UPTAKE OF METAL-IONS BY NONLIVING BIOMASS DERIVED FROM SPHAGNUM MOSS AND WATER HYACINTH ROOTS

The effect of pH on the binding of Pb, Cu, Zn, Cd, Cr, Ni, Co, Mn, Al, Ag, Au, and Tl by nonliving biomass derived from Sphagnum (peat) moss and water hyacinth root was investigated. The uptake of most metals was found to be very pH dependent, although in certain cases essentially no pH effect was seen. Maximum metal removal often exceeded 90% at the optimum pH. In separate experiments each biomass was subjected to three different types of chemical pretreatment with acid, base, and detergent to compare the metal uptake ability of treated and untreated biomass. Generally, all three types of pretreatment increased the ability of biomasss to remove metal ions from solution.