Magnetic Biosorbents and Their Applications in Water Remediation

PAMELA Y. QUINTAS; EMILIANO F. FIORENTINI; MARÍA N. OVIEDO; LETICI B. ESCUDERO

Advanced Magnetic Adsorbents for Water Treatment

Springer Chem.,

Año: 2021; p. 59 - 104

Water pollution is caused by the presence of toxic inorganic and organic compoundsthat come from both natural and anthropogenic sources. The development of the industrialsector has caused the discharge of poor or non treated−residual liquids containing highconcentrations of pollutants, such as arsenic, mercury, lead, cadmium, hydrocarbons, andhormones. Although different remediation treatments have been proposed to removepollutants from contaminated matrices, it is necessary to focus on additional efficient andgreen technologies. The adsorption has showed promising results for the treatment ofpollutants from natural water. In this sense, various types of adsorbents have beensynthesized and applied for the removal of different contaminants. Within adsorption, theuse of biodegradable materials goes along to the care of the environment and it is equally oreven more efficient than classical chemical adsorbents. However, the phase separation ofthe biosorbent containing the pollutant from the aqueous phase after the biosorptionprocess, it is usually made by time−consuming steps like filtration or centrifugation.Moreover, in the case of using some bacteria it is necessary to make the phase separationwith an ultracentrifuge, which is not always available is all laboratories. In this way,magnetic separation has arisen as an alternative of the separation step, offering besidesother advantages on the biosorbent response to remove pollutants.In this chapter, we present the most recent advances of using magnetic biosorbents fordecontamination of water. A wide variety of contaminants, including metals, metalloids,dyes, and other organic pollutants, will be considered. A brief explanation from the creationto the present of magnetic biosorbents will be presented. Different techniques used tocharacterize magnetic biosorbents will be also detailed. The reviewed literature evidencedthe great potential of magnetic biosorbents for the elimination of different contaminantsfrom aqueous matrices. The contribution of some magnetic nanomaterials to form magneticbiosorbents with biological substrates is traduced in superlative biosorption efficiency dueto the high specific surface area, pore volume, and versatility of surface active sites comingfrom to the magnetic nanomaterials. Thus, removal percentages from 70 to 100% areobtained in the majority of the reported works. Other considerations related withbiosorption will be also covered in this chapter.