A review on advances and mechanism for the phycoremediation of cadmium contaminated wastewater

Abstract

In recent decades, cadmium pollution has emerged as a core issue around the globe, rendering it of severe and fundamental concern to the scientific community. In regards with this background, several removal methods have been proposed and implemented to address environmental pollution and sustainable and eco-friendly development. Among them, biosorption has been extensively utilized for cadmium removal from the contaminated aqueous systems. The use of microalgae as biosorbent for Cd2+ removal has been widely used by researchers owing to its cost-effectiveness, simple and robust process, high efficiency, reusable, high growth rate, high surface to volume ratio, no generation of lethal products, can be used in both batch and continuous system, high binding capacity, and applicable to remove pollutants even at low concentration. The review further evaluated the mechanisms (extracellular and intracellular) adapted by microalgae encountered with Cd2+ ions in the contaminated aqueous system. This review will provide insightful knowledge for the development of cost-effective, efficient and sustainable microalgae-based technology for the heavy metal removal.

Keywords

• Bioremediation
• Cadmium
• Microalgae
• Removal mechanism
• Biosorption