Abstract
This study exclusively focused on the potential application of an inexpensive and sustainable waste macro-algal biomass as an adsorbent for biosorption of copper ions from aqueous medium. After extraction of agar from brown macro-marine algae Gelidiella acerosa, the residual biomass without any further treatment was used as an adsorbent for the expulsion of copper from wastewater. Physicochemical parameters of biosorption like initial pH, initial concentration of Cu(II) solution and biosorbent dosage were optimized using response surface methodology. The maximum copper biosorption potential of 96.36% was observed at optimum conditions of pH of 5.31, initial concentration of 23.87 mg/l and biosorbent dosage of 0.41 g/l. Adopting FTIR and SEM techniques, the surface morphological features of biosorbent were studied. The pseudo-second-order kinetic model was found to be a proper approach to describe biosorption kinetics. All these results confirmed that spent G. acerosa could be considered as an efficient, eco-friendly and economic alternative for Cu(II) removal from aqueous solution.
Highlights
Enhanced industrial activities with technological innovations and anthropogenic activities with increased population had led to the excessive discharge of heavy metal contaminated wastewater into the aquatic systems
Several peaks (Fig. 1a) were observed on the surface of G. acerosa before biosorption, indicating the presence of various functional groups which are responsible for the binding of copper
It is inferred that the surface of spent G. acerosa comprises functional groups like carboxylic acids, amino, alkenes and alkyl groups
Summary
Enhanced industrial activities with technological innovations and anthropogenic activities with increased population had led to the excessive discharge of heavy metal contaminated wastewater into the aquatic systems. Industrial wastewater infused with heavy metal residues is known to be the most toxic to the aquatic environment and the health of living species (Anantha and Kota 2016). Among the deleterious heavy metals, copper and its composites are the most common metal pollutants in the environment with the global annual discharge estimated at 939,000 metric tons (Abdolali et al 2017; Wuana and Okieimen 2011). Meticulous treatment of copper-contaminated water is indispensable before discarding into water systems in order to protect water sources and human health
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