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Ammonia recovery from nitrate-rich wastewater using a membrane-free electrochemical system

Nature Sustainability volume 7, pages 1251–1263 (2024)Cite this article

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Abstract

Electrocatalytic nitrate reduction has great potential for simultaneously achieving ammonia recovery and nitrate-rich wastewater treatment. However, the complexity of wastewater matrices has long hampered its implementation and commercialization in the wastewater treatment industry. Here we develop a membrane-free electrochemical system, called electrochemical NO3− conversion synchronized with NH3 recovery (ECSN), which synchronizes nitrate reduction with ammonia recovery for treating real nitrate-rich wastewater. Key components of this system include a 3D-printed metallic glass decorated Cu–Ni (MPCN) working electrode bearing good corrosion resistance and a UV-assisted stripping unit. When treating real electroplating wastewater, the ECSN system converts over 70% of nitrate into high-purity ammonia chloride. Long-term stability test demonstrates the robustness of the ECSN system in treating real wastewater. Further, the economic feasibility and environmental benefits of this system are evidenced by technoeconomic analysis and life-cycle analysis. Overall, this work brings the electrocatalytic nitrate reduction process one step closer to practical application, contributing to both environmental protection and the circularity of anthropogenic nitrogen flow.

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Fig. 1: Typical examples for solving nitrate problems across the water system.
Fig. 2: Preparation and characterization of MPCN.
Fig. 3: ENRR performance with MPCN electrode.
Fig. 4: Electrochemical stability of the MPCN electrode.
Fig. 5: Electrochemical recovery of NH3–N from electroplating wastewater.
Fig. 6: LCA and TEA assessment of the ECSN.

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Data availability

All data generated for this study are available in the paper and the Supplementary Information. Source experimental data are available via figshare (https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.26134027)50.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 52221004 to H.L., 22022606 to G. Zhang). We thank B. Xu and Y. Wang from Tongji University for their helpful suggestions with in situ DEMS measurement, L. Liu from Nanjing University for assistance in DFT calculation, and B. Zhang from Beijing University of Science and Technology for help in the 3D printing process. We thank F. Xu from Suzhou Suwater Environmental Science and Technology Co., Ltd for the real electroplating wastewater treatment.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Gong Zhang, Binggong Li.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Water and Ecology, State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

    Gong Zhang, Binggong Li, Yanfeng Shi, Jun Ma, Shiyu Miao, Qinghua Ji, Jiuhui Qu & Huijuan Liu

  2. School of Management, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China

    Qi Zhou

  3. Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China

    Qi Zhou

  4. College of Environment and Resources, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin, China

    Wen-Jie Fu

  5. Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resource Development on Shallow Lake of Ministry of Education, College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing, China

    Gang Zhou

  6. Department of Mechanical, Manufacturing and Biomedical Engineering, Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Shuo Yin & Weihao Yuan

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Contributions

H.L. directed the project. G. Zhang designed the experiments. G. Zhang, J.M. and B.L. performed materials synthesis, beach-scale degradation experiments and electrochemical experiments. B.L., Q.J. and Y.S. analysed the results of FTIR and DEMS experiments. S.Y. and W.Y. performed the physics-based modelling approach for the 3D printing process. S.M. and B.L. performed the resourceful treatment on a real electroplating wastewater. G. Zhou and W.-J.F. carried out and analysed the DFT calculations. Q.Z., G. Zhang, B.L. and J.M. performed LCA analysis. G. Zhang, B.L., Y.S., W.-J.F., G. Zhou, Q.J. and J.Q. wrote the paper.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Gang Zhou or Huijuan Liu.

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Nature Sustainability thanks Huiyuan Zhu and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Zhang, G., Li, B., Shi, Y. et al. Ammonia recovery from nitrate-rich wastewater using a membrane-free electrochemical system. Nat Sustain 7, 1251–1263 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-024-01406-7

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