Enhanced phosphate removal with fine activated alumina synthesized from a sodium aluminate solution: performance and mechanism.

Fine activated alumina (FAA) acting as an adsorbent for phosphate was synthesized from an industrial sodium aluminate solution based on phase evolution from Al(OH) and NHAl(OH)CO. This material was obtained in the form of γ-AlO with an open mesoporous structure and a specific surface area of 648.02 m g.

A green approach of preparation of fine active alumina with high specific surface area from sodium aluminate solution.

Fine active alumina (FAA) with a high specific surface area (SSA) is used in catalysis, adsorbents and other applications. This study presents a novel method of preparing high surface area FAA a phase evolution from gibbsite through ammonium aluminum carbonate hydroxide (AACH) to FAA. Thermodynamic calculations showed that increasing the pH and (NH)CO concentration both promoted the transformation of gibbsite to AACH.