ZeroPhos of Nanjing University is close to Taihu Lake, one of the largest freshwater lakes in China. The lake experiences algal blooms every year, affecting leisure activities and the drinking water supply. While working on another water solution, Professor Yanyang Zhang found that one rare earth element had great potential to treat phosphorus-polluted water. That’s why Yanyang developed a new “Zero Phosphorus” nanocomposite adsorbent using the same rare earth element. This is a unique solution using nanosized hydrated product to attract the phosphorus as the water is run through a fixed bed, polymer matrix.

 

The nanoproduct selectively removes only phosphorus and no other nutrients. The concentrated phosphorus and the nanoparticles can be recovered and reused.