Biosorption of aqueus Pb2+, Cd2+, and Ni2+ ions by Dunaliella salina, Oocystis sp., Porphyridium cruentum, and Scenedesmus protuberans prior to atomic spectrometric determination

Abstract

In this study, the possibility of using four different algae for the sorption of heavy metals, namely, Pb, Cd, and Ni, from waters was investigated. Dunaliella salina, Oocystis sp., Porphyridium cruentum, and Scenedesmus protuberans were shown to be good candidates for the sorption/removal of the metals from waters prior to atomic spectrometric determination. Characterization of the algae was carried out by scanning electron microscopy, FTIR, elemental analysis, and thermogravimetric analysis.All biomasses behaved similarly in the optimization of sorption parameters.Solution pH of 6.0, sorbent amount of 10.0 mg for 10.0 mL sample volume, shaking time of 60 min, and reaction temperature of 25C were used in the sorption experiments. It was demonstrated that the primary sorption mechanism is the electrostatic attraction between the negatively charged functional groups on the surface of the biomass and the positively (+2) charged metal ions in the solution. Among the biomasses investigated, Dunaliella salina has shown the highest sorption capacity for all the metal ions. It was followed by Oocystis sp., Scenedesmus protuberans and Porphyridium cruentum. Additionally, the biomasses examined have demonstrated the highest affinity towards Pb2+ which was followed by Cd2+ and Ni2+.The competitive biosorption experiments have shown that the uptake of Pb2+ ions was not influenced by the presence of other ions for all the algae studied.However, the general trend for the other biomasses was a decrease in their sorption efficiency towards Cd2+ and Ni2+ ions with the increase in the concentration of the competitive ions.It can be proposed that the algal biomasses investigated in this study can be utilized successfully in the sorption and selective removal of the studied heavy metal ions from waters.