Low-cost Biosorbent Research Articles

PEACH PIT CHEMICALLY TREATED BIOMASS AS A BIOSORBENT FOR METFORMIN HYDROCHLORIDE REMOVAL: MODELING AND SORPTION MECHANISMS

In this work, the potential of peach pit biosorption in the removal of the drug metformin hydrochloride from water is evaluated. Experiments are carried out in a closed batch system to evaluate the effect of the solution pH (2–10), temperature (25, 35 and 45 °C), stirring (100, 150 and 200 rpm) and chemical treatments. During the study, biosorbent characterization, kinetic tests, equilibrium tests and thermodynamic parameter calculations are performed. The operating conditions that show the best results for both the raw biosorbent and the biosorbent submitted to acid, basic and acid followed by basic treatments with removal capacities of 3.17, 10.83, 18.10 and 49.14 mg g−1, respectively, are pH 7, 25 °C and 100 rpm, which result in an equilibrium time of 12 h. In the kinetic study, the pseudo-second-order model represents the best fit for the experimental data, while the Langmuir model best represents the equilibrium data. The biomasses submitted to chemical treatments show a significant increase in drug removal capacity related to the raw biosorbent, with the best maximum absorption of 82.54±1.34 mg g−1 achieved after the application of the acid followed by basic treatment. These results show that peach pit has potential to be used as a low-cost biosorbent to remove drugs from water.

An extensive review on chromium (vi) removal using natural and agricultural wastes materials as alternative biosorbents.

Several conventional techniques for heavy metals decontamination for instance ion exchange, evaporation, precipitation and electroplating have been utilized in preceding years. Though these techniques have some drawbacks, adsorption using low-cost biosorbents is environmentally friendly. In this study, the potential of several natural and agricultural wastes as economical biosorbents for the reduction of Cr(VI) ions from polluted water has been reviewed. The application of adsorption models, as well as the impact of adsorption factors on heavy metals eradication, has been considered in this review. The study revealed that efficient reduction of Cr(VI) from water and wastewaters is highly dependent on the pH of the solution, shaking time, adsorbent type, initial concentration and temperature. The review of the relevant literature indicates that the maximum removal efficiency of Cr(VI) using the various low-cost adsorbents ranged from 50.0-100.0% with optimum pH and contact time ranging from 2.0-6.0 and 30.0-180.0min, respectively at room temperature (25.0 °C). Furthermore, considering all the studies reviewed, the pseudo-second-kinetics and Langmuir isotherm are the dominant models that best described the Cr(VI) equilibrium data. The thermodynamic parameters suggested that the biosorption of Cr(VI) on the biosorbents was spontaneous, realistic and endothermic at the temperature range of 30.0-45.0 °C. It is found that the natural and agricultural wastes as cheap biosorbents are feasible replacements to commercial activated carbons for metal-contaminated water treatment. However, gaps have been identified to improve applicability, regeneration, reuse and safe discarding of the laden adsorbents, optimization and commercialization of suitable agricultural adsorbents.

Yapay Sinir Ağı Yaklaşımı ile Crystal Violet Katyonik Boyarmaddesinin Biyokütle-temelli Grafen Benzeri Gözenekli Karbon Üzerine Biyosorpsiyonunun Tahmin Edilmesi

Textile industries are considered to be the main actors in water pollution. Estimation of the textile dye sorption capacities of the biosorbents/adsorbents are crucial as design considerations. Herein, the feasibility of utilizing orange-peel-derived graphene-like porous carbons (GCs) as a low-cost biosorbent for removal of Crystal Violet (CV) cationic dye from aqueous solution have been evaluated both by batch biosorption experimental-setup and by using an artificial neural network (ANN) approach. The physicochemical characterization results have indicated that as-synthesized GCs has a specific surface area of 985 m2.g-1, a pore volume of 1.04 cm3.g-1, and a point of zero charge (pHPZC) of 6.50. The biosorption capacity of the biosorbent has been investigated as a function of initial pH, bisorbent dosage, initial dye concentration, and temperature. The optimal biosorption performance values have been achieved at pH of 7.5, the biosorbent dosage of 3.0 g.L-1 , the temperature of 25 ℃, in which 91.6% of initial CV (initial dye concentration of 100 ppm) has been successfully removed. The experimental results have indicated that the biosorption process significantly depends on the temperature whereas ca.15 min of contact time is sufficient for reaching equilibrium. The ANN approach has been utilized to forecast the biosorption performance of GPC. The proposed ANN model has been trained by the Levengberg-Marquardt backpropagation algorithm, by using the activation function of purelin and tansig functions at hidden and output layers, respectively. Different hidden topologies have been evaluated to optimize the ANN model. An optimal ANN model structured with two hidden layers with 5 and 10 neurons in each layer has been developed to forecast the biosorption of CV with high-performance parameters (linear correlation coefficient, R= 0.9995; mean squared error, MSE=0.0004). This work has shown that the experimental data are in harmony with ANN-based data, so it can be speculated that the proposed ANN approach can be utilized for predicting the cationic dye biosorption.

Two-pot Oxidative Preparation of Dicarboxylic Acid Containing Cellulose for the Removal of Beryllium (Be2+) from Aqueous Solution

Background: Cellulose is one of the most abundant, non-toxic, and renewable natural biopolymers. The presence of hydroxyl groups in cellulose leads to further modification of it. Preparation and modification of cellulose-based sorbents and their applications on water treatment gained traction in recent years. Objective: A low-cost and eco-friendly biosorbent was designed and fabricated by introducing the acetate functional groups into cellulose for removing Beryllium (Be2+) from an aqueous solution. The so rption of Be2+ on acetate containing cellulose was evaluated for varying sorbent doses and initial solution pH values. Method: The sorbent was prepared by a two-step oxidation process. In the initial step, cellulose reacted with NaIO4 and aldehyde groups were introduced to cellulose. In the second step, newly obtained aldehyde groups were oxidized to create acetate groups. Results: The kinetics of the sorption process showed that Be2+ uptake reached equilibrium in 3 minutes. The sorption isotherm was well fitted in the Langmuir model, and maximum sorption capacity was 4.54 mg/g. Moreover, the thermodynamic studies demonstrated that Be2+ sorption is spontaneous and exothermic. Furthermore, the prepared sorbent can be regenerated by using 0.1 M HCl or H2SO4 solutions. Conclusion: Removal of Be2+ is pH dependent and it is favorable at high solution pH. The kinetics of the prepared sorbent is rapid and equilibrium attained in 3 minutes. The prepared sorbent can be regenerated with 0.1 M acid solution with > 99% efficiency.

Comparative study of adsorptive removal of oxyanion (Cr2O4 -2) from aqueous media over unmodified and magnetically modified Melia azedarach

In the present study, unmodified Melia azedarach (UMA) and magnetically modified Melia azedarach (MMA) were used as a low cost biosorbent for the adsorptive removal of oxyanion (chromate ion Cr2O4 2-) from aqueous solution. The UMA and MMA were characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Batch biosorption process was used to check the effect of well-known process parameters including biosorbent dose, contact time and pH of solution. Experimental results revealed that MMA has more adsorption capacity as compared to UMA. Maximum % age removal (60.49%) was observed under acidic condition (pH=2) using MMA. The obtained experimental data was evaluated using Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms as well as pseudo 1st and 2nd order reaction kinetic models. Results showed that equilibrium mechanism can satisfactorily be explained by Langmuir model as depicted by the correlation factor (close to unity) and follows 2nd order reaction kinetic models.

Terminalia catappa shell as low-cost biosorbent for the removal of methylene blue from aqueous solutions

Synthetic dyes from effluents and wastewaters can be harmful to the ecosystem even at low concentrations. This study evaluated the performance of biosorbent from Terminalia catappa (TC) shells to remove methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solutions. The biosorbent was characterized using SEM-EDX, FTIR, BET, XRF and TGA. The optimum condition for TC shell uptake of MB was at pH 5, 45min contact time, initial concentration of 800mgL−1 and with a maximum biosorption capacity was 88.62mgg−1. The optimal conditions were achieved at the particle size (≤36μm), 25mL dye solution containing 0.1g biosorbent dosage and 100rpm agitation speed. The adsorption isotherm and kinetics study revealed that MB uptake was best-fit to the Freundlich and pseudo-second-order models respectively. The thermodynamic analysis determined over the temperature range of 298–318K showed that the process was endothermic and spontaneous. The mechanism of MB uptake onto TC shells was by pore diffusion, hydrogen bonds, cation exchange, electrostatic attraction and π-π stacking. MB was effectively desorbed from TC shells using 30% acetic acid and usable for 3 cycles. The MB removal of efficiency was 90.56% in real wastewater sample at pH 5.

Low-cost biosorbents from pines wastes for heavy metals removal from wastewater: adsorption/desorption studies.

Low-cost biosorbents from pines wastes for heavy metals removal from wastewater: adsorption/desorption studies.

Arsenic (III) Biosorption with Fenugreek (Methi) Seed Powder as a Low-cost Biosorbent

This research study focuses at the use of fenugreek seed powder as a bio adsorbent for removing arsenic from aqueous media. Metal biosorption research on Fenugreek seed powder has been studied in just a few studies. SEM, FTIR, and XRD were used to investigate the constituents and properties of fenugreek seed powder, which revealed the constituents and properties that enabled the arsenic biosorption process to succeed. To investigate the strength of arsenic adsorption using Fenugreek seed powder as a bioadsorbent, the effects of primary parameters including contact time, dose, concentration, pH, and temperature were used. The report of these parameters suggested that as the parameters increased, the efficient removal of arsenic increased until equilibrium was reached, but no successful results were seen after gaining the equilibrium. The biosorption process to Freundlich isotherm and pseudo kinetic order in liner form with better correlation coefficients was verified by a survey of biosorption isotherms and kinetic results. The system was endothermic, random, and favourable with biosorption characteristics at various temperatures, as determined by the thermodynamic constants. As a result of these findings, fenugreek seed powder has been modified for arsenic adsorption.

Chromium adsorption on sodium sulfide treated sheep wool

Chromium adsorption from the aqueous phase was evaluated using Mongolian sheep wool as a biosorbent. The wool was chemically treated with sodium sulfide to enhance the adsorption capacity. The surface of the wool was analyzed by SEM. EDX and FTIR were also used for the analysis of differences in the wool after chromium adsorption. Chromium was detected in the wool after adsorption by EDX analysis. FTIR data indicated the intensity change in amide A and amide I, which shows chromium may be adsorbed to the amino and carboxyl groups of the wool. The sodium sulfide treated wool showed better adsorption capacity of chromium(III) than the untreated wool. In the case of chromium(III), the adsorption amount increased with the pH increased, while for chromium(VI), the adsorption value increased with the pH decreased. Kinetic analysis of the adsorption indicated that the removal of chromium followed pseudo-second order kinetic model for the whole contact time range. Langmuir isotherm model was used for the analysis of adsorption equilibrium and the adsorption followed well Langmuir isotherm. This study demonstrates the sodium sulfide treated wool is an effective and low-cost biosorbent for heavy metal adsorption.

Adsorptive removal of some heavy metal ions by native and activated potato (Solanum tuberosum) peels as a low-cost biosorbents

Treatment of wastewater is becoming an interest of an increasing importance. Low amounts of contaminated heavy metals would pollute large volumes of water. Therefore, the present study was conducted during the current year in northern Saudi Arabia to assess the efficacy in removal of heavy metal ions by native (NPP) and activated (APP) potato peels (PP) using adsorption processes. Biosorption experiments were carried out in a batch process which contains the factors like pH, contact time, adsorbent dose and metal ion concentration. Both adsorbents (NPP and APP) showed to be efficient in removing Co (II), Cu (II) and Ni (II) from aqueous solutions. Activated potato peels were a more effective adsorbent compared to native potato peels. The present results propose that potato peels are eco-friendly, effective and low cost biosorbent which signifies an exceptional potential for removal of heavy metal under study from aqueous solutions.

Magnetically modified corn cob as a new low-cost biosorbent for removal of Cu (II) and Zn (II) from wastewater

Wastewater containing heavy metals can potentially harm the human and living organisms and also damage the environment and ecosystem. Wastewater containing total copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) over the normal threshold will result in Wilson's disease and digestive health, respectively. One of the most widely used methods to remove heavy metals from wastewater is adsorption. One type of adsorbent that has gained interest among researchers was biomass-based adsorbent or biosorbent. In this work, magnetic modification was used to increase the adsorption capacity of the biosorbent. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the effect of magnetic modification of corncobs as biosorbent on the adsorption of Cu(II) and Zn(II) heavy metals from an aqueous solution. Magnetic modification with FeCl3.7H2O on corncobs has successfully increased the adsorption capability of Zn(II) and Cu(II) from aqueous solution. The optimum modification ratios for the adsorption of Zn(II) and Cu(II) were 1:2 and 2:1. The adsorption of these both heavy metals took place at temperature of 50°C with the adsorbent doses of 1 g and 1.5 g for Cu(II) and Zn(II), respectively. The highest adsorption percentages for the adsorption of Zn(II) and Cu(II) were 89.3% and 89.2%, respectively. Whereas, the maximum adsorption capacities of Cu(II) and Zn(II) were 75.76 mg/g and 63.93 mg/g, respectively. The adsorption mechanism of Zn(II) and Cu(II) has followed the Freundlich isothermal adsorption model.

Removal of Methylene Blue from Aqueous Solution by Tunics of the Corm of the Saffron

Removal of Methylene Blue (MB) from aqueous solutions was investigated using low-cost, natural, and eco-friendly biosorbent, Tunics of the Corm of the Saffron (TCS). The effect of various parameters including pH, contact time, adsorbent dose, initial dye concentration, and temperature on the adsorption was studied. TCS was characterized using SEM, TGA, and DTA. The adsorbent surface functional groups were identified with Fourier Transform InfraRed (FT-IR)spectroscopy. pHpzc of TCS was determined (5.8). The adsorption data of MB ontoTCS followed the Langmuir isotherm with a biosorption capacity of 137mg/g. The kinetic data were evaluated using pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order model equations and the data were fitted well with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model (R2>0.99). Thermodynamic parameters revealed that the adsorption process was feasible, spontaneous, and exothermic (∆H<0). The findings of the present study indicated that TCS can be successfully used for the removal of MB from an aqueous solution.

The feasibility of macro alga E.spinosum for colour removal from real textile wastewater

Industrial textile wastewater usually contains high chemical substances, suspended solids and a very conspicuous intense colour. The complexity of textile wastewater had urged for an effective treatment method. This paper studies the feasibility of red macro alga, Euchema Spinosum as a natural and low-cost biosorbent for the removal of colour in real textile wastewater. The characterization of aforesaid biosorbent was analysed for its physical and chemical properties using Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) and X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometer (XRF). The effect of dosage and contact time on colour removal was analysed using batch biosorption experiments. The BET result confirmed that surface area of biosorbent is relatively small suitable for biosorbent characteristic. The result shows that at optimum dosage of 15g/L within 48 hours, E. spinosum was able to remove 93.71% of colour from textile wastewater. Therefore, E. spinosum was found to be highly effective in treating real textile.

Use of Eggshell as a Low-Cost Biomaterial for Coal Mine-Impacted Water (MIW) Remediation: Characterization and Statistical Determination of the Treatment Conditions

Eggshells (ESs), a low-cost biosorbent rich in calcium carbonate (CaCO3), were used to sustainably reduce the acidity and remove the Fe(total), Al3+, and Mn(total) ions from coal mine-impacted water (MIW). The surface area and pore volume of ES biomaterial were 5.692 m2 g−1 and 0.0567 cm3 g−1, respectively. The remediation process was performed in two consecutive stages, with Fe(total) and Al3+ ions being removed in the first stage (treatment I) and the Mn(total) ions in the second one (treatment II). The best treatment conditions, statistically determined through a central composite rotatable design (CCRD), were 6.59 g L−1 ES and 95 rpm agitation rate for treatment I and 28 g L−1 ES and 280 rpm agitation rate for treatment II. However, the high ES dosage in treatment II, determined by extrapolation, led in practice to the formation of particle aggregates that decreased the treatment efficiency. Therefore, the best values experimentally determined for treatment II were 25 g L−1 ES and 250 rpm. In these conditions, the overall treatment provided complete MIW acidity neutralization, total removal of the Fe(total) and Al3+ ions, and 58% Mn(total) ion removal, providing treated fluvial water adequate for non-potable use based on the analyzed parameters.

Biosorption of Phenolic Compounds in Lignocellulosic Biomass Biorefineries

The phenolic compounds released during the pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass negatively affect the saccharification and alcoholic fermentation process. Therefore, the development of strategies to minimize the negative impact of the released inhibitory compounds is key to improve the overall yield and techno-economic viability of future biorefineries. This work proposes the use of Aspergillus niger biomass as a low-cost biosorbent for removal of the phenolics released during liquid hot water (LHW) pretreatment of sugarcane bagasse. Such approach would be advantageous given that fungal microbial biomass could be readily available in biorefineries, as a co-product of the in-house production of cellulolytic enzymes. Three types of A. niger biomass powders were used for adsorption of vanillin (monomer), tannic acid (oligomer), and total phenolics from the LHW pretreatment liquor. A 98% removal of tannic acid was obtained by the biosorbent treated with sodium hydroxide, while adsorption of vanillin was lower, with removal of around 30%. Removal of around 40% was obtained for the total phenolics present in the LHW pretreatment liquor, resulting in a remarkable 50% increase of glucose release in the saccharification of sugarcane bagasse. These findings showed the potential of using the fungal biomass as cost-effective biosorbents for removing the inhibitors released in the pretreatment process and improving the conversion efficiency in biorefineries.

Unravelling the Environmental Application of Biochar as Low-Cost Biosorbent: A Review

In this age, a key target for enhancing the competitiveness of the chemical, environmental and biotechnology industries is to manufacture high-value products more efficiently and especially with significantly reduced environmental impact. Under this premise, the conversion of biomass waste to a high-value added product, biochar, is an interesting approach under the circular economy principles. Thus, the improvements in the biochar production and its new and innovative uses are hot points of interest, which are the focus of vast efforts of the scientific community. Biochar has been recognized as a material of great potential, and its use as an adsorbent is becoming a reliable strategy for the removal of pollutants of different streams, according to its high adsorption capacity and potential to eliminate recalcitrant compounds. In this review, a succinct overview of current actions developed to improve the adsorption capability of biochar, mainly of heavy metal and organic pollutants (dyes, pharmaceuticals and personal care products), is summarized and discussed, and the principal adsorption mechanisms are described. The feedstock and the production procedure are revealed as key factors that provide the appropriate physicochemical characteristics for the good performance of biochar as an adsorbent. In addition, the modification of the biochar by the different described approaches proved their feasibility and became a good strategy for the design of selective adsorbents. In the last part of this review, the novel prospects in the regeneration of the biochar are presented in order to achieve a clean technology for alleviating the water pollution challenge.

Bioremoval of phenol from aqueous solution using Sea weed Sargassum muticum (Yendo) Fensholt

In this study, Sargassum muticum (Yendo) Fensholt was evaluated as an economic and accessible biosorbent capable of removing phenol ions from aqueous solutions. The effects of the functional parameters, e.g., pH value of solution, dose of biosorbent, and initial concentration of phenol and contact time, were assayed in batch mode in the experiment. The optimum adsorption for the removal of phenol from aqueous solutions via Sargassum m. was at the amount of 250 mg dry powder of Sargassum m. for 100 mg/L of phenol at PH value of 3 after 24 hours of adsorption. The adsorption efficiency of phenol was dependent on adsorbent dosage of Sargassum muticum, pH of solution, contact time and initial phenol concentration and the adsorption capacity increased with decreasing the initial phenol concentration in aqueous solution, the low cost bio sorbent (Sargassum muticum) can be used for the removal of phenol from industrial waste water. This laboratory treatment strategy for the polluted water could be applied in a wide-scale treatment strategy.

An economical and effective alternative to commercial activated carbon for treatment of synthetic dye pollution in aquatic environment: surfactant modified waste product of Zostera marina

In this study, a novel biosorbent material was created from the waste product of Zostera marina with the surfactant modification (Hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide) and tried as a potential alternative to commercial (powdered) activated carbon for the treatment of synthetic dye (Fast green FCF, triarylmethane (anionic) type) pollution in aquatic environment. The treatment capability of biosorbent material was evaluated by the parameter optimization, kinetic, thermodynamic, equilibrium and characterization experiments. The optimum treatment conditions were found to be pH of 3, biosorbent amount of 10 mg, synthetic dye concentration of 15 mg L−1, temperature of 45 °C and operation time of 360 min. It was determined that Elovich model was the most suitable model among the models used to define the biosorption kinetic data. The synthetic dye treatment process was endothermic and spontaneous. Freundlich model best explained the biosorption isotherm data. The biosorbent has very heterogeneous surface with the different functional groups. The treatment capabilities of prepared biosorbent and activated carbon under the same operating conditions were calculated to be 163.075 and 110.635 mg g−1, respectively. Hereby, these experimental findings show that the synthesized eco-friendly and low-cost biosorbent can be a powerful alternative to commercial activated carbon for the purification of synthetic dye pollution in water environment.

Utilization of chitosan extracted from shrimp shell waste in wastewater treatment as low cost biosorbent

Chitin, which is the second most abundant biopolymer next to cellulose, and can be extracted commercially from the shells of crustacean (such as crabs, shrimps, prawns, krill), insects, fungi, and yeast. It can be converted into chitosan by partially deacetylation process. chitosan, has unique and distinctive features like, biodegradability, nontoxicity, high reactivity, excellent chelation behavior due to the presence of amine and hydroxyl functional groups which show high adsorption potential for various aquatic pollutions, and low cost in comparison with other adsorbents. Chitosan was successfully produced in the laboratory from shell waste. The yield was about 42.34 gm dry chitosan with ratio of 15.3% from the dry shells. The produced chitosan has good solubility in 1% acetic acid solution, it achieved up to 96.3%. It has % D.D.A. with value of 63% to 80%. However, it has good performance in removal of metals from industrial wastewater, it is not recommended to use it in the raw form due to presence of undesirable characters; such as low mechanical strength, swelling, and solubility in acidic media. chitosan/Activated carbon composite overcome these undesirable features in chitosan and gave good performance in the remediation of wastewater.

Effect of Ionic Strength and Coexisting Ions on the Biosorption of Divalent Nickel by the Acorn Shell of the Oak Quercus crassipes Humb. &amp; Bonpl.

This study investigated the effect of ionic strength and background electrolytes on the biosorption of Ni2+ from aqueous solutions by the acorn shell of Quercus crassipes Humb. &amp; Bonpl. (QCS). A NaCl ionic strength of 0.2 mM was established to have no effect on the Ni2+ biosorption and the biosorption capacity of the heavy metal decreased as the ionic strength increased from 2 to 2000 mM. The background electrolytes (KCl, NaNO3, Na2SO4, CaCl2, MgSO4, and MgCl2) had no adverse effects on the biosorption of Ni2+ at a concentration of 0.2 mM. However, at background electrolyte concentrations of 2 and 20 mM, divalent cations (Ca2+ and Mg2+) had greater negative effects on the biosorption of Ni2+ compared to the monovalent cations (Na+ and K+). Additionally, the SO42− and Cl− anions affected the biosorption of Ni2+. The fractional power, Elovich, and pseudo-second order models represented the kinetic processes of the biosorption of Ni2+ adequately. The results show that QCS can be a promising and low-cost biosorbent for removing Ni2+ ions from aqueous solutions containing various types of impurities with different concentrations.