A composite hydrogel beads bio-sorbent for removal of copper: Effect of pH of copper solution

Abstract

Heavy metals, being the main contaminant in the wastewater and water streams were previously proven to be hazardous for both human and environmental health. Current heavy metal wastewater treatment technology that possibly leads to secondary pollution is concerning due to the disposal of the synthetic materials that’s being implemented. Therefore, an environmentally friendly composite hydrogel beads bio-sorbent is introduced in this study by cross-linking and encapsulation of cellulose-chitosan-magnetite-alginate (abbreviated as CCMA) as an initiative towards a greener environmental remediation technology for the removal of common heavy metal copper. The effect of pH of copper (Cu) solution was investigated through this study in a pH variation of 3–6. In which pH 5 of Cu solution was proven to be the best for the removal of Cu with the percentage removal of 62.25 %. Other than that, the net surface charge of CCMA hydrogel beads was characterized by zeta potential measurement. In which, a negatively charged CCMA was proven at −16.30 mV, which indicates that there is a possibility of electrostatic interaction as the adsorption mechanism between CCMA and Cu cations. Thus, this shows that the environmentally friendly CCMA is potentially beneficial as a bio-sorbent for the removal of heavy metals.