Adsorption of heavy metals from wastewater using crab, shrimp and crawfish shells

CHED 1061

Jamal Alexander, jalexan6@xula.edu, Department of Physics & Engineering, Xavier University of Louisiana, 1 Drexel Dr, New Orleans, LA 70125 and Bryan Bilyeu, bbilyeu@xula.edu, Department of Physics and Engineering, Xavier University of Louisiana, 1 Drexel Drive, New Orleans, LA 70125.
Heavy metals, like cadmium, lead, copper, and arsenic in industrial wastewater discharge are strictly limited by state and federal regulations due to the severe threat to the environment and can't be eliminated by traditional chemical and biological wastewater treatment techniques. Traditional techniques which selectively remove them are expensive and difficult to implement. Natural cellulose and chitin products have shown effectiveness in adsorbing or binding metal ions in solution. This project evaluates the effectiveness of shells from crabs, shrimp and crawfish from local seafood processors to adsorb heavy metal ions from aqueous solutions. The sorbents will be evaluated for both metal capacity and binding strength, as well as selectivity. The influence of cleaning methods and surface treatments done to the shells on adsorption effectiveness is also optimized.
 

Undergraduate Research Poster Session: Environmental Chemistry
2:00 PM-4:00 PM, Monday, April 7, 2008 Morial Convention Center -- Hall A, Poster

Division of Chemical Education

The 235th ACS National Meeting, New Orleans, LA, April 6-10, 2008