Comparison between different keratin-composed biosorbents for the removal of heavy metal ions from aqueous solutions

This study examined and compared the ability of chicken feathers, human hair and animal horns, as keratin-composed biosorbents, for the removal of Zn2+ and Cu2+ ions from single metal ion aqueous solutions under different operating conditions. The three biosorbents investigated in this study were all capable of adsorbing Zn2+ and Cull ions from aqueous solutions. The biosorbent showing the highest uptake of Zn2+ and Cull ions was animal horns. Chicken feathers showed a higher Cull ion uptake and a lower Zn2+ ion compared to human hair. Increasing the initial concentration of Zn2+ or Cu2+ ions, or increasing the initial pH value, increased the metal ion uptake. Such uptake decreased when the temperature was raised from 25degreesC to 50degreesC for all adsorbent/metal ion combinations except for Zn2+ ion/human hair where the uptake increased with temperature. It was demonstrated that the addition of NaCl salt to the metal ion solution depressed the metal ion uptake. The Freundlich isotherm model was found to be applicable to the adsorption data for Cu2+ and Zn2+ ions.