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Current Updates and Perspectives of Biosorption Technology: an Alternative for the Removal of Heavy Metals from Wastewater

  • Biology and Pollution (G O'Mullan and R Boopathy, Section Editors)
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Abstract

Several municipal, industrial, and agricultural activities use and release heavy metals containing wastewater into the environment. These mixtures of heavy metals pose various hazardous and toxic effects on the environment and human health. Biosorption is a reliable and proven technology for the removal of heavy metals from wastewater. In the last decades, however, biosorption has been extensively studied for the remediation of contaminated surface water, groundwater and wastewater. The general concepts and mechanism of heavy metal uptake from different water environments are illustrated in this review. Besides, a more detailed discussion has been presented for the different types of biosorbents, namely microbial cells (fungi, bacteria, and algae) and organic/agricultural waste-based sorbents, which show great potential for heavy metals sequestration when compared to commercially available sorbent materials. The process parameters affecting the biosorption performance and kinetics have also been reviewed. Additionally, perspectives of biosorption as a heavy metal recovery technology are presented, including possibilities for online monitoring, modeling, and process control of biosorption columns at the lab and pilot scales.

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Acknowledgments

O.A. Ramírez Calderón and O.M. Abdeldayem thank the Erasmus+ International Master of Science in Environmental Technology and Engineering (IMETE) for supporting the M.Sc programme at UCT Prague (Czech Republic), IHE Delft (The Netherlands), and Ghent University (Belgium). ERR thanks IHE Delft (The Netherlands) for providing staff time support in Module 6 (Communication skills for engineers) for the year 2018–2019. A. Pugazhendhi thanks TDTU (Vietnam) for providing infrastructural support to collaborate with researchers from The Netherlands.

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  1. Department of Environmental Engineering and Water Technology, IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, Westvest 7, 2611AX, Delft, The Netherlands

    Olga A. Ramírez Calderón, Omar M. Abdeldayem & Eldon R. Rene

  2. Innovative Green Product Synthesis and Renewable Environment Development Research Group, Faculty of Environment and Labour Safety, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

    Arivalagan Pugazhendhi

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Ramírez Calderón, O.A., Abdeldayem, O.M., Pugazhendhi, A. et al. Current Updates and Perspectives of Biosorption Technology: an Alternative for the Removal of Heavy Metals from Wastewater. Curr Pollution Rep 6, 8–27 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40726-020-00135-7

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