IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i6p5521-d1103219.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Biosorption of Heavy Metals with Algae: Critical Review of Its Application in Real Effluents

Author

Listed:
  • Javier I. Ordóñez

    (Departamento de Ingeniería Química y Procesos de Minerales, Universidad de Antofagasta, Antofagasta 1240000, Chile)

  • Sonia Cortés

    (Departamento de Ingeniería Química y Procesos de Minerales, Universidad de Antofagasta, Antofagasta 1240000, Chile)

  • Pablo Maluenda

    (Departamento de Ingeniería Química y Procesos de Minerales, Universidad de Antofagasta, Antofagasta 1240000, Chile)

  • Ignacio Soto

    (Departamento de Biotecnología, Universidad de Antofagasta, Antofagasta 1240000, Chile)

Abstract

Biosorption is a variant of sorption techniques in which the adsorbent is a material of biological origin. It has become an economic and ecological alternative for the treatment of effluents. Among the biomasses employed in biosorption, algae have emerged as a sustainable solution for producing environmentally friendly adsorbents due to their abundance in seawater and freshwater, profitability, reuse and high metal absorption capacities. Although the research on the use of biosorbents is extensive and has grown in recent years, there are not many cases of their use for the treatment of real industrial solutions, which are more challenging due to the complex composition of metals that results in interference or competition over the functional sites of the biomass. This review aims to highlight the current state of research, focusing on the application of algae biosorption to remove copper from effluents. The most studied metals are those with the most significant health connotations, such as Cd, Cu and Pb. Regarding copper, only 2% of the biosorption works using seaweeds have been applied to real effluents, which leaves a relevant gap to advance the technology in the treatment of polluted solutions.

Suggested Citation

  • Javier I. Ordóñez & Sonia Cortés & Pablo Maluenda & Ignacio Soto, 2023. "Biosorption of Heavy Metals with Algae: Critical Review of Its Application in Real Effluents," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-14, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:6:p:5521-:d:1103219
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/6/5521/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/6/5521/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nithiya Arumugam & Shreeshivadasan Chelliapan & Hesam Kamyab & Sathiabama Thirugnana & Norazli Othman & Noor Shawal Nasri, 2018. "Treatment of Wastewater Using Seaweed: A Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-17, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.

      Corrections

      All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:6:p:5521-:d:1103219. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

      If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

      If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

      If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

      For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

      Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

      IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.