economic feasibility of the nutrient recovery process. For this reason, this paper comprehensively and critically reviews the current state of the membrane hybrid system for nutrient recovery from wastewater. Membrane hybrid systems consisting of membrane-based hybrid systems and membrane bioreactor (MBR)-based hybrid systems are explained with reference to their general features, such as mechanisms and processes. Furthermore the advantages and challenges of the membrane hybrid systems are compared as well as their economic feasibility. Future research avenues into membrane hybrid systems are suggested and what can the system more accessible.

Nitrogen removal is crucial in wastewater treatment process as excessive nitrogen content could result in eutrophication and degradation of aquatic ecosystems. Moreover, to satisfy the fast-growing need of fertilizers due to an increase in human population, recovering nitrogen from wastewater is of the most sustainable approach. Currently, the membrane technique integrated with biological processes namely bio-membrane based integrated system (BMIS) is a promising technology for recovering nitrogen from wastewater, including osmotic membrane bioreactors, bioelectrochemical systems and membrane photobioreactors. In this review study, the nitrogen recovery in different BMHSs, the role of operational parameters and the nitrogen recovery mechanism were discussed. Apart from this, the implementation of nitrogen recovery at pilot- and full-scale was summarized. Perspectives on the major challenges and recommendations of the BMIS for the nitrogen recovery in wastewater treatment were proposed, in which the integrated technologies and more scale-up studies regarding nitrogen recovery by the BMISs were also highlighted and recommended.

The world’s increasing population means that more food production is required. A more sustainable supply of fertilizers mainly consisting of phosphate is needed. Due to the rising consumption of scarce resources and limited natural supply of phosphate, the recovery of phosphate and their re-use has potentially high market value. Sewage has high potential to recover a large amount of phosphate in a circular economy approach. This paper focuses on utilization of biological process integrated with various subsequent processes to concentrate and recycle phosphate which are derived from liquid and sludge phases. The phosphate accumulation and recovery are discussed in terms of mechanism and governing parameters, recovery efficiency, application at plant-scale and economy.

A magnesia-pullulan composite (MgOP) was prepared by chemical sol-gel method and utilized for the simultaneous removal of fluoride and phosphate in a continuous fixed-bed column. A series of dynamic adsorption experiments were conducted to explore the impacts of different factors on the dynamic adsorption of fluoride and phosphate in the single- and binary-adsorbate systems, including bed mass, flow rate, temperature, inlet adsorbate concentration, influent pH and coexisting anions. The results demonstrated that the adsorption capacities of fluoride and phosphate ions were 6.21 and 7.76 mg/g, respectively, at the optimal conditions (i.e., 6 g of bed mass and 0.48 L/h of flow rate), when influent fluoride and phosphate concentrations were fixed at 10 mg/L. An increased bed mass had a negative effect on the simultaneous adsorption of fluoride and phosphate on MgOP. In contrast, increasing the volumetric flow rate facilitated the removal of fluoride and phosphate from an aqueous solution in the binary-adsorbate system. Besides, the MgOP can be effectively regenerated by calcination with high stability. The column adsorption of fluoride and phosphate in the binary-adsorbate system were well described by the Thomas model. In conclusion, the present study provides insight into the simultaneous removal of fluoride and phosphate through adsorption.

The recovery of fertilizer-used nutrients from wastewater is a sustainable approach for wastewater management and helping social sustainability. This is especially the case given the strict discharge requirements and shortages existing in nutrients supply. Recognizing that wastewater is a very useful resource and the value of recycled nutrients has made researchers consider the recovery of nutrients from wastewater. This review described the current technologies used to recover nutrients in wastewater treatment and their mechanisms, including chemical methods, biological technologies, membrane systems and advanced membrane systems. Also, an economic analysis of these nutrient recovery systems was discussed and compared them in terms of positive and negative aspects. The economic feasibility of recovered nutrients was investigated. Finally, future perspectives expects some possible research directions regarding recovery system which can be more economically accessible for wastewater treatment, in which the osmotic membrane bioreactors (OMBR) and bioelectrochemical systems (BES)-based hybrid systems are highly recommended.