Human Hair Biogenic Fiber as a Biosorbent of Multiple Heavy Metals from Aqueous Solutions

Abstract

Human hair natural fiber is mainly considered a waste in our society and its disposal can cause a major environmental impact. Hence, its valorization as a biosorbent of pollutants such as heavy metals is an interesting route to explore since it can reduce the amount of waste and at the same time contributes to the circular economy strategy. In this work, the ability of two kind of human hairs, used as biosorbents to remove Cr(III), Ni(II), Co(II), Mn(II), Cu(II), Zn(II), Cd(II) and Pb(II) ions from multiple-metal aqueous solutions, were examined and compared under different operating conditions. The influence of the time, pH and initial metal concentration on the metal uptake were studied. The biosorption kinetics and isotherm were also modeled observing that pseudo-second order kinetic model and Langmuir model fitted successfully experimental data. Moreover, biosorption process did not significantly modify the morphology and the chemical structure of the hair samples, which was proved by SEM and FT-IR studies. These kinetic results underline the satisfactory capacity of human hair for the biosorption of Pb(II), Cu(II) and Cr(II) (values up to 95%), pointing up the high efficacy of human hair for the removal of heavy metal ions from aqueous media.

Coffee Husk and Lignin Revalorization: Modification with Ag Nanoparticles for Heavy Metals Removal and Antifungal Assays

“…Sorption experiments were carried out at room temperature with aqueous solutions that are prepared at pH 4.0, containing the metals at a concentration of 0.18 mM each, following conditions of previous studies [25,26,33,34]. The pH is measured with a standardized potentiometer [35].…”

“…In this study, we present the preparation and characterization of nanocomposite based on revalorized materials: coffee husk, coffee lignin, and coffee husk and lignin modified with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). In addition, the suitability for the sorption capacity towards different metal ions of Pb(II), Cd(II), Cr(III), and Cu(II) and antifungal activity with Candida fungi species were properly evaluated, with modified materials, kinetic modeling and contact time experiments [20][21][22][23][24][25][26]. The results obtained contribute with the revalorization of these Colombian agroindustrial wastes due to their modification with silver nanoparticles.…”

Monitoring of environmental pollution with heavy metals in human scalp hair regarding to their areas, gender and ages

“…Potentially harmful elements (PHEs) (Mn, Co, Cu, Pb, Ni and Zn) concentrations in hair were in decreasing order Cu (38 ± 7 mg/kg), Pb (4.3 ± 1.9 mg/kg), Cd (0.30 ± 0.02 mg/kg), Zn (137 ± 21 mg/kg), Ni (1.3 ± 0.2 mg/kg) and Mn (16 ± 2 mg/kg). The PHEs concentrations varied among different age groups Zhang et al (2020) studied the ability of two kinds of human hairs, used as biosorbents to remove Pb Cr, Ni, Mn, Cu, Co, Zn, and Cd ions from multiple-metal aqueous solutions. These kinetic results underline the satisfactory capacity of human hair for the biosorption of Cu, Cr, and Pb (values up to 95%), pointing up the high efficacy of human hair for the removal of heavy metal ions from aqueous media.…”

“…Several researchers have associated heavy metal concentration in human hair with urbanization (Gang et al 2017, Tamburo et al 2016, Majed and Hassan 2019, Lukundo et al 2020, Zhang et al 2020, ASTDR 2001, Mehra and Thakur 2010, Jursa et al 2018).…”

Insights of microorganisms role in rice and rapeseed wastes as potential sorbents for metal removal

“…These methods are usually too expensive and not eco-friendly due to the liberation of toxic chemical sludge that can cause secondary pollution (Carolin et al 2017;Kumar and Khan 2021). Therefore, using low-cost biosorption approaches for the removal of harmful heavy metals from water resources and wastewaters is one of the most important goals in environmental science Zhang et al 2020;Zhao et al 2020). One of the types of biosorption HM removal technologies, which consists of the use of nonliving biological materials, has recently emerged as a cost-effective, eco-friendly and simple alternative to remove toxic HMs from water or to render these pollutants harmless (Senthil Kumar and Gunasundari 2018;Calderón et al 2020).…”