Adsorbents Based on Keratin for Lead and Cadmium Removal

Keratins are an important source of biopolymers with high potential for application in various areas of biotechnology and biomedicine. Due to the presence of different functional groups in the structure of keratins, it can be used to bind the metal ions from aqueous solutions. Every year, tons of keratinous wastes are produced in the world especially in the wool textile industry. Therefore, the application of keratin biomaterial for the elimination of heavy metals from water is important for the environment. Our results have shown that the adsorption capacity of chemically modified keratin for Pb (II) and Cd (II) is higher than the untreated keratin and depends on pH. The highest adsorption efficiency for Pb (II) and Cd (II) was determined for sodium bisulfite-treated keratin at pH 6.0 (68.7 and 38.5% respectively). Under these conditions, Pb (II) and Cd (II) were much less adsorbed from solution by hydrogen peroxide-treated keratin (53.3 and 28.2% respectively). It is noteworthy that in the same model systems, the adsorption efficiency for Pb (II) is higher than for Cd (II). Our study showed that chemically treated keratin is a promising adsorbent for removing Pb (II) and Cd (II) ions from water solution, and would expand the application of keratin wastes.

Keywords: adsorption; cadmium; chemical treatment; keratin; lead

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