title: Biosorption of nickel with barley straw.
abstract: Wastewater containing nickel sulphate generated from a nickel plating industry is of great concern. In the present work, biosorption of nickel by barley straw from nickel sulphate solution was investigated. Nickel uptake at room temperature (23+/-0.5 degrees C) was very sensitive to solution pH, showing a better uptake value at a pH of 4.85+/-0.10 among the tested values. The nickel biosorption isotherm fitted well the Langmuir equation. When the ionic strength (IS) of the solution was increased from less than 0.02-0.6M, nickel uptake was reduced to 12% of that obtained at IS of less than 0.02 M. Barley straw showed a higher nickel uptake (0.61 mmol/g) than acid washed crab shells (0.04 mmol/g), demonstrating its potential as an adsorbent for removal of nickel.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, 57 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada S7N 5A9.
authors.forename: Ayyasamy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Thevannan
authors.forename: Rubeena
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mungroo
authors.forename: Catherine Hui
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Niu
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods; D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry; D001467:Hordeum / Q000378:metabolism*; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D007477:Ions; D007700:Kinetics; D009532:Nickel / Q000737:chemistry*; D012996:Solutions; D013696:Temperature; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000737:chemistry; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D007477:Ions; D012996:Solutions; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D002244:Carbon; D009532:Nickel