Biosorbents for the extraction of metals
AssigneesUniversidad De Chile, Biotecnologia Del Agua Ltda.
InventorsDavor Cotoras Tadic, Pabla Viedma, Juan Manuel Gajardo Sandoval
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Abstract
A biosorbent for removing cationic and/or anionic metals from aqueous solutions, and a process for the production of the biosorbent. The biosorbent includes bacterial aggregates of Bacillus sp. VCHB-10, deposited as NRRL-B-30881, and treated with polyethyleneimine and glutaraldehyde. Among the metals in their cationic form, the following are considered: cations of Ag, Al, Au, Co, Cd, Cu, Cr, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Pd, Pt, U, Th and Zn. Among the metals in their anionic form, the following are considered: anions of As, Cr and Mo. Removal or recovery of metals from wastewater using the biosorbent is also described.
Claims19
A process for the production of a biosorbent for the removal of cationic or anionic metals from aqueous solution, the process comprising:
- a) growing the bacterial strain Bacillus sp. VCHB-10, deposited as NRRL-B-30881, under conditions sufficient to allow the bacterial strain to form aggregates of bacterial cells in a culture medium;
- b) allowing the aggregates of bacterial cells to sediment in order to concentrate the aggregates;
- c) recovering the concentrated aggregates;
- d) washing the concentrated aggregates with water;
- e) contacting the washed aggregates of concentrated bacterial cells with a solution of polyethyleneimine in methanol to form a reaction mixture, and allowing the mixture to undergo chemical modification;
- f) contacting the polyethyleneimine-treated aggregates with a solution of glutaraldehyde to initiate a crosslinking reaction;
- g) allowing the crosslinked aggregates to sediment;
- and
- h) washing the sedimented crosslinked aggregates with water to yield the biosorbent capable of adsorbing metal ions.
A biosorbent comprising bacterial aggregates of the bacterial strain Bacillus sp. VCHB-10, deposited as NRRL-B-30881, and modified with polyethyleneimine and glutaraldehyde.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.