Brewer's spent grain as a potential adsorbent of heavy metal ions from water

Abstract

Application of biological materials for removing pollutants from water by adsorption is also known as biosorption, and such adsorbents as biosorbents. Advantages of biosorption over conventional methods are numerous, but the low price and availability of materials are basic criteria for the selection of potential biosorbents. Therefore, by-products of industry and agriculture are the subject of many scientific investigations. One of the most important by-products of brewing industry is the brewer's spent grain which is produced in large quantities throughout the whole year. As lignocellulosic material, brewer's spent grain have a certain sorption capacity for heavy metal ions which is examined in this paper. The results of batch adsorption experiments showed the best fit for Langmuir model, and the amount of adsorbed ions per unit of mass of adsorbent is in the range typical for this group of adsorbents. With the adsorption capacity of about 12 mg/g, brewer's spent grain proved to be potential biosorbent for practical application in the treatment of wastewater with concentrations of heavy metal ions higher than allowed.