MACROPHYTES: A POTENT BIO - SORBENT FOR THE SEQUESTRATION OF HEAVY METALS

Abstract: During the last two decades, several methods have been applied for the treatment of metal bearing wastewater; none of the method was suitable for the industrial purposes due to various drawbacks. Biosorption has introduced a new dimension for the sequestration of heavy metals in the wastewater. The eco -friendliness and cost effectiveness are the added advantage of this technique. A good number of biosorbents have been tried by several researchers for the recovery of metals from the aqueous solution out of which seaweeds is gaining much attention. The intention of this review paper is to highlight the extrapolative nature of seaweeds in the biosorption of heavy metals. Sea weeds are splendidly obtainable resources throughout the world which can be exploited without any expenditure for the treatment of metal contaminated wastewater. This article summarizes the past achievement and present scenario on the seaweed, the most promising biosorbent. The adsorption isotherm models and kinetics are also discussed in this paper which would facilitate one to understand the rate and metals adsorption capacity of the biosorbents, particularly the seaweeds.

Keywords: Biosorption, Sea weeds, algae, water, heavy metals, kinetics, modeling.