ABSTRACT
Water is typically referred to as polluted when it is unfit for drinking and other uses. Contamination of wastewater includes chemical-organic, chemical-inorganic, biological, and physical forms. The present situation of heavy metal pollution in many developing countries is even more serious, largely attributed to their low environmental consciousness and also to their desire of excess economic benefits. Adsorption effectively removes contaminants in wastewater with high solute loadings and even at dilute concentrations. Biosorption, a sub-branch of adsorption, aims to use cheaper materials of biological origin as adsorbents. Chitosan occurs principally in the organisms of the phylum arthropoda and outer skeleton of insects, crabs, and lobsters, including Pandalus borealis, and cell walls of fungi. Polymer blending is actually a physical mixing of two polymers in order to produce a new material with desired properties. This chapter provides insights on the use of the natural polysaccharides for researchers working to discover new materials with new properties for valuable applications.
