Removal of hexavalent chromium using chitosan prepared from shrimp shells

Abstract

Contamination of the aqueous environment by heavy metals and due to the discharge of metal containing effluents into the water bodies is one of the environmental issues of the century. Thus, in this work, the main concern has been the preparation of chitin and chitosan from the raw materials of shrimp shells and the characterization of the prepared chitosan by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR).  The work was then shifted to investigate the potentiality of Cr+6 adsorption with the prepared chitosan. The controlled parameters of adsorption process were studied. The percentage of Cr+6 removal using the shrimp chitosan was 64.29%. Key words: Shrimp shells, chitosan, adsorption, chitin.