Abstract
The contamination of water by heavy metals is a worldwide environmental problem. Phytoremediation and constructed wetlands have become increasingly popular as more sustainable and environmentally friendly techniques of removing heavy metals from the wastewater. This study, therefore, investigated the phytoremediation of nickel by Alocasia puber (A. puber) in a constructed wetlands (CW) microcosm. This study identified the optimum conditions for nickel (Ni) removal from wastewater using response surface methodology (RSM) with central composite design (CCD). Two operational variables were assessed: exposure time and initial Ni concentration. The optimum conditions for the maximum removal of Ni from water were an exposure time of 10 days and 99.76 mg/L initial Ni concentration. The results indicated that 95.6% removal was achieved under the optimized conditions, with a high correlation coefficient (R2 = 0.97) between the statistical model and the experimental data. Field emission scanning electron microscopy images showed anatomical changes in the A. puber samples due to Ni exposure, and transmission electron microscopy images revealed some internal damages in the A. puber, but visual Ni toxicity symptoms, such as necrosis and chlorosis, were not observed in the A. puber. This study demonstrated that A. puber planted in a constructed wetland microcosm was able to remediate wastewater contaminated with Ni.
Highlights
The presence of heavy metals in water causes considerable concern, since they are toxic to human beings, animals, and plants
Due to the limited scientific study on the use of Alocasia puber (A. puber) for heavy metal remediation, this study investigates its potential as a new plant for phytoremediation
The present study has proven that A. puber is a suitable plant for the phytoremediation of Ni, in its roots, as shown by the Translocation Factor (TF) value of
Summary
The presence of heavy metals in water causes considerable concern, since they are toxic to human beings, animals, and plants. Even when present in low concentrations in water, pose a serious risk to human health. Heavy metals like lead (Pb), copper (Cu), chromium (Cr), zinc (Zn), silver (Ag), mercury (Hg), nickel (Ni), cadmium (Cd), arsenic (Ar), and tin (Sn) must be removed from wastewater in order to meet increasingly stringent environmental quality standards [1,2], as well as to mitigate their non-biodegradability and consequent persistence [3]. There are many methods (whether chemical or physical) to adsorb heavy metals from the environment, including chemical precipitation, ion exchange, membrane filtration, and electrochemical treatment technologies [4]. The adsorption of heavy metals by adsorption technology is a good alternative, and it is used in the treatment of
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