Investigating the ability of chromium (VI) adsorption by Nitzschia palea

Abstract

Recently, one of the effective methods for the removal of heavy metals and water purification is the use of algae and especially diatoms. In this study, diatoms Nitzschia palea) were cultured in F2 medium and after purification was exposed to various concentrations (25-10 ppm) of chromium VI for 14 days and chromium absorption was measured by atomic absorption. The maximum and minimum absorbance at 5 ppm and 10 ppm were observed respectively. Diatoms absorbed chromium at a concentration of 2 ppm and higher absorption at a concentration of 5 ppm, but with increasing concentrations up to 10, absorption decreased. Diatoms have the ability to exchange cations of some elements other than hexavalent chromium since chromium six has a very low exchange in diatoms. Diatoms are not able to perform anion exchange, but with sufficient activation, they are used as anionic converters. The results of ANOVA-Oneway showed that the effect of the date on chromium absorption was significant.