Azadeh Mirvakili

Microalgae represent an ecologically sustainable and economically feasible strategy for the remediation of heavy metal pollutants in wastewater, capitalizing on the innate capabilities of algae to effectively sequester hazardous metallic elements. Indeed, they may serve as a sustainable alternative for treating industrial effluents. This study investigated the algal treatment of synthetic industrial wastewater containing iron (Fe2+) ions - a comparative analysis of two biosorption and bioaccumulation methods for wastewater treatment using Chlorella vulgaris. Biosorption methodology involved the examination of parameters such as metal concentration, the contact time between adsorbent and metals, and algal biomass as adsorbents. An optimum of 83.59% of Fe2+ was adsorbed by algal cells through biosorption. The peak algal bioaccumulation of Fe2+ reached 89.3%. The results indicated that bioaccumulation demonstrated a higher efficacy for Fe2+ adsorption than biosorption.