Human hair natural fiber is mainly considered a waste in our society and its disposal can cause a major environmental impact. Hence, its valorization as a biosorbent of pollutants such as heavy metals is an interesting route to explore since it can reduce the amount of waste and at the same time contributes to the circular economy strategy. In this work, the ability of two kind of human hairs, used as biosorbents to remove Cr(III), Ni(II), Co(II), Mn(II), Cu(II), Zn(II), Cd(II) and Pb(II) ions from multiple-metal aqueous solutions, were examined and compared under different operating conditions. The influence of the time, pH and initial metal concentration on the metal uptake were studied. The biosorption kinetics and isotherm were also modeled observing that pseudo-second order kinetic model and Langmuir model fitted successfully experimental data. Moreover, biosorption process did not significantly modify the morphology and the chemical structure of the hair samples, which was proved by SEM and FT-IR studies. These kinetic results underline the satisfactory capacity of human hair for the biosorption of Pb(II), Cu(II) and Cr(II) (values up to 95%), pointing up the high efficacy of human hair for the removal of heavy metal ions from aqueous media.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2025 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.