Application of Novel Adsorbent Prepared by Mucor hiemalis Biomass Impregnated with Calcium Alginate for Removal of Sr²⁺ from Aqueous Solutions

In this research, a novel biosorbent was prepared by Mucor hiemalis biomass combined with calcium alginate (Mucor hiemalis/Alg-Ca). The dead biomass was entrapped into alginate gel by curing method in the presence of Ca²⁺ ions. The synthesized biosorbent characterized by XRD, EDAX, BET, FTIR, and SEM techniques was used for removal of Sr²⁺ from aquatic streams under various experimental conditions and the optimized adsorption capacity of 140 mg g⁻¹ was obtained. The selectivity of the adsorbent towards Sr²⁺ studied in the presence of Na⁺, Cs⁺, Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ was reasonably high. The adsorption process was kinetically fast and the equilibrium was established within 60 min, and followed the pseudo-second order kinetics model. The equilibrium data was well described by Langmuir isotherm model. The thermodynamics parameters (∆G°, ∆H° and ∆S°) of the process were determined. Positive ∆H° and negative ∆G° were indicative of the endothermic and spontaneous nature of the adsorption process. Graphical Abstract:

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