ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Phosphorus and Nitrogen Removal Using
Novel Porous Bricks Incorporated
with Wastes and Minerals
Dungang Gu, Xianzheng Zhu, Toulavanh Vongsay, Minsheng Huang,
Li Song, Yan He
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Shanghai Key Laboratory of Urbanization and Ecological Restoration,
School of Resources and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2013;22(5):1349-1356
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
In this study, wastes and minerals were incorporated into the production of bricks as a kind of water-
purifying substrate. The brick contained 72% clay, 10% bagasse, 10% steel slag, 5% zeolite, and 3% calcite
by weight. The brick exhibited highly and hierarchically porous structure. It can remove phosphate and ammo-
nium simultaneously from aqueous solutions with the maximum adsorption amount of 3.8 mg/g for phosphate
and 0.7 mg/g for ammonium. Kinetic analysis showed that the brick had a faster removal rate for phosphate
than ammonium. The maximum desorbability of phosphate and ammonium were found to be 5.9% and
13.9%, respectively. Considering wastes recycling, easy fabrication, and favorable properties, this type of
brick has the potential to be applied to in-situ remediation of aquatic environment.