PEI modified Leucaena leucocephala seed powder, a potential biosorbent for the decontamination of arsenic species from water bodies: bioremediation

Abstract

Environmental contamination due to anthropogenic and natural sources is increasing day by day because of increase in population, industrialization and urbanization. Arsenic species released into the environment tend to persist indefinitely, circulating and eventually accumulating throughout the food chain, thus becoming a serious threat to the environment. The present study explores the effectiveness of Leucaena leucocephala seed powder (agricultural waste) in removing arsenic ions from aqueous solution. Batch studies were carried out to characterize As (III) and As (V) removal capability of L. leucocephala seed powder. Maximum biosorption capacity for As (III) and As (V) was found to be 81.88 and 92.61 %, respectively. Amino acid-arsenic interaction has been highlighted on the basis of shifting of FTIR bands of native LLSP. Morphological changes and reduction in pore area have been observed in modified LLSP. Modification on the native LLSP results into the increase in percentage sorption of As (III) and As (V) up to 85 and 99 %, respectively. Enhancement in the percentage sorption is due the increase in the stability of the biosorbent due to increase in the final decomposition temperature of the modified LLSP. The findings showed that L. leucocephala seed powder can easily be envisaged as a new, vibrant, low-cost biosorbent for arsenic clean-up operations.

Review on Biosorption of Arsenic From Contaminated Water

“…The reusability of biomaterial, the ability to detect very less concentrations of toxic metals in water, the high removal efficiency, no production of secondary compounds, low operating costs, and short operation times are some advantages of biosorption over other methods . Various biomaterials including plant biomass, agricultural waste, bacteria, fungi, and algae have been used to confiscate As from aqueous solutions . Other conventional methods described above have several technical and economical limitations due to which the biosorption process is gaining attention.…”

“…Metal ion complex formation, chemical and physical adsorption, ion exchange, and precipitation are some mechanisms which are involved in adsorption . In some cases, chemical modification has also shown promising results in improving the efficiency of adsorbent. Figure represents the mechanisms involved in As removal by fruit and vegetable wastes.…”

“…Some other investigations concerned with the augmentation in the sorption capacity and reusability of the biosorbent rendering it appropriate for commercialization. Raj et al used pretreated seed powder of Leucaena leucocephala (LLSP) with polyethylenimine (PEI). The biosorption of As(III) increased from 81.88 to 85%, while the percentage removal of As(V) increased from 92.61 to 99% in chemically pretreated LLSP.…”

Synthesis of alginate–polycation capsules of different composition: characterization and their adsorption for [As(iii)] and [As(v)] from aqueous solutions

“…Li et al 31 achieved sorption of 55% of [As(V)] at pH 7.0, using cerium oxide nanoparticles. Raj et al 32 used industrial corn waste to remove [As(V)] from aqueous solutions at pH 7.5. The authors found that by crosslinking Zea mays cob powder with PEI the adsorption efficiency increased by 12%.…”

An assessment on removal performance of arsenic with treated Turbinaria vulgaris as an adsorbent: Characterization, optimization, isotherm, and kinetics study

“…They reported that the percentage sorption of As (III) increases from 22.04 (NCC) to 80.22% (aminated NCC), while percentage sorption of As (V) increases from 23.26 (NCC) to 91.56% (aminated NCC). Raj et al executed the batch studies toward the characterization of As (III) and As (V) removal capability of Leucaena leucocephala seed powder (LLSP). They observed the maximum biosorption capacity for As (III) and As (V) with the value of 81.88 and 92.61%, respectively.…”