Adsorption—Heavy Metals Removal

Abstract

Chitosan is very effective in adsorbing metal ions from aqueous solutions. Chitosan is soft and tends to agglomerate or form gel in acidic solutions. Chitosan contains reactive hydroxyl (OH) and amine (NH2) functional groups on its structure. Although the amino and hydroxyl groups in chitosan are mainly responsible for the adsorption of metal ions, these active binding sites are not readily available for sorption. Various methods are used to modify chitosan to avoid this problem. The adsorption theory, adsorption processes, and the adsorption mechanisms of chitosan and its derivative for metal ions from aqueous solutions are discussed in this chapter.