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Magnetized microalgae: An efficient tool for Pb and Cd removal from aqueous media

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Abstract

Microalgae show great potential to remove heavy metals from aqueous media. The present study aimed to prepare magnetized Chlorella vulgaris and Tetradesmus obliquus and consider their capability for facile removal of Pb(II) and Cd(II) from the aqueous media. The magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles (17–26 nm) were first incorporated into the cells. Thereafter, the optimal conditions for bioaccumulation were determined as pH 5.5, initial biomass 1 g L−1, and temperature 28 ºC. The accumulation kinetics of the ions with both magnetic microalgae were measured and well-fitted to the pseudo-second-order model (R2 > 0.99) for the media supplemented with Cd2+ (25–400 mg L−1) and Pb2+ (25–200 mg L−1). The accumulation isotherms for both magnetic microalgae were fitted to the Langmuir model with the Cd2+ and Pb2+ maximum sorption capacities of 280.8 and 144.0 mg g−1 for C. vulgaris as well as 331.4 and 131.1 mg g−1 for S. obliquus, respectively. Magnetized microalgae are proposed as an efficient tool for the removal of metal ions from water.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the graduate school of Yazd university for all their help.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Yazd University, Yazd, 89195-741, Iran

    Elaheh Nourbala Tafti, Ali Mohammed Haji Shabani & Shayessteh Dadfarnia

  2. Industrial Microbial Biotechnology, Academic Center for Education, Culture and Research (ACECR), Research Institute for Industrial Biotechnology, Academic Center for Education, Culture and Research (ACECR)-Khorasan Razavi, Mashhad, 91775-1376, Iran

    Maryam Ameri & Mohsen Seyedabadi

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  1. Elaheh Nourbala Tafti
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  2. Ali Mohammed Haji Shabani
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  3. Shayessteh Dadfarnia
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  4. Maryam Ameri
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  5. Mohsen Seyedabadi
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Contributions

Elaheh Nourbala Tafti: Conceptualization, Methodology, Data curation, Investigation. Ali Mohammad Haji Shabani: Supervisor, Reviewing and Editing, Shayessteh Dadfarnia: Supervisor, Reviewing and Editing, Maryam Ameri: Advisor, and the initial draft reviewer, Mohsen Seyedabadi: Preparation of the initial draft.

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Correspondence to Ali Mohammed Haji Shabani, Shayessteh Dadfarnia or Maryam Ameri.

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Nourbala Tafti, E., Haji Shabani, A.M., Dadfarnia, S. et al. Magnetized microalgae: An efficient tool for Pb and Cd removal from aqueous media. J Appl Phycol 35, 1263–1272 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-023-02924-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-023-02924-1

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