Heavy Metals Removal from Industrial and Environmental Wastes Using Exopolysaccharide Adsorbants Produced by Marine Microorganisms

这项小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目旨在确定利用一种新型海洋外多糖去除工业废水和环境介质中的重金属的技术可行性。这些金属污染物是最普遍和最有问题的废物处理和环境修复目标。目前的技术只能提供部分有效的治疗，而且实施和使用成本高昂。本文建议对最近发现的一种海洋微生物产生的具有强离子交换特性的复合胞外多糖（EPS）在预期的野外条件下选择性吸附含非有害金属的复杂废物流中的重金属的能力进行评价。进一步提出评估将该材料掺入固定或支撑聚合物基质系统的方法。本一期项目的目标是：(1)评估这种EPS单独和组合结合受管制和非受管制金属的能力；(2)评估各种交联和其他聚合物稳定程序，以生产可在各种工艺条件下使用且易于再生的EPS吸附剂。预计这项工作将确定使用EPS吸附剂的方法，以便从复杂、稀释或其他难以处理的含金属废物流中选择性地去除受管制的金属。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is designed to establish the technical feasibility for use of a novel marine exopolysaccharide in the removal of heavy metals from industrial effluents and environmental media. These metal pollutants are among the most prevalent and problematic waste treatment and environmental remediation targets. Current technologies provide only partially effective treatment and are costly to implement and use. It is proposed that a complex exopolysaccharide (EPS), which is produced by a recently discovered marine microorganism and which is known to possess strong ion exchange properties, be evaluated for its ability to selectively adsorb heavy metals from complex waste streams containing non-hazardous metals under anticipated field conditions. It is further proposed to evaluate approaches for incorporation of this material into a fixed or supported polymer matrix system. The objectives of this Phase I project are: ) To assess the capacity of this EPS for binding regulated and non regulated metal singly and in combination, and 2) to evaluate various crosslinking and other polymer stabilization procedures to produce an EPS adsorbent that is usable under a variety of process conditions and which can be easily regenerated. It is anticipated that this work will identify methodology for the use of EPS adsorbents for the selective removal of regulated metals from complex, dilute or otherwise difficult to treat metal-containing waste streams.