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Biosorption of Heavy Metals: Recent Trends and Challenges

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Wastewater Reuse and Management

Abstract

Water resources are of critical importance to both natural ecosystem and human developments. Increasing environmental pollution from industrial wastewater particularly in developing countries is of major concern. Heavy metal contamination exists in aqueous waste streams of many industries, such as metal-plating facilities, mining operations, tanneries, and pulp and paper. Some metals associated with these activities are cadmium, chromium, iron, nickel, lead, and mercury. Heavy metals are not biodegradable and tend to accumulate in living organisms causing diseases and disorders. Hence, there is a need to treat the wastewater containing toxic metals before they are discharged into the water bodies. Many physicochemical methods like coagulation, flocculation, ion exchange, membrane separation, and oxidation are available for the treatment of heavy metals. Major drawbacks of these methods are high sludge production, handling and disposal problems, high cost, technical constraints, etc. This necessitates cost-effective and environmentally sound techniques for treatment of wastewater containing heavy metals. During the beginning of twenty-first century, the increasing awareness and concern about the environment motivated research for new efficient technologies that would be capable of treating inexpensively wastewater polluted by toxic metals. This search brought biosorption to the foreground of scientific interest as a potential basis for the design of novel wastewater treatment processes. Several adsorbents are currently used which are by-products from agriculture and industries. Biosorption using low-cost adsorbents could be technically feasible and economically viable sustainable technology for the treatment of wastewater and industrial effluents.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Chemistry Research Laboratory, University of Allahabad, Allahabad, U. P., 211 002, India

    Ravindra Kumar Gautam & Mahesh Chandra Chattopadhyaya

  2. Department of Chemistry, JECRC University, Jaipur, India

    Sanjay K. Sharma

Authors
  1. Ravindra Kumar Gautam
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  2. Mahesh Chandra Chattopadhyaya
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  3. Sanjay K. Sharma
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mahesh Chandra Chattopadhyaya .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, JECRC University, Shri Ram ki Nangal, via Sitapura RIICO, Tonk Road, Jaipur, 302 022, Rajasthan, India

    Sanjay K. Sharma

  2. , # R-2 Media Lab, Indian Institute of Technology, Nankari, Kanpur, 208016, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Rashmi Sanghi

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Gautam, R.K., Chattopadhyaya, M.C., Sharma, S.K. (2013). Biosorption of Heavy Metals: Recent Trends and Challenges. In: Sharma, S., Sanghi, R. (eds) Wastewater Reuse and Management. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4942-9_10

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