Development of multimetal binding model and application to binary metal biosorption onto peat biomass

Determination of adsorption characteristics of synthetic NaX nanoparticles

Zeolite nanoparticles were synthesized by means of a hydrothermal method and the sorption performances were tested in batch experiments using single and binary components of Pb²⁺, Ni²⁺and Cu²⁺ synthetic solutions. Fast adsorption was observed and the majority of sorption occurred within the first 5 min for each case of metal cations. Percentage metal removal increased with the adsorbent dosage and it was adversely affected by the initial metal concentrations. XRD, FTIR-ATR and XPS analyses revealed that the removal of metal ions occurred mainly on the basis of ion-exchange. Equilibrium sorption data were best described by Sips isotherm model and the maximum attainable metal amount on the NaX were estimated as 1.23, 1.76 and 2.20 mmol/g for the Pb²⁺, Ni²⁺, and Cu²⁺ cations, respectively. A single step desorption process conducted in NaCl solution seemed to be practically applicable for regeneration and after three adsorption/desorption cycles, 79, 76 and 48% of initial sorption capacity of NaX were preserved for lead, nickel and copper ions, respectively. Single isotherm parameters used for the prediction of binary equilibrium data were satisfactory. Binary sorption experiments for Pb²⁺-Ni²⁺, Pb²⁺-Cu²⁺ and Ni²⁺-Cu²⁺ couples reflected that the presence of secondary ions decreased the uptake of the primary one. Lead exhibited greater inhibition of the sorption of nickel and copper, demonstrating the stronger affinity of NaX for Pb²⁺. Extended Freundlich model best described all the three binary metal systems. Adsorption experiments carried out in real wastewater demonstrated that NaX nanoparticle has a high affinity for all the cations except copper.

Efficient adsorption of multiple heavy metals with tailored silica aerogel-like materials

Recently developed tailored adsorbents for heavy metal uptake are studied in batch tests with Cu, Pb, Cd, Ni, Cr and Zn, in order to decontaminate polluted environments where these heavy metals are found in solution - water courses and groundwater. The adsorbents feature mercapto or amine-mercapto groups that are capable of complexating the cations. Through the use of equilibrium tests it is found that a remarkably high heavy metal uptake is obtained for all metals (ranging from 84 to 140 mg/g). These uptake values are quite impressive when compared to other adsorbents reported in the literature, which is also due to the double functionalization present in one of the adsorbents. For the best adsorbent, adsorption capacities followed the order Cu(II) > Pb(II) > Zn(II) > Cr(III) > Cd(II) > Ni(II). With these adsorbents, the removal process was fast with most of the metals being removed in less than 1 h. Competitive sorption tests were performed in tertiary mixtures that were based on real world polluted sites. It was found that although competitive sorption occurs, affecting the individual removal of each metal, all the cations in solution still interact with the adsorbent, achieving removal values that make this type of material very interesting for its proposed application.

The application of biosorption for production of micronutrient fertilizers based on waste biomass

In the present paper, new environmental-friendly fertilizer components were produced in biosorption process by the enrichment of the biomass with zinc, essential in plant cultivation. The obtained new preparations can be used as controlled release micronutrient fertilizers because microelements are bound to the functional groups present in the cell wall structures of the biomass. It is assumed that new fertilizing materials will be characterized by higher bioavailability, gradual release of micronutrients required by plants, and lower leaching to groundwater. The biological origin of the material used in plant fertilization results in the elimination of toxic effect towards plants and groundwater mainly caused by low biodegradability of fertilizers. Utilitarian properties of new formulations enable to reduce negative implications of fertilizers for environmental quality and influence ecological health. In this work, the utilitarian properties of materials such as peat, bark, seaweeds, seaweed post-extraction residues, and spent mushroom substrate enriched via biosorption with Zn(II) ions were examined in germination tests on Lepidium sativum. Obtained results were compared with conventional fertilizers—inorganic salt and chelate. It was shown that zinc fertilization led to biofortification of plant in these micronutrients. Moreover, the mass of plants fertilized with zinc was higher than in the control group.

State of the art for the biosorption process--a review

In recent years, biosorption process has become an economic and eco-friendly alternative treatment technology in the water and wastewater industry. In this light, a number of biosorbents were developed and are successfully employed for treating various pollutants including metals, dyes, phenols, fluoride, and pharmaceuticals in solutions (aqueous/oil). However, still there are few technical barriers in the biosorption process that impede its commercialization and thus to overcome these problems there has been a steadily growing interest in this research field. This resulted in large numbers of publications and patents each year. This review reports the state of the art in biosorption research. In this review, we provide a compendium of know-how in laboratory methodology, mathematical modeling of equilibrium and kinetics, identification of the biosorption mechanism. Various mathematical models of biosorption were discussed: the process in packed-bed column arrangement, as well as by suspended biomass. Particular attention was paid to patents in biosorption and pilot-scale systems. In addition, we provided future aspects in biosorption research.

Zinc and cadmium biosorption by untreated and calcium-treated Macrocystis pyrifera in a batch system

Zinc and cadmium can be efficiently removed from solutions using the brown algae, Macrocystis pyrifera. Treatment with CaCl(2) allowed stabilization of the biosorbent. The maximum biosorption capacities in mono-component systems were 0.91 mmol g(-1) and 0.89 mmol g(-1) and the Langmuir affinity coefficients were 1.76 L mmol(-1) and 1.25 L mmol(-1) for Zn(II) and Cd(II), respectively. In two-component systems, Zn(II) and Cd(II) adsorption capacities were reduced by 50% and 40%, respectively and the biosorbent showed a preference for Cd(II) over Zn(II). HNO(3) (0.1M) and EDTA (0.1M) achieved 90-100% desorption of both ions from the loaded biomass. While HNO(3) preserved the biomass structure, EDTA destroyed it completely. Fourier transform infrared spectra identified the contribution of carboxylic, amine and sulfonate groups on Zn(II) and Cd(II) biosorption. These results showed that biosorption using M. pyrifera-treated biomass could be an affordable and simple process for cadmium and zinc removal from wastewaters.

Equilibrium of Cu(II) and Ni(II) biosorption by marine alga Sargassum filipendula in a dynamic system: competitiveness and selectivity

The study focuses on the equilibrium of dynamic biosorption in single and binary systems containing Cu(II) and Ni(II) ions using Sargassum filipendula (a marine alga). The experiments were performed in fixed-bed columns with both single-component and bi-component metal solutions (using different molar concentrations). Experimental data were fitted with different equilibrium models such as Langmuir, Langmuir with inhibition, Jain and Snowyink and Langmuir-Freundlich equations. The biosorption of pure metal ions in solution presented adequate capacities both for Cu(II) and Ni(II). In binary solutions the preferential sorption of Cu(II) over Ni(II) was demonstrated by the displacement of Ni(II) (marked overshoot on the breakthrough curves).

Sorption of Pb(II), Cr(III), Cu(II), As(III) to peat, and utilization of the sorption properties in industrial waste landfill hydraulic barrier layers

The low conductivity landfill barrier layers protect the groundwater and soil by limiting the water flow through the bottom layers of the landfill material. Many materials used in hydraulic barrier layers also have sorption properties which could be used to reduce environmental risks. The adsorption of lead, chromium, copper, and arsenic to peat was studied with a batch-type test and a column test for compacted peat, both without pH adjustment in acidic conditions. Peat adsorbed all the metals well, 40000mg/kg of lead, 13000mg/kg of chromium, and 8400mg/kg of copper in the column test. Arsenic was only tested in a batch-type test, and in that peat adsorbed 60mg/kg of arsenic. The column test showed heavy metals to be adsorbed on the surface layers of the compacted peat sample, on the first centimeter of the sample. The adsorption was much greater in the column test than in the batch-type test, partly due to the different pH conditions and the buffer capacity of the peat in the column test. The liquid/solid ratio of the column experiment represented a time period of approximately 40 years in a landfill, under Finnish climate conditions. The hydraulic conductivity of the peat decreased as it was compressed, but it already met the hydraulic conductivity limits set by European Union legislation for the hydraulic barrier layer (1x10(-9)m/s at a pressure of 150kPa for a 5-m layer), with a pressure of 50kPa. The results show that peat would be an excellent material to construct compacted, low hydraulic conductivity layers with adsorption properties in, e.g. industrial waste landfills.

Prediction of binary adsorption isotherms of Cu(2+), Cd(2+) and Pb(2+) on calcium alginate beads from single adsorption data

The binary adsorption of Cu(2+)-Cd(2+), Pb(2+)-Cd(2+) and Pb(2+)-Cu(2+) mixtures onto Ca-Alginate beads, prepared from Laminaria digitata, was studied using batch experiments. Competitive sorption models including extended Sips, extended Langmuir, Jain and Snoeyink modified Langmuir (JS modified) as well as Ideal Adsorpted Solution Theory (IAST) models were applied to predict the binary adsorption using single component adsorption parameters. The extended and the JS modified Langmuir approaches provide excellent prediction of the binary adsorption, while the extended Sips fails to predict the experimental data, giving only fair results in the case on Pb(2+)-Cu(2+) mixtures. On the contrary, the IAST models, though they are more complicated, provide less accurate estimation of sorption in binary metal ion solutions. In general, single component adsorption parameters can be effectively used for the prediction of a materials adsorption performance in binary metal ion solutions.

Solubility of heavy metals added to MSW

This paper aims to investigate the six heavy metal levels (Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, Ni and Zn) in municipal solid waste (MSW) at different pHs. It intends to provide the baseline information of metals solubility in MSW co-disposed or co-digested with MSW incinerator ashes in landfill or anaerobic bioreactors or heavy metals contaminated in anaerobic digesters. One milliliter (equal to 1mg) of each metal was added to the 100ml MSW and the batch reactor test was carried out. The results showed that higher HNO3 and NaOH were consumed at extreme pH of 1 and 13 compared to those from pH 2 to 11 due to the comparably higher buffer capacity. Pb was found to have the least soluble level, highest metal adsorption (%) and highest partitioning Kd (lg(-1)) between pH 3 and 12. In contrast, Ni showed the highest soluble level, lowest metal adsorption (%) and lowest Kd (lg(-1)) between pH 4 and 12. Except Ni and Cr, other four metals seemed to show the amphibious properties as comparative higher solubility was found in the acidic and basic conditions.

Mono-component versus binary isotherm models for Cu(II) and Pb(II) sorption from binary metal solution by the green alga Pithophora oedogonia

The sorption of Cu(II) and Pb(II) by Pithophora markedly decreased as the concentration of the secondary metal ion, Cu(II) or Pb(II), increased in the binary metal solution. However, the test alga showed a greater affinity to sorb Cu(II) than Pb(II) from the binary metal solution. Mono-component Freundlich, Langmuir, Redlich-Peterson and Sips isotherms successfully predicted the sorption of Cu(II) and Pb(II) from both single and binary metal solutions. None of the tested binary sorption isotherms could realistically predict Cu(II) and Pb(II) sorption capacity and affinity of the test alga for the binary metal solutions of varying composition, which mono-component isotherms could very well accomplish. Hence, mono-component isotherm modeling at different concentrations of the secondary metal ion seems to be a better option than binary isotherms for metal sorption from binary metal solution.

Biosorption of nickel and copper onto treated alga (Undaria pinnatifida): application of isotherm and kinetic models

Biosorption of nickel and copper ions from aqueous solution onto treated alga biomass Undaria pinnatifida has been studied and the Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkine equilibrium isotherms, pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order and intra-particle diffusion kinetic model were determined respectively. Within the test range (initial concentration 5-50 mg/L, biosorption doze 0.1-0.5 g, pH 3-7), biosorption performance for metal ions showed an increase in specific metal uptake capacity with an increasing in initial ions concentration and decreasing in biosorbent doze. The optimized condition of pH value for nickel and copper is 4.7 and 4.0, respectively, while contact time is about 100 min. At equilibrium, the maximum total uptake by U. pinnatifida was 24.71 mg/g for nickel and 38.82 mg/g for copper. The results for nickel and copper fit well to the Langmuir and the Temkin isotherm, respectively. Pseudo-second-order model described well the sorption kinetic of nickel and copper ions in comparison to pseudo-first-order and intra-particle diffusion kinetic model.

Effect of Cu(II), Cd(II) and Zn(II) on Pb(II) biosorption by algae Gelidium-derived materials

Biosorption of Pb(II), Cu(II), Cd(II) and Zn(II) from binary metal solutions onto the algae Gelidium sesquipedale, an algal industrial waste and a waste-based composite material was investigated at pH 5.3, in a batch system. Binary Pb(II)/Cu(II), Pb(II)/Cd(II) and Pb(II)/Zn(II) solutions have been tested. For the same equilibrium concentrations of both metal ions (1 mmol l(-1)), approximately 66, 85 and 86% of the total uptake capacity of the biosorbents is taken by lead ions in the systems Pb(II)/Cu(II), Pb(II)/Cd(II) and Pb(II)/Zn(II), respectively. Two-metal results were fitted to a discrete and a continuous model, showing the inhibition of the primary metal biosorption by the co-cation. The model parameters suggest that Cd(II) and Zn(II) have the same decreasing effect on the Pb(II) uptake capacity. The uptake of Pb(II) was highly sensitive to the presence of Cu(II). From the discrete model it was possible to obtain the Langmuir affinity constant for Pb(II) biosorption. The presence of the co-cations decreases the apparent affinity of Pb(II). The experimental results were successfully fitted by the continuous model, at different pH values, for each biosorbent. The following sequence for the equilibrium affinity constants was found: Pb>Cu>Cd approximately Zn.

Sorption of lead, mercury and cadmium ions in multi-component system using carbon aerogel as adsorbent

In the present study, adsorption of three metal ions Pb(II), Hg(II) and Cd(II) on carbon aerogel a new form of activated carbon has been investigated in mono- and multi-component (binary and tertiary) system. Batch experiments were also carried out for mono- and multi-component systems with varying metal ion concentration (mg/l) to investigate the competitive adsorption characteristics. Many adsorbents have been studied for their adsorption properties pertaining to mono-component solutions of metal ions. However, to treat wastewater with new materials, their performance needs to be ascertained in multi-component system. The scanning electron micrographs (SEM) and EDAX spectrum of carbon aerogel surfaces before and after the adsorbent was equilibrated with the metal ion solution clearly establishes the presence of the metal ions and some surface modifications can be observed on the carbon aerogel particles adsorption with (i) surface chemistry of the pellets on the surface of carbon aerogel and (ii) inside layers of the carbon aerogel. Applicability of the isotherm models namely Freundlich and Langmuir to predict the equilibrium uptake of Pb(II), Hg(II) and Cd(II) in mono-component, binary and tertiary system has also been tested. Langmuir and Freundlich models are found to generally represent the experimental though but not consistently.

Exploring multi-metal biosorption by indigenous metal-hyperresistant Enterobacter sp. J1 using experimental design methodologies

A novel experimental design, combining mixture design and response surface methodology (RSM), was developed to investigate the competitive adsorption behavior of lead, copper and cadmium by an indigenous isolate Enterobacter sp. J1 able to tolerate high concentrations of a variety of heavy metals. Using the proposed combinative experimental design, two different experiment designs in a ternary metal biosorption system can be integrated to a succinct experiment and the number of experimental trials was markedly reduced from 38 to 26 by reusing the mutual experimental data. Triangular contour diagrams and triangular three-dimensional surface plots were generated to describe the ternary metal biosorption equilibrium data in mixture design systems. The results show that the preference of metal sorption of Enterobacter sp. J1 decreased in the order of Pb(2+)>Cu(2+)>Cd(2+). The presence of other metals resulted in a competitive effect. The influence of the other two metals in ternary metal biosorption system can be easily determined by comparing the stray distance from the single metal biosorption. The behavior of competitive biosorption was successfully described and predicted using a combined Langmuir-Freundlich model along with new three-dimensional contour-surface plots.

Effect of EDTA on divalent metal adsorption onto grape stalk and exhausted coffee wastes

In the present work, two industrial vegetable wastes, grape stalk, coming from a wine producer, and exhausted coffee, coming from a soluble coffee manufacturer, have been investigated for the removal of Cu(II) and Ni(II) from aqueous solutions in presence and in absence of the strongly complexing agent EDTA. Effects of pH and metal-EDTA molar ratio, kinetics as a function of sorbent concentration, and sorption equilibrium for both metals onto both sorbents were evaluated in batch experiments. Metal uptake was dependent of pH, reaching a maximum from pH around 5.5. EDTA was found to dramatically reduce metal adsorption, reaching total uptake inhibition for both metals onto both sorbents at equimolar metal:ligand concentrations. Kinetic results were successfully modelled by means of the pseudo second order model. Langmuir and Freundlich models were used to describe the sorption equilibrium data. Grape stalk showed the best performance for Cu(II) and Ni(II) removal in presence and in absence of EDTA, despite exhausted coffee appears as less sensitive to the presence of complexing agent. The performance of Cu(II) and Ni(II) sorption onto grape stalk in a continuous flow process was evaluated. In solutions containing EDTA, an initial metal concentration in the outlet flow corresponding to the complexed metal fraction was observed from the beginning of the process. A high metal recovery yield (>97%) was achieved by feeding the metal-loaded column with 0.05 M HCl.

Copper removal from wastewater using spent-grain as biosorbent

The removal of Cu(II) ions from aqueous solutions using spent-grain was studied. The experimental data fitted the Langmuir isotherm and the maximum adsorption capacity of spent-grain was determined to be 10.47 mg g(-1) dry weight (pH 4.2). Kinetic studies showed the adsorption process followed pseudo second-order rate model. Column studies with synthetic Cu(II) solutions were used to investigate the effects of Cu(II) ion concentration, initial pH, flow rate and the presence of EDTA on the Cu(II) removal performance. When treating the spent-lees, the wastewater from the whisky distilling industry, the reduction of Cu(II) uptake capacity to 77.7% (solution pH adjusted to 4.5 with 1N NaOH) and 31.6% (pH 3.8 without adjustment) was observed compared to Cu(II) uptake capacity when treating synthetic Cu(II) solution. On the basis of the results and that spent-grain is an abundant and by-product from the whisky distilling industry we suggest that it can be economically and effectively applied as a biosorbent for the removal of Cu(II) ions from distilling wastewaters.

Biosorption of lead(II) and cadmium(II) by protonated Sargassum glaucescens biomass in a continuous packed bed column

Biosorption of lead(II) and cadmium(II) from aqueous solutions by protonated Sargassum glaucescens biomass was studied in a continuous packed bed column. The selective uptake of Pb2+ and Cd2+ was investigated in a binary system with initial concentration of 1 mM for each metal ion. The selective uptake capacities of Pb2+ and Cd2+ at complete exhaustion point were obtained 1.18 and 0.22 mmol/g, respectively; therefore, the biosorbent showed much higher relative affinity for Pb2+ than for Cd2+. The optimum range of empty bed contact time (EBCT) was identified as 5-10 min in the packed bed column. The efficiency of biosorbent regeneration by 0.1 M HCl was achieved about 60%, so that the maximum uptake capacity of Pb2+ by the regenerated biomass was determined to be 0.75 mmol/g while the same value for the original biomass was 1.24 mmol/g. The Thomas model was found in a suitable fitness with the experimental data (R2 > 0.90 and % < 50%) at all different operation stages. Monitoring of pH in the effluent of the column presented the simultaneous release of H+ with the uptake of heavy metals; hence, ion exchange was confirmed to be one of the main biosorption mechanisms.

Characteristics of equilibrium, kinetics studies for adsorption of fluoride on magnetic-chitosan particle

The magnetic-chitosan particle was prepared and characterized by the SEM, XRD, FT-IR and employed as an adsorbent for removal fluoride from the water solution in the batch system. The Langmuir isotherms, Bradley's isotherm, Freundlich isotherm and Dubinin-Kaganer-Radushkevich (DKR) isotherm were used to describe adsorption equilibrium. The kinetic process was investigated using the pseudo-first-order model, pseudo-second-order model and intra-particle diffusion model, respectively. The results show that the magnetic-chitosan particle is amorphous of irregular clumps in the surface with groups of RNH(2), RNH(3), Fe-O, etc. Bradley's equation and two-sites Langmuir isotherms were fitted well with the adsorption equilibrium data; the maximal amount of adsorption of 20.96-23.98 mg/l and free energy of 2.48 kJ/mol were obtained from the Bradley's equation, two-sites Langmuir isotherm and DKR modeling, respectively. The pseudo-second-order with the initial adsorption rate 2.08 mg/g min was suitable to describe the kinetic process of fluoride adsorption onto the adsorbent. In overall, the major mechanism of fluoride adsorption onto the heterogeneous surface of magnetic-chitosan particle was proposed in the study.

Adsorption of heavy metals from electroplating wastewater by wood sawdust

Poplar wood sawdust was examined for adsorption as a replacement for current, more expensive methods of removing copper, zinc and cadmium from electroplating wastewater. Langmuir, Freundlich, BET and competitive Langmuir (two competing ions) isotherms were fitted to experimental data and the goodness of their fit for adsorption was compared. The shapes of isotherms obtained fitted well with multilayer adsorption. This was established and confirmed through solid correspondence between the BET equation and experimental data, in contrast to an observed monolayer adsorption of metal ions on poplar sawdust in single metal-water solutions. The adsorption of copper ions from a mixture (in wastewater) was better than that from a single metal solution. The adsorptions of zinc ions from wastewater and from model water were approximately equal, while that of cadmium ions was significantly lower from the wastewater than from model water. The aforementioned suggests that the presence of other ions in wastewater hindered adsorption of cadmium ions.

Practical and mechanistic aspects of the removal of cadmium from aqueous systems using peat

A sphagnum peat moss removed Cd from aqueous solutions very efficiently, and its effectiveness in taking up the metal was significantly enhanced by exposure to a 1N NaOH solution. The capacity of the untreated peat for Cd reached 300 g/kg and that of the NaOH-activated peat was over 400 g/kg. Although saturation was rarely reached, the Cd uptake from concentrated solutions often exceeded 200 g/kg. In column experiments, 1g of the NaOH-activated peat completely removed the metal from over 0.2L of a 200-mg/L Cd solution (final Cd concentration<0.1mg/L), while 1g of non-activated peat cleared Cd from less than 25% of that volume. The cation exchange capacity measured for the peat depended on the time of contact with the exchanging solution. After 72 h contact, the value for the NaOH-activated peat was 135 cmol(c)/kg. In addition to uptake by exchange, a significant amount of Cd was sorbed by non-exchange mechanisms. FTIR spectroscopy revealed the importance of carboxyl groups in the uptake.