low-cost-biosorbents
Low-cost biosorbents are plant-derived materials—such as agricultural residues, husks, or fruit byproducts—that can bind and remove pollutants like heavy metals and dyes from water through natural adsorption processes. This approach matters for plant science because it highlights how plant biomass composition, particularly cell wall polysaccharides and functional groups, contributes to environmental remediation applications. Studying these biosorbents also encourages sustainable use of plant waste products, turning byproducts of cultivation into valuable tools for pollution control.
open_in_new WikipediaPubMed · 2026-07-07
Researchers found that dried leaves from sea buckthorn, a common shrubby plant, can pull harmful textile dyes and toxic chromium out of contaminated water with high efficiency and at low cost, no chemical treatment of the plant material required.
Sea buckthorn leaf biomass achieved maximum adsorption capacities of 78.74 mg/g for Methylene Blue, 45.45 mg/g for Congo Red dye, and 106.38 mg/g for hexavalent chromium Cr(VI).
Optimal removal occurred at pH 5-6 with a low adsorbent dose of 2 g/L, and equilibrium was reached within 120-180 minutes.
Adsorption followed pseudo-second-order kinetics (R² > 0.99) and a Freundlich isotherm, indicating the leaf surface provides multiple heterogeneous binding sites for contaminants.
