Nutrient removal from wastewater by corn straw and its fertilization potential

Nutrient removal from wastewater by corn straw and its fertilization potential | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Nutrient removal from wastewater by corn straw and its fertilization potential Rui Cai, Wenbo Luo, Tao Yang, Haibo Jiang, Xueyuan Bai, Chunguang He This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8762266/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Revision Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract In northern rural China, the uncontrolled disposal of corn straw and domestic wastewater have posed a serious challenge to the ecological environment, whereas studies of their combined and efficient treatment remain relatively limited. In this study, a bucket-scale constructed wetland system was established to jointly treat corn straw and domestic wastewater, aiming to investigate the effects of corn straw on nitrogen and phosphorus removal under different operational conditions and its decomposition and adsorption behaviors during wastewater treatment to assess its potential for fertilizer-oriented resource utilization. We found under the medium-concentration wastewater with crushed corn straw, pollutant removal was highest (≈70%) but declined markedly after day 8; meanwhile, wastewater conditions increased straw decomposition by ~20% and enhanced adsorption of total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP). EEM analysis revealed a significant increase in the proportion of biodegradable organic components. And structural characterization showed pronounced disruption of cellulose crystalline regions and their associated functional groups. Therefore, corn straw can effectively remove nitrogen and phosphorus from water while exhibiting considerable potential for fertilizer-oriented resource utilization, providing a scientific basis for the synergistic treatment of agricultural residues and water pollutants in northern rural regions. Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences Earth and environmental sciences/Hydrology Corn stalk Carbon source release Nitrogen and phosphorus removal Fertilization potential Resource recycling Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files SupplementarymaterialCR.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Revision Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 16 Apr, 2026 Reviews received at journal 06 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 14 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 01 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 18 Feb, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 13 Feb, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 13 Feb, 2026 Editor invited by journal 13 Feb, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 12 Feb, 2026 First submitted to journal 12 Feb, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8762266","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":591090349,"identity":"555606fa-bf8c-4520-b870-2dc99716860f","order_by":0,"name":"Rui Cai","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Northeast Normal University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Rui","middleName":"","lastName":"Cai","suffix":""},{"id":591090350,"identity":"36904a4f-c501-4e3d-aaec-cd63c60d3fc2","order_by":1,"name":"Wenbo Luo","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Northeast Normal 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