Silvichemicals from pulp mill wastes - Biosorption of metal ions on ellagic acid

Abstract

A pipe deposit waste containing metal complexes of ellagic acid from a pulp mill was pretreated by an optimised purification method to break down the complexes to ellagic acid and then examined for its capacity to sequester the heavy metals Cu(II), Cr(III) and Zn(II) from dilute aqueous solutions. Pretreatment with HCl of various concentrations resulted in different purities of ellagic acid and adsorption capacities for Cu(II), ranging from 5.4 to 6.2 meq/g o.d. biomass, which were higher than that of a commercial ellagic acid sample. The uptake of copper, zinc and chromium on the purified ellagic acid waste was optimal at different solution pH conditions (4 to 7), indicating its promise for..