Biosorption of lead (II) by pre-treated biomass of marine brown algae Sargassum latifolium and Sargassum asperifolium

The marine brown algae Sargassum latifolium and Sargassum asperifolium, harvested from the coast of the red sea, were investigated for their biosorption performance in the removal of lead (II) from aqueous solutions. The pretreatment of the biomass was carried out by using (0.2M) CaCl sub(2), NaCl, NH sub(4)Cl and (1N) HCl, the pretreatment with NH sub(4)Cl showed the best biosorption capacities for both algal species. The isotherm and kinetic experiments were carried out at the pH 5.0 isotherms experiments showed that the maximum capacities for lead uptake were 1.44 mmol/g and 1.47 mmol/g for Sargassum latifolium and Sargassum asperifolium respectively. The metal removal rates were rapid, with 90 % of the total adsorption taking place within 15 min and 45 min for Sargassum latifolium and Sargassum asperifolium respectively. Comparison with commercial resin indicated that the activated algae Sargassum latifolium and Sargassum asperifolium could be used as an efficient biosorbents for treatment of wastewater contaminated with lead (II).