Abstract
In recent decades, environmental pollution has emerged as a core issue, around the globe, rendering it of fundamental concern to eco-toxicologists, environmental biologists, eco-chemists, pathologists, and researchers from other fields. The dissolution of polluting agents is a leading cause of environmental pollution of all key spheres including the hydrosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere, among others. The widespread occurrence of various pollutants including toxic heavy metals and other emerging hazardous contaminants is a serious concern. With increasing scientific knowledge, socioeconomic awareness, human health problems, and ecological apprehensions, people are more concerned about adverse health outcomes. Against this background, several removal methods have been proposed and implemented with the aim of addressing environmental pollution and sustainable and eco-friendly development. Among them, the biosorption of pollutants using naturally inspired sources, e.g., marine algae, has considerable advantages. In the past few years, marine algae have been extensively studied due to their natural origin, overall cost-effective ratio, and effectiveness against a broader pollutant range; thus, they are considered a potential alternative to the conventional methods used for environmental decontamination. Herein, an effort has been made to highlight the importance of marine algae as naturally inspired biosorbents and their role in biosorption. Biosorption mechanisms and factors affecting biosorption activities are also discussed in this review. The utilization of marine algae as a biosorbent for the removal of numerous potentially toxic elements has also been reviewed.
Highlights
Increasing pollution is one of the major problems that our ecosystem is facing both at the aquatic and the terrestrial level
The cell wall in algae cells is an initial hindrance to the biosorption of potentially toxic elements
Several factors such as metal ion concentration, competing for metal ions, temperature, and pH affect the biosorption of potentially toxic elements in addition to available binding sites on the algae cell
Summary
Increasing pollution is one of the major problems that our ecosystem is facing both at the aquatic and the terrestrial level. Advanced methods with unique redefining approaches are required to remove potentially toxic elements and other hazardous pollutants from aqueous environments. Toxic elements can be removed from wastewater through biosorption from algae, which is an efficient, safe, and more economical method. Biosorption mechanisms for potentially toxic element removal include ion exchange and complex formation, whereas electrostatic interaction proceeds at the micro-level. For the biosorption of metals, ion exchange is an important mechanism [29,30] In this context, naturally inspired sources/materials, e.g., the biosorbent potentialities of marine algae and algae-based compounds, have appeared as an alternative technology with special reference to biosorption (Figure 1). Natural sources are considered ecologically safer, cheaper, and more efficient for removing toxic metal ions and other hazardous pollutants from aqueous environments, e.g., industrial wastewater [15]. From [38], with permission from Elsevier
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
