Evaluation of a Causative Species of Harmful Algal Blooming, Prorocentrum triestinum, as a Sustainable Source of Biosorption on Cadmium

Abstract

Biosorption is an effective method for removing heavy metal ions from wastewater. In the current study, the biosorption capacity of a microalgae Prorocentrum triestinum strain AD1 was investigated for cadmium removal. The efficient biomass concentration was found to be 5 g/L. Based on the Langmuir adsorption model, the maximum adsorption capacity (qmax) value of cadmium removal was found to be 0.0196 mmol/g. The investigation results of the AD1 biosorption kinetics showed that the effective contact time on biosorption was 3 h, and the adsorption kinetics fitted well with the pseudo-second-order model. The optimum pH of biosorption was found to be 5. On the other hand, HCl could act as an efficient desorbent for cadmium recovery from AD1, with an optimum concentration of 0.01 M. These results suggest that the biomass of P. triestinum has great potential for the removal of cadmium from wastewater as an efficient biosorbent.