Biosorption of Cu(II) Ions Using Living Microalgae Chlorella sp.: Effects of Microalgae Concentration, Salinity, and Light Color

Abstract

Chemical industry wastewater containing metals must be treated so as not to threaten the environment or human life. One of the wastewater treatments is the biosorption process using living microalgae. Although living microalgae can provide better results as a biosorbent, the mechanism of this biosorption process is complex because it involves two steps of the process, active and passive uptake, which run simultaneously. In addition, several process parameters need to be adjusted for the biosorption process to operate optimally. This study aims to investigate the effect of several parameters such as microalgae concentration, salinity, and light color. Synthetic CuSO4 solution at a concentration of 40 mg/L and pH 5 is used as artificial waste, while microalgae Chlorella sp. is used as biosorbent. The biosorption process was operated in a batch system at room temperature for 6 days. The experimental results show that 96.83% of the Cu(II) ions could be removed when the microalgae concentration, salinity, and light color were conditioned at 1.5 x 10 6 cells/mL, 3,000 mg/L, and red light, respectively.