TY - JOUR
T1 - Pre-treatment of exopolymeric substances from Bacillus cereus for metal removal as a novel strategy to enhance metal biosorption
AU - Cheah, Caleb
AU - Cheow, Yuen Lin
AU - Ting, Adeline Su Yien
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors are grateful to the Malaysian Ministry of Education (MOE) for the funding under the FRGS grant scheme (FRGS/1/2018/STG03/MUSM/02/1). The authors also thank Monash University Malaysia for providing the resources and facilities to conduct the project.
Funding Information:
The authors are grateful to the Malaysian Ministry of Education (MOE) for the funding under the FRGS grant scheme (FRGS/1/2018/STG03/MUSM/02/1). The authors also thank Monash University Malaysia for providing the resources and facilities to conduct the project.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
PY - 2023/2
Y1 - 2023/2
N2 - This study investigated several pre-treatments as strategies to increase the efficacy of the removal of metals when using exopolymeric substances (EPS) produced by Bacillus cereus. The pre-treatments used include heat (autoclaving, boiling) and chemical agents (sulphuric acid, sodium hydroxide, and methanol). Pre-treated EPS was subsequently used for metal removal in single-metal systems (Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd, Cr) and characterized for functional groups via Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Results revealed that pre-treatment significantly improved metal removal efficacy of EPS compared to EPS without pre-treatment (removal of Cu: 29.48%, Pb: 73.44%, Zn: 39.27%, Cd: 35.64%, Cr: 56.13%). Pre-treatment using autoclaving (removal of Cu: 40.29%, Pb: 91.18%, Zn: 52.65%, Cd: 45.41%, Cr: 73.33%) and methanol (removal of Cu: 48.41%, Pb: 93.31%, Zn: 58.15%, Cd: 56.49%, Cr: 84.95%) was the most effective heat and chemical pre-treatment, respectively. The combination of autoclaving + methanol further improved metal removal efficacy of the treated EPS with removal of Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd, and Cr at 60.86%, 98.44%, 70.56%, 64.46%, and 91.85%, respectively. The improved biosorption by pre-treated EPS was attributed to the effect of pre-treatments liberating and increasing the number of functional groups present. EPS pre-treated by autoclaving + methanol were detected with a significantly higher number of hydroxyl groups compared to non-treated EPS. This study suggests that pre-treatment using a combination of autoclaving + methanol successfully improved the quality of EPS as a more superior biosorbent for feasible adoption in wastewater treatment.
AB - This study investigated several pre-treatments as strategies to increase the efficacy of the removal of metals when using exopolymeric substances (EPS) produced by Bacillus cereus. The pre-treatments used include heat (autoclaving, boiling) and chemical agents (sulphuric acid, sodium hydroxide, and methanol). Pre-treated EPS was subsequently used for metal removal in single-metal systems (Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd, Cr) and characterized for functional groups via Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Results revealed that pre-treatment significantly improved metal removal efficacy of EPS compared to EPS without pre-treatment (removal of Cu: 29.48%, Pb: 73.44%, Zn: 39.27%, Cd: 35.64%, Cr: 56.13%). Pre-treatment using autoclaving (removal of Cu: 40.29%, Pb: 91.18%, Zn: 52.65%, Cd: 45.41%, Cr: 73.33%) and methanol (removal of Cu: 48.41%, Pb: 93.31%, Zn: 58.15%, Cd: 56.49%, Cr: 84.95%) was the most effective heat and chemical pre-treatment, respectively. The combination of autoclaving + methanol further improved metal removal efficacy of the treated EPS with removal of Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd, and Cr at 60.86%, 98.44%, 70.56%, 64.46%, and 91.85%, respectively. The improved biosorption by pre-treated EPS was attributed to the effect of pre-treatments liberating and increasing the number of functional groups present. EPS pre-treated by autoclaving + methanol were detected with a significantly higher number of hydroxyl groups compared to non-treated EPS. This study suggests that pre-treatment using a combination of autoclaving + methanol successfully improved the quality of EPS as a more superior biosorbent for feasible adoption in wastewater treatment.
KW - Biosorption
KW - Exopolymeric substances
KW - Pre-treatment
KW - Wastewater treatment
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85147968899&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s11270-023-06150-w
DO - 10.1007/s11270-023-06150-w
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85147968899
SN - 0049-6979
VL - 234
JO - Water, Air, & Soil Pollution
JF - Water, Air, & Soil Pollution
IS - 2
M1 - 121
ER -