Chitosan Beads as Eco-Friendly Biosorbent for the Biosorption of Au(III) and Cu(II) from Aqueous Solutions

This work aimed to study the biosorption of metal ions by chitosan beads, conducted at room temperature by adding chitosan beads into a conical flask containing different initial pH. The flask was agitated, and the concentrations of metal ions were determined using inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). It was found that the sorption percentage and capacity on the effect of pH for metal ions increased with pH and hit a plateau at pH 3 for single-metal solutions, while binary-metal solutions hit a plateau at pH 2. A consideration separation of Au(III) from Cu(II) could also be achieved at pH 3-5.