Column biosorption of lanthanum and europium by Sargassum.

Batch and column biosorption of La(3+) (lanthanum) and Eu(3+) (europium) was studied using protonated Sargassum polycystum biomass. The ion exchange sorption mechanism was confirmed by the proportional release of protons and by the total normality of the solution, which remained constant during the process. Equilibrium isotherms were determined for the binary systems, La/H and Eu/H for a total normality of 3 meq g(-1), which produced separation factors of 2.7 and 4.7, respectively, demonstrating a higher affinity of the biomass towards europium. Column runs with a single metal feed were used to estimate the intra-particle mass transfer coefficients for La and Eu (6.0 x 10(-4) and 3.7 x 10(-4) min(-1), respectively). Modeling batch and column binary systems with proton as the common ion was able to predict reasonably well the behavior of a ternary system containing protons. The software FEMLAB was used for solving the set of coupled partial differential equations. Moreover, a series of consecutive sorption/desorption runs demonstrated that the metal could be recovered and the biomass reused in multiple cycles by using 0.1N HCl with no apparent loss in the biosorbent metal uptake capacity.

Effect of counterions on lanthanum biosorption by Sargassum polycystum.

The effect of the presence of different anions on the biosorption of La(3+) (Lanthanum) using Sargassum polycystum Ca-loaded biomass was studied in this work. Different types of metal salts were used, such as nitrate, sulphate and chloride. The presence of the anion sulphate decreased the metal uptake for tested pH values of 3--5 when compared to the nitrate and chloride systems. The presence of chloride ions did not seem to interfere with the lanthanum removal. The speciation of lanthanum in solution could explain the differences obtained for the different systems and the Mineql+ program was used for the calculations. A monovalent complex with sulphate and lanthanum was formed that had lower apparent affinity towards the biomass compared to the free trivalent metal ion. The La uptake varied from 0.6 to 1.0 mmol g(-1). The Langmuir model was used to describe quantitatively the sorption isotherms. The addition of sulphuric acid for pH adjustment decreased the metal uptake from lanthanum sulphate solutions when compared to the nitric acid addition. The effect was more pronounced with sulphuric acid due to the formation of complexes.

Biosorption of La, Eu and Yb using Sargassum biomass.

Biosorption of the lanthanides: Lanthanum (La(3+)), Europium (Eu(3+)) and Ytterbium (Yb(3+)) from single-component and multi-component batch systems using Sargassum polycystum Ca-loaded biomass was studied. The ion exchange sorption mechanism was confirmed by the release of calcium ions from the biomass that matched the total number of metal and protons removed from the solution. The metal binding increased with pH due to the decrease of proton concentration in the system, as they also compete for the binding sites. The maximum metal uptake capacity for pH 3, 4 and 5 ranged approximately between (0.8-0.9) mmol g(-1) for La (0.8-0.9) mmol g(-1) for Eu, and (0.7-0.9) mmol g(-1) for Yb. Biosorption from multi-component mixtures was examined at pH 4 using equimolar initial concentrations of the metals. The metal affinity sequence established was Eu>La>Yb, and the maximum metal uptake obtained was 0.29, 0.41, 0.28 mmol g(-1) for La, Eu and Yb, respectively.