Nutshells as Efficient Biosorbents to Remove Cadmium, Lead, and Mercury from Contaminated Solutions

Mariana Dias, João Pinto, Bruno Henriques, Paula Figueira, Elaine Fabre, Daniela Tavares, Carlos Vale and Eduarda Pereira
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Mariana Dias: Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
João Pinto: LAQV-REQUIMTE & Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Bruno Henriques: LAQV-REQUIMTE & Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Paula Figueira: LAQV-REQUIMTE & Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Elaine Fabre: Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Daniela Tavares: Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Carlos Vale: CIIMAR–Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, 4450-208 Matosinhos, Portugal
Eduarda Pereira: LAQV-REQUIMTE & Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 4, 1-16

Abstract: The release of potentially toxic elements into the environment, and their effects on aquatic ecosystems still present a real threat. To avoid such contamination, the use of biological sorbents as an alternative to conventional and expensive water remediation techniques has been proposed. The present study evaluated the potential of 0.5 g L −1 of peanut, hazelnut, pistachio, walnut, and almond shells to remove the requisite concentrations of cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), and mercury (Hg) from contaminated water. Hazelnut shells were identified as the sorbent with the highest potential and were evaluated in mono- and multi-contaminated mineral water. The influence of sorbent-intrinsic and solution-intrinsic characteristics were assessed. Differences among sorbents were attributed to varying percentages of their main components: cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. Matrix complexity increase caused a decrease in Cd removal, presumably due to the diminution in electrostatic interaction, and complexation with anions such as Cl − . When simultaneously present in the solution, contaminants competed, with Pb showing higher affinity to the sorbent than Hg. High efficiencies (>90%) obtained for hazelnut shells for all elements in ultrapure water and for Pb and Hg in mineral water) reveals the high potential of this low-cost and abundant waste for use in the remediation of contaminated waters (circular economy).

Keywords: water remediation; food wastes; nutshells; heavy metals; contamination (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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