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Biosorption of chromium (VI), iron (II), copper (II), and nickel (II) ions onto alkaline modified Chlorella vulgaris and Spirulina platensis in binary systems

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Abstract

The simultaneous biosorption of chromium (VI), copper (II), iron (II), and nickel (II) was investigated by alkaline-modified Chlorella vulgaris and Spirulina platensis in binary systems. The alkaline modified biosorbents were CV-KCl, SP-KCl, CV-Na2CO3, and SP-Na2CO3. The maximum removal efficiency recorded in this study was 99.7% with a biosorbent dosage of 0.3 g within a pH range of 2 to 6. The highest biosorption capacities obtained were 14.1, 13.5, 21.6, and 15.8 mg/g for Cr (VI), Cu (II), Fe (II), and Ni (II), respectively. The pseudo-second-order best described the biosorption rate, while the Langmuir isotherm model best described the biosorption equilibrium interaction. The values for Gibbs free energy (ΔG°) were in the range of 0.5 to 6.5 kJ/mol (Cr-Fe), 1.3 to 8.4 kJ/mol (Cr-Ni), and 3.9 to 11.3 kJ/mol (Cr-Cu) binary systems. This showed that the biosorption processes were characterized by physisorption reactions. The Temkin constant B values were in the range of 0.339 to 1.485 kcal/mol and the biosorption processes were largely exothermic reactions. The values for the Freundlich constant KF were between 1.4 and 10.4 (L/g), which indicated favourable biosorption. The Temkin isotherm model confirmed a strong binding affinity for Fe (II) and Ni (II). The results suggest that potassium chloride and sodium carbonate modification are very suitable for green algae and cyanobacteria for the efficient removal of heavy metals.

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All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article [and its supplementary information files].

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52100061 and No. 51908436), the Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province (No.2020CFB517), the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (No. 2019A1515110350), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (WUT: 193108001, 203208003), and Hubei Key Laboratory of Mineral Resources Processing and Environment (Wuhan University of Technology) (No. ZHJJ202006) for supporting this study.

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  1. Hubei Key Laboratory of Mineral Resources Processing and Environment, Wuhan University of Technology, Luoshi Road 122, Wuhan, 430070, China

    Baba Imoro Musah, Yifeng Xu, Chuanzhou Liang & Lai Peng

  2. School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Luoshi Road 122, Wuhan, 430070, China

    Baba Imoro Musah, Yifeng Xu, Chuanzhou Liang & Lai Peng

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  1. Baba Imoro Musah
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  2. Yifeng Xu
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BIM: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Formal analysis, Writing-Original draft, writing-Review, Editing and Revision.

YX: Software, Resources, Data curation.

CL: Software, Data curation, Visualization.

LP: Supervision, Funding Acquisition, Resources, Editing, and Validation.

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Correspondence to Lai Peng.

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Musah, B.I., Xu, Y., Liang, C. et al. Biosorption of chromium (VI), iron (II), copper (II), and nickel (II) ions onto alkaline modified Chlorella vulgaris and Spirulina platensis in binary systems. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 62514–62536 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-19725-7

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