Progress and Prospects of

Biosorption Process for Wastewater

Treatment

Ajay Kumar
Assistant Professor
Department of Bioengineering and Biosciences
Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, India
 WHAT IS BIOSORPTION?

Biosorption is rather difficult to define because

many mechanisms may contribute to the overall
process depending on the substance to be
sorbed, the biosorbent used, environmental
factors and the presence or absence of
metabolic processes in the case of living
organisms.
 Waste water containing heavy metal pollutants such as:

• Cd2+,Pb2+,As+3, Cr4+etc)
• Textile dyes ( azo dyes)
• Pesticides (organo-phosphorous pesticides)
• Antibiotics (amoxicillin and ampicillin )
• Steroid hormones ( oxytocin) ,
• Surfactant,
• Pharmaceutical waste
 Algae as the biosorbents
Biomass Metal ions qmax (mmol/g) References
Ascophyllum spp. Ni, Pb, Cd, Cu 1.03-1.43 Volesky etal., 2000
Chlorella sp. Cd 0.99 Aksu, 2001
Cladophora sp. Pb 0.35 Jalali etal., 2002
Cyclotella sp. Cu 0.41 Schmitt etal., 2001
Cymodocea spp. Cu, Zn 0.71-0.83 Sanchez etal., 1999
Fucus sp. Pb 1.6 Volesky, 1994
Gracilaria sp. Pb 0.2-0.26 Jalali etal., 2002
Volesky, 1994; Jalali
Padina spp. Pb, Cu 0.31-1.05
etal., 2002; Kaewsarn, 2002
Phaeodactylum sp. Cu 1.67mg/g Schmitt etal., 2001
Polysiphonia sp. Pb 0.49 Jalali etal., 2002
Porphyridium sp. Cu 0.27mg/g Schmitt etal., 2001
Volesky etal., 1994,2000;
Sargassum spp. Pb, Cu, Cd, Ni 0.71-1.99
Jalali etal., 2002
Scenedesmus spp. Cu, Cd 0.06-0.21 Schmitt etal., 2001
Schizomeris spp. Pb, Cd 0.31-0.44 Ozer etal., 1999
Spirulina sp. Cd 0.87 Rangsayatorn etal., 2002
Ulva sp. Pb 0.61 Jalali etal., 2002
 Conventional techniques like membrane
separation and chemical precipitation are
widely investigated for waste water treatment.

To enhance the efficiency of waste water

treatment process, the use of bio sorbents(
microbial and plant origin based biomaterials)
are promoted by several investigator.
Hydrothermal carbonization of biomass is one of
the promising technique for the formation of
activated carbon which can be used as bio sorbent
for the removal of organic and inorganic pollutant
from the waste water.

A wide variety of bio sorbents such as bacteria

(microbial polysaccharide-based nanoadsorbents),
fungi (Rhizopus arrhizus), yeast, algae (red and
green macroalgae) , biochar , pyrochar, hydrochar
has been investigated .
 Different mechanisms
involved in biosorption phenomenon
Different functional groups present on the surface of hydrochar
• The sorption kinetics of metals has been
demonstrated by several mathematical models
such as Langmuir, Freundlich, Langmuir-
Freundlich,and double Langmuir model.
 Several tools are use for the characterization of
bio sorbent such as:
• SEM ( Scanning electron microscopy)
• EDX (Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy )
• BET (Brunauer–Emmett–Teller )
• FTIR (Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy)
Carbon flows from biochar production with tomato plant
feedstocks and system boundaries under study ( Source: Llorach-
Massana et al.,2017)
 Conclusions

• Biosorbent have potential for waste water

treatment which can be scale up in coming
days.
 References
• Gadd, G. M. (2009). Biosorption: critical review of scientific rationale, environmental
importance and significance for pollution treatment. Journal of Chemical Technology and
Biotechnology, 84(1), 13-28.

• Llorach-Massana, P., Lopez-Capel, E., Peña, J., Rieradevall, J., Montero, J. I., & Puy, N.
(2017). Technical feasibility and carbon footprint of biochar co-production with tomato plant
residue. Waste Management.
• Ahmad, M., Rajapaksha, A. U., Lim, J. E., Zhang, M., Bolan, N., Mohan, D., ... & Ok, Y. S.
(2014). Biochar as a sorbent for contaminant management in soil and water: a review.
Chemosphere, 99, 19-33.

• Mohan, D., Sarswat, A., Ok, Y. S., & Pittman, C. U. (2014). Organic and inorganic
contaminants removal from water with biochar, a renewable, low cost and sustainable
adsorbent–a critical review. Bioresource technology, 160, 191-202.