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From human urine to vanadium recovery: Ammonia-mediated precipitation via a urease-integrated membrane contactor.

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Title: From human urine to vanadium recovery: Ammonia-mediated precipitation via a urease-integrated membrane contactor.
Authors: Kim T; Department of Global Smart City, Sungkyunkwan University, 2066 Seobu-ro, Jangan-gu, Suwon, Gyeonggi-do, 16419, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: kimth9510@gmail.com., Nguyen DA; Department of Global Smart City, Sungkyunkwan University, 2066 Seobu-ro, Jangan-gu, Suwon, Gyeonggi-do, 16419, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: nguyenducanh@g.skku.edu., Jang A; Department of Global Smart City, Sungkyunkwan University, 2066 Seobu-ro, Jangan-gu, Suwon, Gyeonggi-do, 16419, Republic of Korea; SKKU Institute Energy of Science Technology (SIEST), Sungkyunkwan University, 2066 Seobu-ro, Jangan-gu, Suwon, Gyeonggi-do, 16419, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: amjang@skku.edu.
Source: Water research [Water Res] 2026 Oct 04; Vol. 308 (Pt C), pp. 127081. Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Oct 04.
Publication Model: Ahead of Print
Publication Type: Journal Article
Language: English
Journal Info: Publisher: Pergamon Press Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 0105072 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1879-2448 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00431354 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Water Res Subsets: MEDLINE
Imprint Name(s): Original Publication: Oxford, Pergamon Press.
Abstract: Vanadium is an important strategic metal used in various industrial sectors. Its growing demand has increased the need for sustainable recovery technologies. Conventional vanadium recovery commonly relies on ammonium-salt-based precipitation. However, this approach depends on externally supplied ammonium salts and generates nitrogen-rich secondary wastewater. In this study, a urease-integrated membrane contactor (MC) process was proposed to use urine-derived nitrogen as an alternative ammonia source for vanadium precipitation. Human urine contains a high concentration of total nitrogen, but a large fraction exists as urea rather than membrane-transferable free molecular ammonia (NH3). The integrated urease step hydrolyzed urea into ammoniacal nitrogen, thereby increasing the pool of NH3 available for membrane transport. Urease treatment increased the feed-side ammonium nitrogen (NH4+-N) concentration from 1,584.75 ± 259.04 mg/L to 11,109.21 ± 776.39 mg/L. This conversion substantially enhanced MC operation, increasing the feed-side NH4+-N removal amount by 6.62-fold compared with that before urease treatment. The transported NH3 increased the stripping-solution pH from 0.91 to 7.37 within 24 h and was protonated to NH4+, which participated in vanadium precipitation. As a result, 81.79% of the initial dissolved vanadium was removed without the addition of external ammonium salts. The recovered precipitate was identified as an ammonium polyvanadate (APV)-type product through solid-phase characterization. These findings demonstrate a waste-to-resource strategy that converts urine-derived nitrogen into a functional reagent for vanadium recovery while reducing reliance on externally supplied ammonium salts.
(Copyright © 2026 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Contributed Indexing: Keywords: Ammonium polyvanadate; Enzymatic urea hydrolysis; Hydrophobic membrane; Metal recovery; Waste-to-resource
Entry Date(s): Date Created: 20261008 Latest Revision: 20261008
Update Code: 20261009
DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2026.127081
PMID: 42849406
Database: MEDLINE
Description
ISSN:1879-2448
DOI:10.1016/j.watres.2026.127081