FAU Develops a New Weapon Against Algal Blooms

Published on 17 February 2025 at 14:33

This month I will be reviewing an article on FAU's new technology which prevents harmful algal blooms. Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are increasing globally, driven largely by high nitrogen-to-phosphorus (N:P) ratios in water bodies, making phosphorus a key contributor. FAU researchers attempted to solve this issue by removing the phosphorus from the water.

Here are some notes that I took:

The FAU team used blue-green algae from Florida's Lake Okeechobee and turned it into custom adsorbent materials
The adsorbent materials were enhanced with lanthanum chloride or zinc chloride to boost phosphorus removal efficiency
The best-performing material removed 90% of phosphorus in 30 minutes using just 0.2g per liter of water
Researchers highlight this as a scalable, eco-friendly solution to reduce phosphorus, mitigate HABs, and protect water quality and aquatic ecosystems

Thank you for tuning in and come back next month for another post!

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