Application of Novel Adsorbent Prepared by Mucor hiemalis Biomass Impregnated with Calcium Alginate for Removal of Sr2+ from Aqueous Solutions

Abstract

In this research, a novel biosorbent was prepared by Mucor hiemalis biomass combined with calcium alginate (Mucor hiemalis/Alg-Ca). The dead biomass was entrapped into alginate gel by curing method in the presence of Ca2+ ions. The synthesized biosorbent characterized by XRD, EDAX, BET, FTIR, and SEM techniques was used for removal of Sr2+ from aquatic streams under various experimental conditions and the optimized adsorption capacity of 140 mg g−1 was obtained. The selectivity of the adsorbent towards Sr2+ studied in the presence of Na+, Cs+, Ca2+ and Mg2+ was reasonably high. The adsorption process was kinetically fast and the equilibrium was established within 60 min, and followed the pseudo-second order kinetics model. The equilibrium data was well described by Langmuir isotherm model. The thermodynamics parameters (∆G°, ∆H° and ∆S°) of the process were determined. Positive ∆H° and negative ∆G° were indicative of the endothermic and spontaneous nature of the adsorption process.