Publication

Abstract : Batch studies have been carried out to study the feasibility of adsorption of hexavalent chromium onto Galaxaura ornate seaweed. The equilibrium data and biosorption capacity of chromium was determined by varying the pH, dosage of adsorbent, contact time and initial metal ion concentration. The maximum adsorptive capacity was obtained at a pH of 2 at an equilibrium time of 120 minutes. Highest removal efficiency for raw biomass was found to be 71% for hexavalent chromium under optimal conditions. The biosorption isotherms were determined using Langmuir and Freundlich models. Based on the correlation coefficient value it was found that the data fits well both to Langmuir (R2=0.99) and Freundlich adsorption isotherm (R2=0.98) representing monolayer adsorption as well as adsorption on heterogeneous surfaces. The findings of the kinetic study infer that pseudo second order model show a better fit for a wider range of concentrations studied than the pseudo first order kinetics. The results indicate that the identified seaweed has the potential to adsorb chromium (VI) from the aqueous solution. © 2015 Sphinx Knowledge House. All rights reserved.