Amino-carbamate moiety grafted calcium alginate hydrogel beads for effective biosorption of Ag(I) from aqueous solution: Economically-competitive recovery

In present study, pure and amino-carbamate moiety grafted calcium alginate hydrogel beads (CA, PSC-CA) were prepared for their biosorption performance in the recovery of silver ions. The produced sorbents were characterized using FTIR, SEM, EDX and TGA. FTIR and SEM-EDX confirmed the successful modification and loading of silver ions onto hydrogel beads. When compared with CA, PSC-CA showed enhanced sorption but comparable kinetics. Equilibrium sorption studies showed that pH, sorbent dose, contact time and adsorbate concentration influenced the sorption capacity. The uptake kinetic data was well demonstrated by pseudo second order rate equation (PSORE). Elovich equation and the resistance to intra-particle diffusion model (RID) suggested that there were two phases of sorption, first one was rapid followed by relatively slow uptake step. Equilibrium isothermal sorption data was well fitted by Langmuir and Sips models. The separation factor RL was found as 0 < RL < 1 which indicated favourable sorption. The maximum monolayer sorption capacity was computed as 210 mg/g at 298 K. Thermodynamic studies revealed the sorption process to be spontaneous and exothermic. PSC-CA hydrogel beads were found as cost-effective and efficient sorbent for economically-competitive recovery of Ag(I).