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OPEN Evaluation of Chlorella

vulgaris biosorption capacity
for phosphate and nitrate removal
from wastewater
Amany A. Asaad 1* & Amany S. Amer 2
High wastewater production rates during the past few decades are mostly attributable to
anthropogenic activities. The main components leading to the nutrient enrichment of natural water
bodies are such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and other minerals. The main focus of this research was to
assess the ability of using Chlorella vulgaris algae, a potent and environmentally benign material,
to eliminate phosphate and nitrate ions from wastewater. FTIR results showed that the biologically
active molecules that facilitate the binding of phosphate and nitrate ions unto the C. vulgaris are
C=C and N–H amid. The ideal equilibrium time for adsorption was 24 h with an optimum pH of 7 and
the mass ratio of algae and different anions concentration was 80%. Freundlich isotherm model was
the best-fitted isotherm. Moreover, the results of the experiment fit more closely with the pseudo-
second-order kinetic model than other models. Elovich kinetic model data for both ions showed that
the adsorption rate was much higher than the desorption rate. The growing popularity of biosorbents
in treating wastewater has led to an improvement in their affordability and availability, and C.
vulgaris may now represent an environmentally friendly choice from an environmental, and economic
standpoint.

Wastewater contamination of nutrients might become a more serious issue if it is disposed of improperly. This
can have a detrimental influence on the improvement of the environment and people’s quality of life in addition
­ evelopment1. Both phosphate and ammonia can offer seri-
to having significant negative effects on agricultural d
ous health concerns to people involving the possibility of illnesses such methemoglobinemia in young children
despite their presence in wastewater effluents in low amounts ammonia can also be detrimental to aquatic species
including ­fish2. Repeated wastewater disposal in lack of sufficient and suitable treatment may cause serious envi-
ronmental issues. Diverse watery organisms that convert sunlight to energy include algal cells in their structure.
They either have one cell (microalgae) or many (macro algae). Algae don’t have branches, origins, or leaflets like
higher plants d ­ o3. The organisms of the with a size between a few and hundreds of micrometres are known as
microalgae. Microalgae may double their total number of cells in 24 h and have a 12-day exponential growth cycle
with a doubling time of only 35 ­h4. They efficiently absorb nutrients into the body cells and reproduce every few
hours in suitable autotrophic or mixed trophic ­settings5–7. Microalgae and macroalgae possess innate capabilities
to efficiently accumulate nutrients, such as nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), from diverse aquatic environments.
This natural nutrient accumulation enables them to synthesize a diverse array of bioactive compounds, includ-
ing pigments, carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids, thanks to their wide-ranging physiological and biochemical
attributes. These bioactive compounds hold significant potential for various commercial a­ pplications8,9.
A number of investigations are now being done on the utilisation of microalgae cultural systems to treat
industrial, municipal, and agricultural ­wastewaters10–12. Both nourishment encourage the spread of living things
like algae, which in turn supply habitat as well as food for fish, shellfish, and other small water-dwelling crea-
tures. In Malaysia, where a lot of citizens rely on reservoirs as their only source of water for use in drinking and
cooking; and elevated amounts of such nutrients in the water causing ­contamination13. This might potentially
have harmful effect even in low-level c­ ontents14. A few advantages of using algae are that they are at lower cost,
results in valuable biomass which is benefited in many ways and better quality of renewable effluent w ­ ater15. In

1
Inorganic Department, Central Laboratory for Environmental Quality Monitoring (CLEQM), National Water
Research Center (NWRC), Cairo, Egypt. 2Biology and Environmental Indicators Department, Central Laboratory
for Environmental Quality Monitoring (CLEQM), National Water Research Center (NWRC), Cairo, Egypt. *email:
[email protected]

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addition, The metabolic processes and development of algae is greatly affected by phosphorous in addition to
nitrogen. By phosphorylation and nitrogen intake, algae take out elements from a growing environment. The
patterns of nutrient uptake can vary depending on the presence of ­nutrients7. Algae species have demonstrated
variable efficacy as well as effectiveness in removing nitrogen and phosphorus out of different wastewater streams
due to their varying physiology and morphologies. This is in part depends on nitrogen-to-phosphorous (N/P)
ratio, which is vital for the formation of biomass in a variety of algae and the efficient and simultaneous intake
of ­nutrients16. This N/P ratio enables developing algae in wastewater to consistently show a quicker intake of
nitrogen compared to phosphorous. Due to their fast rate of development and excellent adaptation for different
wastewater streams, strains within the genus C. vulgaris have been widely employed and discovered to be ideal
for growth in ­wastewater17. The novelty of this study is the evaluation of a wastewater treatment method using
environmentally friendly, highly productive and cost-effective materials (microalgae C. vulgaris) in removing
nutrients and can then be used as biofertilizer after the treatment ­process18.

Materials and methods

Algae source
Chlorella vulgaris was obtained from the Algae Unit Research, National Research Centre, Egypt. It was used
without any chemical pre-treatment for sorption experimentations (Fig. 1).

Preparation of nitrate and phosphate stock solution

A stock solution of 1000 mg/L nitrate and phosphate ions was prepared using K­ H2PO4 and N
­ aNO3 salts (merck).
A series of different initial concentrations (10–50 mg/l) of nitrate and phosphate working solutions were pre-
pared. The pH of each solution was adjusted to (6.5–8) using 0.1N (HCl) and 0.1N (NaOH) and the pH was
estimated using a pH meter (WTW Inolab pH meter).

Estimation of nitrate and phosphate

The analysis of nitrate and phosphate ions was carried out using an ICs-5000 ion chromatography system
equipped with a conductivity detector the separation process was conducted on an AS19 column (2 × 250 mm
4 µm) with protection from a guard column ag19 (2 × 50 mm 4 µm). The column temperature was maintained at
a constant 35 °C throughout the procedure the mobile phase employed was potassium hydroxide at a flow rate of
1.00 ml ­min−1 and it was generated by an eluent generator (EGC 500). Elution was achieved through a gradient
pump starting with an initial KOH concentration of 10 mM for 0.5 min, the concentration was then gradually
increased to 25 mM over 15.5 min followed by a rapid increase to 35 mM within 0.1 min, this concentration
was held at 350 Mm for 8 min and then adjusted back to the initial composition stabilizing for an additional
10 min. the suppressor used was an ADRS 600 4 mm in size operating in reciprocal mode at 38 Ma. The injec-
tion volume was set at 2 µl and the entire analysis run lasted for 35 min. All ions were identified by comparing

+
C.Vulgaris culture Wastewater sample

100
80
60
Co(mg/l)

40
20
0
0 20 40 60
→ qe(mg/g)

IC Removal capacity of C. vulgaris

Figure 1.  Experimental analysis of wastewater sample.

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retention times with standard solutions. Quantification was based on externally calibrated peak areas and the
concentration range was 5–20 mg ­L−1. All standards were obtained from HACH.

Bio‑sorption parameters affecting nitrate and phosphate removal

Effect of pH
The bio-sorption of nitrate and phosphate by C. vulgaris was studied at different pH values from 6.5 to 8. The
required pH values were modified by 0.1N HCl and 0.1N NaOH s­ olutions19.

Effect of bio‑sorbent mass

Different mass ratios (10%, 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%) of C. vulgaris were added to nitrate and phosphate concentra-
tions of 20 mg ­L−1 at normal pH to determine the optimal mass ratio affecting the adsorption ­process20.

Effect of initial concentration

In the bio-sorption trials, 20 ml of nitrate and phosphate were shaken in different concentrations (10, 20, 30, 40,
and 50 mg ­L−1) with live algae in the ratio (1: 4) at 140 rpm for 24 h. using a shaker. Filtration processes were done
using Wattman no. 42 filter paper and the filtrates were taken and analysed using ion chromatography (ICs500)
to determine the amounts of N ­ O3 and P ­ O4 after adsorption. The amount of N ­ O3 and P ­ O4 ions adsorbed by C.
vulgaris was derived from the following equations:
V
qe = (Co − Ce ) (1)
W

(Co − Ce )
% ions removal = × 100 (2)
Co
where ­Co is the starting point of nitrate and phosphate ions (mg ­L−1), ­Ce is the final balance number of nitrate
and phosphate ions (mg ­L−1), V is the total amount of nitrate and phosphate solution (L), and W is the weight
of the bio-sorbent selected for a­ dsorption5,21.

Effect of contact time

Different contact times (24, 48, and 60 h) were chosen to determine the optimal time affecting ion uptake on
C. vulgaris algae at room temperature at 25 °C and pH 7. The mass ratio of the bio-sorbents (80%), shake speed
140 rpm and the starting nitrate and phosphate ions concentration (20 mg ­L−1) stayed stable in all circumstances.

Adsorption isotherms and kinetics studies

Isotherm and kinetic studies were performed under conditions of 80% adsorbent mass ratio, contact time 24 h,
and pH 7 at room temperature 25 °C. The mechanism of nitrate and phosphate adsorption on C. vulgaris algae
was explained using isotherm models, to calculate the adsorbents performance and investigate their mass transfer
mechanisms Kinetic models were applied, physiosorption is covered by pseudo-first order, chemisorption is
covered by pseudo-second order, and the mass and surface diffusion are predicted by the Elovich kinetic model.

Isothermal models
In adsorbate-adsorbent systems, Eqs. 3 and 4 use the Langmuir isotherm to illustrate monolayer adsorption, while
Eqs. 5 use the Freundlich isotherm to show adsorption occuring on heterogeneous surfaces. In addition, Eq. 6
takes into account the Temkin isotherm model, which states that as the amount of adsorbent surface occupancy
increases, all molecules’ adsorption energies should drop linearly.
Langmuir adsorption equations:
Ce 1 Ce
= + (3)
qe qm KL qm

1
RL = (4)
1 + (1 + KL Co )
where ­qe is the adsorption capacity at equilibrium, ­Ce represents the equilibrium concentrations of nitrate and
phosphate, ­qmax is the maximum adsorption capacity at equilibrium, and ­KL is Langmuir constant which indicates
the adsorption energy. ­Co is the initial concentration of adsorbate and ­RL explains the adsorption preference
of this isotherm and indicates whether the adsorption is irreversible if R­ L = 0, linear if R
­ L = 1, or unfavourable
if ­RL > ­122.
Freundlich adsorption equation:
1
ln qe = ln KF + ln Ce (5)
n
where n is the adsorption intensity and K­ F is the Freundlich isotherm constant used to assess the adsorption
capacity of C. vulgaris. The heterogeneity parameter is 1/n, and a smaller value of 1/n denotes a more hetero-
geneous ­medium23.
Timken adsorption equation:

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qe = βT ln KT + βT ln Ce (6)
where at equilibrium, ­qe is the amount of nitrate and phosphate adsorbed (in mg/g), and ­Ce is the concentration
of nitrate and phosphate in solution (in mg/L). In the formula for the heat of adsorption constant is = RT/b, T is
for the absolute temperature (K), b for the Temkin constant (J/mol), R for the gas constant (8.314 J/mol K), and
K for the Temkin isotherm constant (L/g)24.

Kinetic models
In order to determine the adsorption rate and mechanism, three models (pseudo-first order, pseudo-second
order, and Elovich model) were examined.
(a) Pseudo-first-order equation
 
K1
log(qe − qt ) = log qe − t (7)
2.303
where qe is the quantity of nitrate and phosphate ions attracted by C. vulgaris at balance in (mg/g), qt is the
amount at any given time in (mg/g), and ­K1 is the pseudo-first-order model’s kinetics rate constant ­(min−1)25.
(b) Pseudo-second-order equation
t 1 t
= + (8)
qt K2 qe2 qe
where ­K2 is the kinetics steady-state rate of the pseudo-second-order model (g ­mg−1 ­min−1).
(c) Elovich model equation
The nonlinear and straightforward form of the Elovich kinetic model is expressed by (Eqs. 9, 10) ­respectively26.
qt = β ln(αβt) (9)

1 1
qt = ln(αβt) + ln t (10)
β β
where ­qt (mg/g) is the adsorbate quantity at time t, α is a chemisorption rate constant and β is a constant that
represents the amplitude of surface coverage. α and β can be calculated from the relation between their slope
and intercept by plotting ­qt versus lnt.

Results and discussions

Characterization of C. vulgaris
SEM micrograph
For absolute morphological examinations, the dried sample of C. vulgarise algae was imaged using Scanning Elec-
tron Microscopy (SEM). Analysis of the morphology of green microalgae reveals uneven particle frameworks,
and the outer layer of the cells is wrinkled, porous, and has more fractures, all of which could offer a significant
outer area and a significant number of spots of activity for both anions adsorption (Fig. 2).

FTIR spectral analysis

With respect to modifications in the vibrational frequencies, FTIR analysis was used to differentiate between
the effective compounds found in C. vulgaris before and following phosphate and nitrate ion adsorption. As
shown in (Table 1) where the measured effective groups and the wavenumber ranges were recorded. The band at
3275.07 ­cm−1 related to (N–H) a­ mid27 which was responsible for the binding of phosphate and nitrate ions unto
the C. vulgaris. It was found that bands at1638.74 ­cm−1 and 1527.28 ­cm−1 were related to C=C and δ (N–H) amid
respectively which were responsible for the effective removal of ions as shown in (Figs. 3, 4)28,29.

Figure 2.  Scanning Electron Microscope of C. vulgaris algae.

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Wave number range ­(cm−1) Before adsorption After adsorption Assignment

3029–3639 3275.07 Disappeared N–H amid band
2809–3012 2927.67 Disappeared C=C stretch
1583–1709 1638.05 1636.84 C=C stretch
1481–1585 1527.28 Disappeared Amid δ(N–H) band
1357–1423 1410.18 1422.80 C=C stretch
980–1072 1026.35 1017.17 Polysaccharides C–O–C

Table 1.  Spectral data before and after adsorption for C. vulgaris.

135

125

TRANSMITTANCE (%)
115

105

95

85

75
3700 3150 2600 2050 1500 950 400
WAVE NUMBER (CM-1)

Figure 3.  Infra-red spectra of C. vulgaris algae before phosphate and nitrate removal.

125

115

TRANSMITTANCE (%)
105

95

85

75

65
3900 3400 2900 2400 1900 1400 900 400
WAVE NUMBER (CM-1)

Figure 4.  Infra-red spectra of C. vulgaris algae after phosphate and nitrate removal.

Effect of biosorption parameters

pH
With an opposing attraction according to the relative pH of the liquid form, phosphate and nitrate ions attach to
the binding the out layer of b­ iosorbents30. In the current instance, the removal of nitrates and phosphates with
C. vulgaris was most favored in the pH range of 6.5–8.0. Figure 5 shows that the upper limit of adsorption, for
nitrate was (17.42 mg ­g−1) and the greatest carrying capacity for phosphate was (16.13 mg ­g−1). The elimination
of both anions was slightly less at pH 8 than it was at pH 7. Because of the intensive competition with OH ions
in the anions solution at the higher pH, the lower reduction in phosphate and nitrate at the higher pH level can
lead to a poor affinity of ions towards the adsorption sites of C. vulgaris ­algae31. At lower and higher pH values,

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100
90

Removal %
80
70
60
6.5 7.5 8.5
pH values
Nitrate Phosphate

Figure 5.  Removal efficiency of phosphate and nitrate at different pH using C. vulgaris.

the sorption efficiency was significantly reduced. The majority of the sites are negatively charged at pH less than
7, which increased the repulsion effect and reduced the number of anions that could be a­ dsorbate32,33.

Bio‑sorbent dose
As depicted in Fig. 6, the concentration of two adsorbed anions increased as the dose of C. vulgaris’s variously
concentrated solutions was increased from 10 to 80% (20 mg L ­ −1). As a result of the increased adsorbent dose,
there were more responsive spots and outer layer patches accessible to the ions to bind t­ o34,35. As the dosage was
raised, the amount of phosphate and nitrate that C. vulgaris was able to adsorb per unit mass decreased due to an
excess of accessible sorption sites after the anions had completely been adsorbed into the solution. The decreasing
trend may possibly be related to the concentration gradient’s splitting ­effect36.

Contact time
There is a swift and substantial initial absorption of phosphates and nitrates from wastewater within the initial
24-h period is depicted in the kinetic profile (Fig. 7) of the process while at 60 h of contact time, the gradient
begins to decline. As the anions are adsorbed onto the Chlorella surface, as the adsorption process continues, the
number of available adsorption sites decreases, leading to a gradual flattening of the slope in the adsorption rate
lowers, explaining why the initial uptake occurs more ­quickly37,38. All subsequent experiments were conducted
at 24 h contact time.

Phosphates and nitrates initial concentrations

It proved that since the original phosphate and nitrate ions content grew, so did the C. vulgaris algae’s ability
for absorption. The test applied a variety of anion contents (between 10 and 50 mg ­L−1). The starting concentra-
tion of 10 mg ­L−1 was having the lowest adsorb observed, while the concentration of 50 mg ­L−1 was the greatest

100.0%
80.0%
Removal %

60.0%
40.0%
20.0%
0.0%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%
Adsorbent Dose raos.

Nitrate Phosphate

Figure 6.  Removal efficiency of phosphate and nitrate at different doses of C. vulgaris.

100.00%
Removal %

80.00%

60.00%
20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70
Time (hours)

Nitrate Phosphate

Figure 7.  Removal efficiency of phosphate and nitrate at different times using C. vulgaris.

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adsorption. The initially measured phosphate concentration increased, while the percentage of anions removed
dropped (Fig. 8). Because the original amounts of phosphate and nitrate ions increasing, there was a rise in the
moles ratio of these ions to the algae’s reachable outer layer, which resulted in a reduced clearance ­percentage39.
Since the biosorbent material dose was fixed in the current case, the number of anions spots of adsorption on
the algae remained constant lowering the percentage of phosphate and nitrate ions clearance by raising their
initial ­concentration30.

Adsorption isotherms
For adsorption study, the adsorption isotherms have significance because they express the link within the absor-
bent quantity and its accumulation on the exterior of the adsorbent and calculate the adsorbent’s capability
for biosorption. The experimental data were fitted utilising the linear forms of the Langmuir, Freundlich, and
Timken isotherms in order to assess the performance of C. vulgaris algae at 25 °C; the resulting plots depicted
in Fig. 9a–c. Table 2 displays the C. vulgaris algae’s phosphate and nitrate adsorption isotherm ratios which were
identified using the isotherm plots. The data from experiments that have the highest correlation coefficient values
are compatible with the Freundlich isotherm. A heterogeneous adsorption procedure might be utilised to clarify
the manner in which the results on phosphate and nitrate adsorption conform to Freundlich isotherm brought
on by multilayer adsorption as well as the exponential distribution of adsorbent active sites and their energies
towards the phosphate and nitrate ions onto the surface of the a­ lgae40. The maximum adsorption capacity (­ Qmax)
of phosphate and nitrate calculated by the function was 250 and 384.6 mg ­g−1 respectively. The value of 1/n = 1
and 0.89 for nitrate and phosphate respectively, while n = 1.2 and 1.1 indicate that the sorption of phosphate

100

80

60
Co(mg/l)

40

20

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
qe(mg/g)
Nitrate Phosphate

Figure 8.  Removal capacity of C. vulgaris at different concentrations of phosphate and nitrate ions.

(a) (b)
0.3
6
0.2
4
Ce/qe

ln qe

0.1 2

0 0
0 5 10 15 20 0 1 2 3 4
Ce ln Ce
Nitrate Phosphate Nitrate Phosphate

(c)
100.0

50.0
qe

0.0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5
ln Ce
Nitrate Phosphate

Figure 9.  (a) Langmuir, (b) Freundlich, and (c) Timken isotherms for phosphate and nitrate adsorption unto
C. vulgaris.

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Adsorption isotherms Adsorption parameters Phosphate ions Nitrate ions

Qmax (mg/g) 250 384.6
KL (L/mg) 0.03 0.015
Langmuir
RL 0.76 0.87
R2 0.98 0.98
KF(mg/g) 6.13 8.96
1/n 0.89 0.82
Freundlich
n 1.11 1.23
R2 0.99 1.00
βT 35.99 35.05
Temkin KT (L/mg) 2.23 1.67
R2 0.97 0.96

Table 2.  Isotherms results of adsorbed ions unto C. vulgaris.

and nitrate ions unto C. vulgaris is favorable and the value of ­R2 = 1 and 0.99 for nitrate and phosphate ions
respectively indicating that C. vulgaris was a favorable biosorbent to remove phosphate and nitrate ions from
aqueous ­solutions41.

Kinetic models
Using pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order, and Elovich kinetic models, the kinetic adsorption of phosphate
and nitrate ions with C. vulgaris was investigated. The relationship between the number of empty sites and the
number of occupied adsorbent sorption sites is made clearer by the pseudo-first-order kinetic m ­ odel42. Figure 10a
shows the linear relation between ln (­ qe − ­qt) against time and then rate constant k­ 1 is measured. According to
the pseudo-second-order kinetic model depicted in Fig. 10b, a relationship between the adsorbent’s capacity for
adsorption and time can be formed. By calculating the slope and intercept of the linear plot of t/qt against ­time43,
one may get the rate constants ­k2 and q­ e. Similar to how the Elovich kinetic model is used, the plot of q ­ t against
ln t yields a straight line from which the values of α and b may be calculated based on the slope and intercept, as
shown in Fig. 10c. With regard to the other models, the pseudo-second-order kinetic model provided an excel-
lent match to the results of the experiment in which R ­ 2 > 0.99 (near the unity) and also gives higher q
­ e values for
both phosphate and nitrate ions. The Elovich kinetic model data of both ions showed that the adsorption rate

(a) (b)

2 3
1.5
log (qe-qt)

2
t/qt

1
1
0.5
0 0
0 20 40 60 80 0 20 40 60
Time( min). Time (min.)

NO3 PO4 NO3 PO4

(c) 40

20
qt

0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5
ln t
NO3 PO4

Figure 10.  (a) Pseudo-first-order, (b) Pseudo-second-order, and (c) Elovich kinetic models for phosphate and
nitrate adsorption unto C. vulgaris.

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(α, mg/g.min) is much higher than the desorption rate (β, g/mg)44. All results of the applied kinetic models are
shown in Table 3.

Treatment application with real wastewater sample

The remediation process which is done by algae as a microorganism is known as phytoremediation. One of the
algal species which take place in this bioremediation technique is C. vulgais15. Although it is difficult to compare
the effect of algal culture in wastewater treatment, various studies have demonstrated that algal formation can
support nutrient removal in w ­ astewater8 The selected agricultural wastewater sample was provided from the
El-Rahawy drain known with its detectable concentrations of ammonia and phosphate. The wastewater sample
was stored in a plastic container at 4 °C. The optimum conditions of pH, contact time and concentrations were
considered. In the Sample, the phosphate ions concentration was 4.54 mg ­L−1 and for nitrate ions concentration
was 25 mg ­L−1. The removal efficiency of C. vulgaris after the adsorption of ­PO4 and N
­ O3 was 53.74% and 88.4%
respectively (Fig. 11).

Conclusion
The purpose of the research was to determine the removal efficiency of C. vulgaris for both phosphate and nitrate
ions which is decreased with increasing the initial concentration. Different effective parameters pH, adsorbent
doses, contact time, and different initial concentrations were measured to select the optimum conditions under
which the adsorption occurred. The results of the experiment showed that the optimum equilibrium time for
adsorption was 24 h with an optimum pH of 7 and the mass ratio of algae and different anions concentration
was 80%. According to FTIR investigation, the groups with functional properties like carboxylic, amid, and car-
bonyl (C=C and N–H amid), may be implicated in the reaction, ion complexation among anions and C. vulgaris
may happen in the biosorption process. The impacts of all the variables on the anions adsorption were carefully
assessed and the outcomes of the experiment fit the Freundlich adsorption isotherm model well. This shows that
heterogeneity adsorption has the highest rates of 250 and 384.6 mg ­g−1 phosphate and nitrate, respectively. The
values of ­R2 = 1 and 0.99 for nitrate and phosphate ions respectively. Indicating the chemical adsorption process,
the pseudo-second order kinetic model fit the data well than other models with R ­ 2 > 0.99 and higher q
­ e values
of 24.75 and 31.08 mg ­g−1 for both phosphate and nitrate ions, respectively. Elovich kinetic model data for both

Kinetic models Phosphate ions Nitrate ions

R2 = 0.800 R2 = 0.970
Pseudo-first-order qe = 1.47 mg/g qe = 1.09 mg/g
K1 = 0.035 ­min−1 ­ in−1
K1 = 0.028 m
R2 = 0.998 R2 = 0.0.995
Pseudo-second-order qe = 24.75 mg/g qe = 31.05 mg/g
K2 = 0.05 g/mg min K2 = 0.04 g/mg min
R2 = 0.91 R2 = 0.92
qt = 19.44 mg/g qt = 24.17 mg/g
Elovich
­ in−1
α = 7.79 mg/g m ­ in−1
α = 9.68 mg/g m
β = 0.12 g/mg β = 0.15 g/mg

Table 3.  Kinetic results of adsorbed ions unto C. vulgaris.

Figure 11.  Analysis of wastewater samples prior to and post phosphate and nitrate adsorption unto C. vulgaris.

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ions showed that the adsorption rate (α, mg/g min) was much higher than the desorption rate (β, g/mg). The
experimental findings suggest that C. vulgaris may be used as a biosorbent for phosphate and nitrate ions in
wastewater. Thus, it can be concluded that C. vulgaris can be effectively employed for the removal of phosphate
and nitrate from the surface water.

Recommendation
According to results of C. vulgaris removal capacity for nutrients, the future object is it can be use as alternate
source for agricultural sectors in reducing the usage of harmful chemical fertilizers.

Data availability
The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding
author on reasonable request.

Received: 19 September 2023; Accepted: 24 December 2023

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Author contributions
A.A.A. and A.S.A. designed the study, performed the laboratory work at CLEQM wrote the main manuscript
text. A.A.A. prepared figures and tables. Both authors reviewed the manuscript.

Funding
Open access funding provided by The Science, Technology & Innovation Funding Authority (STDF) in coopera-
tion with The Egyptian Knowledge Bank (EKB).

Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information
Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to A.A.A.
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