Efficient removal of HMs from wastewater using Fe۳O۴@microalgae nano-composition adsorption: Kinetic and isotherm

Heavy metals (HMs) removal from wastewater is one of the main bottleneck of wastewater treatment (WWT) process. In this study, we synthesized a novel adsorbent by integrating Fe۳O۴ magnetic nanoparticle (NPs) and dried microalgae biomass as natural adsorbent, named Fe۳O۴@micrpalge to efficiently adsorb lead (Pb) from polluted WW. The performance of Fe۳O۴@micrpalge was compared with microalgae alone to identify the effect of NPs. Moreover, the impact of operational parameters including Fe۳O۴@micrpalge dosage, contact time, Pb initial concentration and pH on adsorption performance were investigated. According to the results, microalgae dried biomass without NP could only remove ۷۲% of Pb under the optimal conditions. While, the maximum Pb removal efficiencies of ۸۴% was obtained for Pb, under the optimal conditions of Fe۳O۴@micrpalge dosage: ۲۰ mg, HMs initial concentrations: ۱۰۰ mg/L, pH: ۱۱ and contact time ۶۰ min. The adsorption kinetic and isotherm followed the pseudo-first-order and Freundlich, respectively indicating that both chemisorption and physisorption were involved in Pb adsorption process of Fe۳O۴@micrpalge. Our finding suggest a sustainable and promising approach for efficient removal of HMs from contaminated wastewater.

Keywords:

Fe۳O۴@microalge , Nanoparticles , Adsorption , Heavy metals , Wastewater treatment