Biosorción de arsénico en materiales derivados de maracuyá

Arsenic has been classified as one of the toxic and carcinogenic chemical elements. One of the problems that the conventional treatments create is that non renewable materials are applied and the formed wastes are not biodegradable. In the present study it was demonstrated that the materials obtained from the maracuya shell and fiber of the maracuya shell (solid residues of the national food industry), according to the proposal technique, can be considered as bioadsorbents for both arsenite and arsenate. These materials allow an efficient removal of arsenic from water samples coming of Lagunera region, Coahuila, México, as well as from the artificial water samples containing As (III) or As (V), without the necessity of additional treatments. The higher absorption capacity was detected for Fe (III)-loaded materials. Different characteristics of biosorption/desorption process of this metalloid were evaluated by means of chemical oxygen demand estimation, lixiviation tests, as well as the appropriate conditions for their use (temperature, pH, the effect of the presence of different ions) were defined.