Abstract
This study investigated several pre-treatments as strategies to increase the efficacy of the removal of metals when using exopolymeric substances (EPS) produced by Bacillus cereus. The pre-treatments used include heat (autoclaving, boiling) and chemical agents (sulphuric acid, sodium hydroxide, and methanol). Pre-treated EPS was subsequently used for metal removal in single-metal systems (Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd, Cr) and characterized for functional groups via Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Results revealed that pre-treatment significantly improved metal removal efficacy of EPS compared to EPS without pre-treatment (removal of Cu: 29.48%, Pb: 73.44%, Zn: 39.27%, Cd: 35.64%, Cr: 56.13%). Pre-treatment using autoclaving (removal of Cu: 40.29%, Pb: 91.18%, Zn: 52.65%, Cd: 45.41%, Cr: 73.33%) and methanol (removal of Cu: 48.41%, Pb: 93.31%, Zn: 58.15%, Cd: 56.49%, Cr: 84.95%) was the most effective heat and chemical pre-treatment, respectively. The combination of autoclaving + methanol further improved metal removal efficacy of the treated EPS with removal of Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd, and Cr at 60.86%, 98.44%, 70.56%, 64.46%, and 91.85%, respectively. The improved biosorption by pre-treated EPS was attributed to the effect of pre-treatments liberating and increasing the number of functional groups present. EPS pre-treated by autoclaving + methanol were detected with a significantly higher number of hydroxyl groups compared to non-treated EPS. This study suggests that pre-treatment using a combination of autoclaving + methanol successfully improved the quality of EPS as a more superior biosorbent for feasible adoption in wastewater treatment.
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The datasets generated are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to the Malaysian Ministry of Education (MOE) for the funding under the FRGS grant scheme (FRGS/1/2018/STG03/MUSM/02/1). The authors also thank Monash University Malaysia for providing the resources and facilities to conduct the project.
Funding
This project was funded by the Malaysian Ministry of Education (MOE) under the FRGS grant scheme (FRGS/1/2018/STG03/MUSM/02/1).
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Caleb Cheah, Yuen Lin Cheow, and Adeline Su Yien Ting contributed to the conception and design of the study. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Caleb Cheah and Adeline Su Yien Ting. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Caleb Cheah, and all authors commented on the subsequent versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Cheah, C., Cheow, Y.L. & Ting, A.S.Y. Pre-Treatment of Exopolymeric Substances from Bacillus cereus for Metal Removal as a Novel Strategy to Enhance Metal Biosorption. Water Air Soil Pollut 234, 121 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-023-06150-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-023-06150-w