(188bk) Heavy Metal Recovery from Waste Water Using Yersiniabactin Adsorbed over Activated Carbon

Water effluents from industries like mining, metal plating, batteries and tanneries are one of the major aquatic pollutants. Heavy metals dumped into the water make it toxic for human and aquatic life. In this work, we have focussed on utilizing a biomolecule called yersiniabactin to enhance removal of heavy metals like copper and nickel. Yersiniabactin(Ybt) is a siderophore molecule, originally synthesized by plague bacteria, to adsorb essential metals for survival. We synthesize Ybt in large concentrations by using EColi cells as a heterologous host. p-CO2 is a type of activated carbon(AC) generated through acid based dehydration, polymerization and carbonization of liquid glycerol, which is a by-product of biodiesel production. p-CO2 has been found to have a high adsorption capacity (Qe=50 mg Ybt/g AC) for yersiniabactin which can be used to our advantage to improve heavy metal removal from contaminated Lake Erie water. The maximum removal capacities for copper and nickel have been found to be 8.85 mg Cu(II)/g AC and 7.35 mg Ni(II)/g AC respectively through batch studies. Along with these, a more realistic continuous phase water purification has been engineered which utilizes Ybt adsorbed on commercially obtained filtrasorb activated carbon in a packed bed to remove heavy metals like copper and nickel.