Abstract
In the present study, the sorption capacity of plant biomass has been studied; particularly the ability of biomass algae Chlorella vulgaris, filamentous green algae Spirogyra sp. and roots, stems and leaves of an invasive plant Reynoutria japonica to bind up Zn2+ ions. The results of this biosorption study revealed that the rate and extent of uptake were affected by pH level, contact time and initial metal concentration. The maximum uptake of metal ions was obtained at pH 6.0. The equilibrium sorption data for metal system at pH 6 were described by the Langmuir isotherms model. For Zn2+, sorption capacity qmax of 17 mg/g was achieved using biomass from leaves. Removal of Zn2+ with 1g of biosorbent from leaves was almost 77% when present in low concentrations, whereas it is lower at higher concentrations.
Highlights
Metal pollution is one of the most important environmental problem today
The kinetics experiments of zinc ions removal from solutions showed that biosorption is the equilibrium process, in which the equilibrium is reached after about 10 minutes
The ions are bound with the biomass steadily, and the final concentration of metal ions remained unchanged for 100 hours (CHOJNACKA et al, 2005)
Summary
Metal pollution is one of the most important environmental problem today. Metals can be distinguished from other toxic pollutants, since are non-biodegradable and can accumulate in the living tissues, becoming concentrated throughout the food chain (WILLIAMS et al, 1998). Pollution of the environment by toxic metals arises as a result of many human activities like mining, metallurgy, electroplating, leather tanning, metal finishing, textile industry, and paper industry. Effects of these metals on ecosystems are of large economic and public-health significance (VOLESKY, 2001)
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