Mane P. C, Bhosle A. B, Jangam C. M and Vishwakarma C. V
The presence of heavy metals in aquatic environment is known to cause severe damage to aquatic life. Most of the heavy metals are soluble in water and form aqueous solutions and consequently cannot be separated by ordinary physical and chemical means of separation. Biological methods such as biosorption/ bioaccumulation for the removal of heavy metal ions may provide an attractive alternative to physico-chemical methods. The biomass is capable of absorbing and adsorbing metal ions from aqueous solution. In this study the effect of pretreatment of Algal biomasses like Spirogyra on the Se biosorption capacity were investigated under laboratory conditions. For this purpose, the biomasses were subjected to physical treatments such as heat and autoclaving and chemical treatments such as sodium hydroxide and acetic acid. Under laboratory condition, all the pretreated biomass increased biosorption of Se in comparison with live biomass. The maximum metal removal efficiency for Se was observed under the biomass dried at 60o C for 12 h in an Oven (spirogyra – 50%; Nostoc – 52.4%) resp.
