Kinetics and equilibrium studies on biosorption of cadmium, lead, and nickel ions from aqueous solutions by intact and chemically modified brown algae

▶ The present study deals with the evaluation of biosorptive removal of Cd (II), Ni (II) and Pb (II) ions by both intact and pre-treated brown marine algae: Cystoseira indica, Sargassum glaucescens, Nizimuddinia zanardini and Padina australis treated with formaldehyde (FA), glutaraldehyde (GA), polyethylene imine (PEI), calcium chloride (CaCl2) and hydrochloric acid (HCl). From the results obtained, chemically modification leads to higher capacity of biosorption. ▶ The equilibrium experimental data were tested using the most common isotherms. The results are best fitted by the Freundlich model among two-parameter models and the Toth, Khan and Radke-Prausnitz models among three-parameter isotherm models for Cd (II), Ni (II) and Pb (II), respectively. ▶ One-way ANOVA and one sample t-tests were performed on experimental data to evaluate the statistical significance of biosorption capacities after five cycles of sorption and desorption. ▶ The kinetic data were fitted by models including pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order. From the results obtained, the pseudo-second-order kinetic model describes best the biosorption of cadmium, nickel and lead ions.