7. Removal of Mercury from Wastewater by Different Natural Biomasses

The prevalence of heavy metals in bodies of water is connected to an increase in the quantity of industry and people. This has major implications for the well-being of humans and the environment. Because of the exceptionally toxic nature of mercury, mercury pollution is one of the major environmental challenges. This book chapter discusses the adsorptive properties of various components of biomass for the elimination of ions of heavy metals from an aqueous medium. There are many functional groups present in the biomass. The pollutant absorption capacity of biomass changes due to the ionization of functional groups with pH variation, based on the type of adsorbate and adsorbent. Because of the availability of a high number of exposed active sites, small particle size provides a large surface area for the adsorption of contaminants from the aqueous medium, whereas temperature variation modifies the thermal characteristics of biomass as well as their adsorption capacity. This article examines current developments in the creation of an environmentally acceptable and economically feasible method for treating wastewater from the textile industry utilizing absorbents made from algal biomass. The method used microalgal biochar to biosorb away heavy metals and organic contaminants (dyes) from textile effluents. This review shows light on the process of removal of mercuric ions from wastewater using different types of biomass. Also, it focuses on the challenges faced during good adsorptive removal of heavy metals.