Biosorption of heavy metals from water: mechanism, critical evaluation and translatability of methodology

ABSTRACT

The presence of heavy metals in drinking water is a serious global issue. Sustainable methods for treating drinking water such as biosorption are gaining popularity. The maximum permissible limits of most metal ions in drinking water are in the range from 0.003 to 2 mgL−1, however, the elevated concentrations in the range 0.01–2.5 mgL−1 are reported in contaminated waters in various regions of the world. Therefore, selecting the initial metal ion concentration range, and an optimum pH suitable for treating drinking water (pH 6.5–8.5) for laboratory experiments is a challenge for multi-ion biosorption studies. For the quantification of metal ions, ICP-MS is often used owing to its many advantages, however, the high operational costs of this instrument limits its use in research laboratories. Surface characterisation techniques such as TEM, NMR, ESR and related techniques are often ignored in biosorption studies although, these give valuable information pertaining to the mechanism of biosorption. Many theoretical models for explaining the biosorption mechanism have been proposed in the literature, one often contradicting the other. One of the major drawbacks of published biosorption studies is that too much emphasis has been laid on the theoretical explanation of biosorption mechanism and too little has been done to address the lack of practical application in terms of translatability of the methodology for commercial use. The present review highlights such issues while giving an insight on the processes, parameters and models used in biosorption reactions.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS:

• Biosorption
• heavy metals
• review
• peels
• alginate

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Dr. Candace Martin from Geology Department, Mr Dave Barr from Centre for Trace Element Analysis, Chemistry Department, and Liz Girvan from Otago Centre for Electron Microscopy, University of Otago for their assistance. The authors would also like to thank the Forensic Science Department, Galgotias University, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India for continuous support and encouragement.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by funding from a School of Biomedical Sciences Deans Bequest grant (RJR) and Doctoral Scholarship (RJN) from the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.

Notes on contributors

Risha Jasmine Nathan

Risha Jasmine Nathan is a Ph.D. graduate in Toxicology from the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. She is currently working as Assistant Professor (Forensic Science) at Galgotias University, Uttar Pradesh, India. She has research interests in Forensic Science, Toxicology and Environmental Sciences.

Arvind Kumar Jain

Arvind Kumar Jain is the Dean, School of Basic and Applied Sciences, Galgotias University, Uttar Pradesh, India. He has more than a decade of research and teaching experience in Applied Chemistry and Environmental Sciences.

Rhonda J. Rosengren

Rhonda J. Rosengren is former Head, and is currently a Toxicology Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. She has research interests in Environmental Toxicology and has supervised various projects related to Toxicology and Environmental Sciences.