Five polymeric materials, namely, styrene divinylbenzene, ethyl acrylate-ethylene glycol dimethacrylate, ethyl acrylate-methyl methacrylate-ethylene glycol dimethacrylate, polysulfone, and silica gel, were evaluated as supports for immobilizing biomass of the common brown seaweed alga,Sargassum fluitans, for use as metal sorbents. Small ion exchange columns were prepared containing one gram of sorbent. Solutions of metal ions at pH of 5.5, with the exception of gold for which a pH of 2 was used, were passed through the columns to trap the metals. Bound metals were subsequently stripped from the columns with 1 M nitric acid. Styrene divinylbenzene, polysulfone, and silica gel were found to be the most ideal matrices for immobilizing biomass. Breakthrough curves for the polymeric sorbents were similar to an iminodiacetic acid chelating resin, but the total metal adsorbing capacity of each biosorbent was considerably less than chelating resin. However, the resin swelling commonly associated with chelating resins when using strong acid stripping agents was not observed.
展开▼
