C76: Mineral-Hydrogel Composites: an Efficient Method of Nutrient Recycling
Presenter(s)
Zhimeng Bao
Faculty research mentor
Minkyoung Jung
Poster/exhibit session
1:00PM - 2:00PM: Poster session C
Acknowledgments
Special thanks to the Summer Undergraduate Research Program held by the Center for the Environment at Washington University and Professor Young-Shin Jun's lab for providing the research opportunity.
Abstract or Description
With mineral-hydrogel composites developed by the Jun Lab (ENCL), a sustainable system to recycle nitrogen and phosphorus from wastewater and use them for algae culture was designed. To test the performance of the system, research on the dynamics with which the mineral-hydrogel composites release nutrients in algae culture was conducted. The results of the research suggest that, after the mineral-hydrogel composites collect phosphate and ammonia in wastewater efficiently, they act as an efficient source to provide nutrients for BG11 culture. During the research, we also found directions to keep improving the hydrogels to reduce the cost of the system and to meet the requirements of more types of algae culture solutions.