Biosorption: critical review of scientific rationale, environmental importance and significance for pollution treatment

Abstract Biosorption may be simply defined as the removal of substances from solution by biological material . Such substances can be organic and inorganic, and in gaseous, soluble or insoluble forms. Biosorption is a physico‐chemical process and includes such mechanisms as absorption, adsorption, ion exchange, surface complexation and precipitation. Biosorption is a property of both living and dead organisms (and their components) and has been heralded as a promising biotechnology for pollutant removal from solution, and/or pollutant recovery, for a number of years, because of its efficiency, simplicity, analogous operation to conventional ion exchange technology, and availability of biomass. Most biosorption…

• RS
  Royal Society
• BA
  Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
• NE
  Natural Environment Research Council