ABSTRACT
Bisorption, as considered here, is defined as a passive metal uptake process by dead microbial or seaweed biomass that concentrates metals because of its chemical makeup. The phenomenon can find an enormous scale of applications, particularly in cost-effective detoxification of metal-bearing industrial effluents. Recent studies indicate that the biosorptive metal uptake mechanism heavily relies on ion exchange. As such it is very sensitive to pH of the solution, which also affects the solution chemistry of the dissolved metallic species. Simplistic quantitative analysis of biosorption may not take all the essential factors into account. More advanced approaches are discussed in this chapter, which examines the biosorption of cations and anions from aqueous solutions. The sorption equilibrium approach discussed here provides the essential basis for the continuous flow biosorption process arrangement, which is eventually perhaps most effectively carried out in sorption columns. An even higher degree of sophistication is required to predict the performance of the dynamic sorption column arrangement.
