Effluent treatment using polysaccharide

VERÓNICA LASALLE; ANGEL J. SATTI

Food, Medical, and Environmental Applications of Polysaccharides

Elsevier

Año: 2020;

Wastewater produced by the anthropogenic activity (agricultural, industrial, etc.) leads to a great variety of dangerous pollutants as dyes, heavy metals, hydrocarbons, nutrients, arsenic and medical wastes that must be treated before threatening life and the ecosystem. Between many technologies pursuing that goal, adsorption phenomena and its combination with other methodologies has turned in one of the preferred strategies to assess the wastewater remediation.This procedure involves a solid liquid interface being efficient, low cost and highly versatile to assess the remediation of diverse media by eliminating pollutants of different chemical nature. Likely important is the use of non-toxic adsorbents, for obvious reasons. Fortunately, a number of biomaterials based on polysaccharides are actually employed or investigated as potential adsorbent material to clean up wastewater. For instance, cationic polysaccharides as chitosan, anionic as alginates, pectin, carrageenans, Gellan, gum arabic, Xanthan and also neutral as amylopectin, cellulose and guar gum, find interesting properties to provide solution to specific environmental problems. Their behaviour and efficiency commonly derive from the kind of interactions that may have with the pollutants. Besides, the combination of such biopolymers with other moieties (organic or inorganic) expands their practical possibilities increasing their efficiency.This chapter deals with the most recent advances in the application of polysaccharides in the field of water remediation with special emphasis in the relation between kind of polymer and the specific contaminant that may eliminate from aqueous media. This focus includes the investigation regarding composites materials prepared from polysaccharides and diverse compounds to improve their adsorption or even remediation properties.Finally a section regarding the emergent contaminants and the potential role of polysaccharides in their elimination is included as a topic that continuously grows in interest and updates.