Selective biosorption of mixed heavy metal ions using polysaccharides

Although much research has been conducted on the separation of single species of heavy metal, the selective adsorption of two or more heavy metals in mixture is relatively little known. In this study, polysaccharide beads were prepared to selectively remove the targeted heavy metal ion from mixture. Among the biomasses, polysaccharide was examined due to its low cost and easy accessibility. In a single metal ion system, chitosan, lambda-carrageenan, and alginic acid showed high affinity to mercury, copper, and lead, respectively. In the ion mixture, the same trend shown in the single metal ion solution was observed. The optimum electrolyte concentraion was investigated to adsorb the metal ion selectively, and it was possible to remove the targeted metal ion selectively with chitosan, alginic acid and lambda-carrageenan at 1 mmol concentration of electrolyte. In order to demonstrate the feasibility of selective biosorption, two packed-bed reactors in series containing chitosan and alginic acid beads in each were studied and selective adsorption to Hg2+ and Pb2+, respectively, was observed.