A user-friendly Ulva lactuca/chitosan composite bead for mercury removal

With the latest developments in materials sciences, the use of green materials as a tool to control water pollution has become increasingly popular. In this study, the potential of the low-cost green alga Ulva lactuca and hybrid composite beads for Hg(II) removal is examined. A user-friendly method for the preparation of alga-chitosan composite beads is proposed. Hybrid Ulva lactuca/Chitosan composite beads are prepared and synthesized by physical conversion process using dropping acid-dissolved chitosan on the one hand and Ulva lactuca-chitosan beads into an alkali (NaOH) solution under optimized conditions on the other hand. The optimal condition for mercury sorption are found to be pH 4. The hybrid composite bead material shows a much higher sorption capacity of 189.144 mgHgg- 1 at 93% faster rate than non-living Ulva lactuca powder. Spectroscopic and microscopic analyses were used to understand the sorption mechanism involved in metal binding. The results showed that hybrid composite promotes effectively the sorption of mercury from aqueous solution.

Automated summary

The study found that the preparation of hybrid composite beads can effectively promote the adsorption of mercury from water by algae-chitosan materials. A user-friendly preparation method can be used to produce hybrid composite beads with higher adsorption capacity and faster adsorption rate.