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Biosorption of Heavy Metals from Wastewater Using Australian Biomass
Author(s) -
Matheickal J. T.,
Yu Q.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
developments in chemical engineering and mineral processing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1932-2143
pISSN - 0969-1855
DOI - 10.1002/apj.5500050210
Subject(s) - biosorption , biomass (ecology) , environmental chemistry , cadmium , zeolite , chemistry , wastewater , metal , heavy metals , metal ions in aqueous solution , copper , ion exchange , pulp and paper industry , environmental science , environmental engineering , adsorption , ion , biology , agronomy , sorption , engineering , organic chemistry , catalysis
Heavy metal uptake capacities of different biomass types available in Australia were studied. Three biomass types (Durvillea potatorum, Ecklonia radiata and Phellinus badius) exhibited high uptake capacities for lead, copper and cadmium. In particular, the abundantly available marine algae, Durvillea potatorum showed high capacity and affinity for lead which was comparable with that of commercial ion exchange resins and was much higher than for activated carbon and natural zeolite. The process appears to be well suited for applications where extremely low levels of residual metal ions are desired. Studied indicate that ion exchange is the major mechanism in lead biosorption.