Use of Biopolymers for the Removal of Metal Ion Contaminants from Water

Summary: Naturally abundant biosorbants such as chitin and chitosan are recognized as excellent metal ligands, forming stable complexes with many metal ions, and serving as effective protein coagulating agents. Chitosan is a heteropolymer made of D-glucosamine and a small fraction of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine residues. Therefore, the adsorption ability of chitosan is found to be much higher than that of chitin, which has relatively fewer amino groups. Zeolites are crystalline microporous aluminosilicates with ion exchange properties suitable for a wide range of applications in catalysis and separation of liquid and gaseous mixtures. Incorporation in chitosan membranes is an effective method to control the diffusion outside the zeolite crystals and appropriately designed composite systems can find numerous opportunities for applications in wastewater treatment. In this paper we present the synthesis of zeolite-chitosan and zeolite-ethyl cellulose composites by encapsulation of clinoptilolite using a gelling solution of chitosan or an ethyl cellulose solution in ethyl acetate. The adsorption process of Cu²⁺ and Cd²⁺ on some adsorbents was investigated: clinoptillolite tuff (0.05 mm), chitosan flakes, ethyl cellulose, zeolite-chitosan and zeolite- ethyl cellulose composites. Zeolite-chitosan composites have been prepared by encapsulation of zeolites by a gelling solution of chitosan. Micrometric crystals of clinoptillolite were dispersed in a 3% chitosan solution in 1% aqueous acetic acid. The chitosan gel was formed and the zeolite crystals were encapsulated during the gelling process. The same procedure was used to obtain zeolite – ethyl cellulose composites. Study of the metal ion retention properties of different adsorbent materials was carried out using a steady state regime. The concentration of heavy metal ions in supernatant was determined by the atomic absorption spectrophotometric method. Adsorption isotherms of metal ions on adsorbents were determined and correlated with common isotherm equations such as Langmuir and Freundlich models.