Biosorption of Hexavalent Chromium by Sargassum ilicifolium, Kinetics, and Optimization using Response Surface Design Method (RSM)

Environmental pollution with toxic and heavy metals has been a major problem in recent decades. Therefore, the removal of these pollutants from the environment is very important.

In this study, the biosorption of hexavalent chromium (Cr+ 6) was investigated by brown alga Sargassum ilicifolium. The absorbance of Cr+6 solutions at 540 nm was obtained by UV-VIS. Also, the effective parameters in absorption such as initial metal concentration, amount of algae, pH, temperature, and contact time were investigated. The Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms were used to study the equilibrium studies.

In these conditions, the maximum adsorption capacity was 203 mg/g of Sargassum ilicifolium. Laboratory data with the pseudo-second-order kinetics were described better. Using Response Surface Methodology (RSM), optimum conditions of maximum adsorption capacity were determined at pH 2, adsorbent content of 0.2 g/l, initial metal concentration of 200 mg/L at 25 °C, and the equilibration time of 7 h.

The results showed that the Freundlich isotherm was more suitable for describing the system. Thermodynamic studies have also shown that the process was exothermic and spontaneous and increased with time due to disorder. Due to the functional groups present in the algal cell wall, part of Cr+6 was reduced to Cr+3 and Cr+3 that were remained in solution. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy of (FT-IR) showed that amino, carboxyl, sulfonic acid, and hydroxyl groups played a major role in the process of chromium uptake by Sargassum ilicifolium.