Akhilesh Bind and Veeru prakash
Posters-Accepted Abstracts: Biol Syst Open Access
Background: Heavy metal removal from aquatic system is deemed to play significant role in human health. Conventional methods to remove hazardous heavy metals viz. chromium, copper, lead, arsenic include chemical and physical methodologies which are usually expensive non-eco viable. Therefore it is imperative to search for novel eco-friendly and economical alternative. Azolla and Hydrilla as adsorbents to remove chromium and copper has been well established and studied. However a deeper understanding of the mechanism involved in adsorption needs to be elucidated for its utmost exploitation. Methodology: Batch adsorption technique and equilibrium kinetics were studied under different conditions of initial metal ion concentration, adsorbent dose, solution pH and shaking speed (rpm). Results: The adsorption isotherm data of chromium and copper were fitted well to the Langmuir model. The maximum adsorption capacities of chromium and copper by Azolla and Hydrilla, calculated using the Langmuir equation, ranged from 35.70 to 65.50 mg g�??1. The adsorption of chromium and copper by Azolla and Hydrilla was essentially due to presence of electrostatic forces on powdered biosorbent of Azolla and Hydrilla which was characterized by FTIR. Conclusion: The experimental results suggest a better efficacy of Azolla over Hydrilla as an adsorbent in the removal of heavy metals from waste water which might be further tailored for its industrial applications.
