Biosorption of heavy metals from aqueous solutions onto chitin

Jaafarzadeh, Nematollah; Mengelizadeh, Nezamaddin; Takdastan, Afshin; Heidari Farsani, Mohammad; Niknam, Noureddin; Aalipour, Mohammadreza; Hadei, Mostafa; Bahrami, Parvaneh

doi:10.4103/2277-9183.153992

Biosorption of heavy metals from aqueous solutions onto chitin

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Nematollah Jaafarzadeh ¹

Nezamaddin Mengelizadeh ²

Afshin Takdastan ¹

Mohammad Heidari Farsani ¹

Noureddin Niknam ³

Mohammadreza Aalipour ²

Mostafa Hadei ²

Parvaneh Bahrami ¹

¹ Department of Environmental Health Engineering and Environmental Technology Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran

² Environment Research Center and Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Student Research Center, School of Health, Isfahan University of Medical Science, Isfahan, Iran

³ Department of Health Management and Economics Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Science, Isfahan, Iran

10.4103/2277-9183.153992

Abstract

Aims: This study investigates the potential of chitin shrimp shells for the removal of arsenic (V) and zinc (II) ions from aqueous solutions. Materials and Methods: In this study, the chitin was extracted from shrimp shells for arsenate and zinc ions removal from aqueous solutions. The effects of pH, adsorbent dosage, contact time and initial metal ion concentration on As (V) and Zn (II) removal were investigated in a batch system. Results: The equilibrium data were described using the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. The Langmuir equation was used to find the maximum adsorption capacity for arsenate (11.574 mg/g) and Zn (270.27 mg/g). Biosorption was found to depend significantly on the pH of the solution and is optimal at pH values of 4 and 7. To determine the rate-controlling mechanism for metallic ion adsorption, pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order equation kinetic models were tested with experimental adsorption kinetic data. Modeling results revealed that As (V) and Zn (II) kinetics data were successfully described using pseudo-first and second-order models, respectively. FTIR analyses showed that hydroxyl and carboxyl groups could be very effective for capturing these metals. Conclusion: Results showed that the chitin is a good adsorbent for the removal of arsenate and zinc ions from aqueous solutions.

Keywords

Biosorption

chitin

heavy metal

isotherm

kinetic