Sorption of nitrophenols derivatives from aqueous solutions by alginate beads

The sorption of some pollutants from aqueous solutions can performing efficiently using biopolymers such as alginates. Alginate is a natural linear polysaccharide extracted from marine brown algae, a copolymer of beta-D-mannuronic and alpha-L-guluronic acid residues. The aim of this study was to examine the sorption capacity of alginate beads to remove 2-nitrophenol and 2-nitrophenol potassium salt from water solutions. The sorption and kinetic experiments of nitrophenols uptake by alginate beads were carried out under different values of pH, initial concentration of pollutants and the number of alginate gel beads. The removal efficiency of nitrophenols derivatives increases with the pH values and the quantity of alginate beads and decreases with the increasing of initial pollutant concentration. The sorption of pollutants occurs rapidly in the first 12 h, followed by a slow process that takes about 72 h.