Angel Villabona-Ortiz ¹, Candelaria Tejada-Tovar ¹, Angel Gonzalez-Delgado ², Erika Ruiz-Paternina ¹, Norida Pajaro-Gomez ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Chemical Engineering, Process Design and Biomass Utilization Research Group (IDAB), University of Cartagena, Cartagena, Bolivar, CO
2 Nanomaterials and Computer Aided Process Engineering Research Group (NIPAC), University of Cartagena, Cartagena, Bolivar, CO

Abstract

Background: Contamination with heavy metal ions has been recognized an important issue that require alternatives to be faced. Adsorption is considered a promising technique to remove these pollutants from aqueous solution. However, disposal problems of polluted biomass have limited its application. Objective: In this work, banana peels biomass is employed as biosorbent for hexavalent chromium uptake. Methods/Statistical Analysis: The effects of particle size, temperature and dosage were considered during adsorption batch experiments. Sorption-desorption cycles were performed in order to analyze the biosorbent useful life. To solve biomass disposal problems, solidification/stabilization immobilization technique was used for heavy metal ions encapsulation through bricks preparation. These bricks were subjected to mechanical resistance and leaching tests to identify if they obey quality and environmental standard. Findings: Results revealed that biosorbent dosage was the parameter that most contributed adsorption process. After sorption-desorption cycles, the biosorbent reduced its removal capacity by 30%. Application/Improvements: The mechanical resistance and leaching tests suggested the applicability of residual biosorbent for preparing bricks due to the low leachate concentration and high compression resistance.

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