Sorption of copper ions by brown algae Sargassum swartzii

Instead of using mainly bacteria, it is also possible to use mainly algae to clean waste water because many of the pollutant sources in waste water are also food sources for algae. Certain heavy metals are also important for the natural functioning of algae. Because marine environments are normally scarce in these metals, some marine algae have developed efficient mechanisms to gather these heavy metals from the environment and take them up. These natural processes can also be used to remove certain heavy metals from the environment. The use of algae has several advantages over normal bacteria-based bioremediation processes. One major advantage in the removal of pollutants is that this is a process that under light conditions does not need oxygen. Instead, as pollutants are taken up and digested, oxygen is added while carbon dioxide is removed. Uptake of metals by living microalgae occurs in two steps: one takes place rapidly and is essentially independent of cell metabolism - "adsorption" onto the cell surface. The other one is lengthy and relies on cell metabolism - "absorption" or "intracellular uptake". Nonviable cells have also been successfully used in metal removal from contaminated sites. Since copper is a widely used material, there are many actual or potential sources of copper pollution. Copper may be found as a contaminant in food, especially shellfish, liver, mushrooms, nuts and chocolate. Briefly, any processing or container using copper material may contaminate the product, such as food, water or drink. Copper is essential to human life and health but, like all heavy metals, is potentially toxic as well. This work reports the results of a study regarding the copper binding equilibria of dead biomass from the seaweed Sargassum Swartzii (Vietnam). The adsorption study on removal of copper ions from aqueous solution by brown marine algae Sargassum Swartzii was performed under static experimental conditions. In this work the optimal weight of algae in sorption copper ions was determined. The effect of pH and temperature on biosorption of copper ions by brown algae was studied. The biomass of the marine algae Sargassum species demonstrated a good capacity of copper bio-sorption, highlighting its potential for effluent treatment processes. This biosorbent is widely available and easy to find. The kinetics of copper biosorption by inactive biomass of marine algae Sargassum species was fast, reaching 60 % of the total biosorption capacity in thirty minutes. Thermodynamically, the biosorption of copper ions is endothermic. Therefore, marine algae can be used to treat effluents with heavy metals, with an advantage that it can be regenerated and is widely available along the seashores.

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