Author: William Roman
Mentor: Abel E. Navarro
Institution: BMCC
Abstract: The adsorption of bovine serum albumin (BSA) and
human hemoglobin (Hb) on naturally occurring
adsorbents was studied to evaluate the potential
recovery of proteins from meat industry wastewaters.
Spent peppermint tea (PM), powdered purple corn
cob (PC), natural clay (NC) and chemically modified
clay (MC) were investigated to elucidate the effects
of pH, adsorbent dose, initial protein concentration,
presence of Hofmeister salts and heavy metals on the
adsorption. Equilibrium data was fitted according
to isotherm models, obtaining a maximum adsorption
capacity of 318 and 344 mg BSA/g for PM and
NC, respectively at pH 8. Moreover, Hb displayed
maximum adsorption capacity of 125 and 143 mg/g
for PM and PC, respectively at pH 5. Hofmeister
salt effect was only observed for the PM/Hb system.
Salts tend to decrease, and the presence of Cu(II)
ions had negligible impacts on the adsorption with
NC and PC. Desorption experiments confirmed that
more than 85% of both proteins can be recovered
with diluted acids and bases. Scanning electron
microscopy (SEM) and Fourier-transformed infrared
(FTIR) spectroscopy analyses demonstrated that the
adsorbents have favorable morphological and
chemical properties for the adsorption of proteins.
Future studies should include kinetics experiment
to provide further insight into the potential use of
these eco-friendly materials for the treatment and
recover of proteins from solutions.
Screening of biological and non-biological materials for the biosorption of proteins
