Biosorption valorization of floating and submerged macrophytes for heavy-metal removal in a multi-component system

• Published in: Applied water science 2019-06, Vol.9 (4), p.1-9, Article 95
• Main Authors: Bind, Akhilesh, Kushwaha, Anamika, Devi, Gitika, Goswami, Shivani, Sen, Bahnika, Prakash, Veeru
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aquatic macrophytes; Aquatic plants; Aquatic Pollution; Aqueous solutions; Azolla filiculoides; Bioremediation; Biosorption; Chromium; Comparative Law; Copper; Design of experiments; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Floating; Freshwater plants; Heavy metals; Hydrilla verticillata; Hydrogeology; Industrial and Production Engineering; International & Foreign Law; Lead; Levels; Macrophytes; Metal concentrations; Metals; Multi-component system; Nanotechnology; Original Article; Plackett–Burman design of experiments; Private International Law; Removal; Variance analysis; Waste Water Technology; Water Industry/Water Technologies; Water Management; Water Pollution Control
• ISSN: 2190-5487; 2190-5495
• DOI: 10.1007/s13201-019-0976-y

This study comprises the comparative evaluation of floating ( Azolla filiculoides ) and submerged ( Hydrilla verticillata ) macrophytes for potential biosorption of Cu(II), Cr(VI), As(III) and Pb(II) from aqueous solution in a multi-component study. Statistically valid Plackett–Burman design of experiments was employed with four heavy metals at two different levels by varying their initial concentration in the range 10-50 mg L −1 for both the macrophytes. The maximum removal efficiency for Pb(II) was obtained for both the biosorbents, i.e., Azolla sp. (81.4%) and Hydrilla sp. (84.3%) within 4 h of the experimental runs, with an initial concentration of 10 mg L −1 of all the heavy metals. Followed by Pb(II) removal, a declining trend for the removal (%) for Cu(II), As(III) and Cr(VI) was obtained, for all the experimental runs. Also, the minimum removal (%) for all the experimental runs was attained at 25 mg L −1 (maximum) for all the heavy-metal concentration level. The removal efficiency (%) trends follow the order: Pb(II) > Cu(II) > As(III) > Cr(VI) for both the biosorbents. Analysis of variance and Student’s t test of the metal bioremoval revealed that main (individual) effect due to the metals was highly significant ( P value