Bioremediation of cadmium-contaminated water systems using intact and alkaline-treated alga (Hydrodictyon reticulatum) naturally grown in an ecosystem

ABSTRACT

Cadmium can enter water, soil, and food chain in amounts harmful to human health by industrial wastes. The use of intact and NaOH-treated dried algal tissues (Hydrodictyon reticulatum), a major ecosystem bio-component, for Cd removal from aqueous solutions was characterized. Cadmium biosorption was found to be dependent on solution pH, bioadsorbent dose, the interaction between pH and dose, contact time, and initial Cd concentration. The experimental results indicated that the biosorption performance of alkaline-treated algal tissues was better than that of intact tissues. The maximum biosorption capacities were 7.40 and 12.74 mg g⁻¹ for intact and alkaline-treated bioadsorbents, respectively, at optimum operating conditions. Biosorption reaches equilibrium after 24 and 240 minutes of contact, respectively, for alkaline-treated and intact bioadsorbents. Cadmium biosorption was best fitted to Langmuir isotherm model (R² ≈ 0.99) and the kinetic study obeyed the pseudo-second-order kinetic model, which suggests chemisorption as the rate-limiting step in the biosorption process. Alkaline-treated algal tissues can be used as a new material of low-cost bioadsorbent for continuous flow rate treatment systems.

KEYWORDS:

• Cd-contaminated environment
• chemically modified algae
• Freundlich and Langmuir isotherm models
• Hydrodictyon reticulatum
• pseudo-second-order kinetic model

Acknowledgments

Authors would like to appreciate the technical assistance of Ms. Ruba Zalloum, Dr. Mohammad Allawi, Dr. Hazem Shareef, and Eng. Majida Al-Hadidi.

Funding

This research was financially supported by the Scientific Research Support Fund.