Abstract
The development of heavy metal treatment technologies plays a crucial role in avoiding contamination of water bodies. Nannochloropsis oculata biomass was used for Pb2+ and Cd2+ biosorption. The biosorption capacity (g metal × g biomass−1) was determined by evaluating the effects of pH and biomass amount. The maximum biosorption capacities for Pb2+ and Cd2+ were 1087.20 ± 9.12 mg g−1 and 934.44 ± 12.84 mg g−1, respectively. The pH for the highest biosorption of Pb2+ was 5.0, and it was 4.0 for Cd2+. The optimal amount of biomass needed to remove 100 ppm Pb2+ was 0.05 g, and it was 0.3 g for 100 ppm Cd2+, which suggests that microalgae showed greater capacity for removal of Pb2+ than Cd2+. The sorption rates for Cd2+ and Pb2+ were fitted with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model, and qe values of 94.33 mg g−1 and 88.49 mg g−1, respectively, were obtained. Cd2+ reached equilibrium in the medium faster than Pb2+. The mechanism for adsorption of Pb2+ and Cd2+ is not controlled by intraparticular or film diffusion. FTIR results showed that Pb2+ and Cd2+ occupy the same carboxyl, amide, and hydroxyl functional groups.
Highlights
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Lead was adsorbed at higher pH than cadmium.
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Cadmium and lead were adsorbed in the same functional groups.
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A loss in adsorption efficiency phenomenon was produced with increasing biomass of N. oculata concentration.
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The pseudo-second-order kinetic model best described lead and cadmium removal.
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Chemical adsorption was the rate-controlling step on lead and cadmium sorption.
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Data Availability
The data that support the findings of this study include raw data, samples, and records and are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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This work was supported by the Institute Technologic of Sonora through project promotion and supporting research development (PROFAPI, 2020).
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Writing – original draft preparation, methodology, and formal analysis and investigation: Omar Nateras-Ramírez; conceptualization, funding acquisition, review, and editing: Maria del Rosario Martinez-Macias; resources, review, and editing: Jaime López-Cervantes; critical supervision and revising of important intellectual content: Dalia Isabel Sánchez-Machado; review, editing, formal analysis, and investigation: Rocio Janeth Aguilar-Ruiz.
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Nateras-Ramírez, O., López-Cervantes, J., Sánchez-Machado, D. et al. Kinetic Modeling of Cd(II) and Pb(II) Biosorption from Aqueous Solution by Inactive Biomass of Nannochloropsis oculata Microalgae. Water Air Soil Pollut 233, 184 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-022-05636-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-022-05636-3