A research group led by Professor Toru Nonami of the Faculty of Engineering, Chukyo University has succeeded in developing a new ceramic material "Diopside" (calcium silicate-based ceramics) with extremely high ability to adsorb phosphorus.Since phosphorus is the cause of red tide and algae, it is expected to suppress the growth of algae in the aquarium and recover phosphorus as an industrial material.
According to Chukyo University, diopside was artificially synthesized using the sol-gel method, which is a chemical operation for synthesizing ceramics.When various conditions were set for the synthesis and confirmed, it was found that the phosphorus adsorption capacity was increased when the synthesis was performed at a low temperature of about 650 ° C.Materials that adsorb phosphorus include apatite, zeolite, and natural diopside, but artificially synthesized diopside had an adsorption capacity more than nine times that of these.
Research has continued since around 1988, initially investigating more than 100 minerals for implants that quickly bind to bone in vivo and found that diopside is the best.After that, while researching as an artificial bone material, he started synthesizing diopside by the sol-gel method from around 2008.
Regarding future practical application, Professor Nonami said, "At the stage of basic research, it is necessary to actually evaluate the adsorption capacity of phosphorus in a solution close to rivers and sewers, and continue on-site demonstration experiments and mini-plant experiments." "There is a possibility that it will be applied as a material to suppress the growth of algae in water tanks and as a recovery measure for phosphorus, which is feared to be depleted as a reserve resource," he said.
