Physical and Chemical Characterization of Agricultural Waste and Testing of Sorbtion Abilities for Removal of Heavy Metals from Aqueous Solutions

The problem of environmental pollution is more expressed and more present by the development of the industry and the growth of the human population. Pollution of natural and wastewater is most often due to the release of heavy metals into watercourses. The greatest challenge for researchers is choosing the right biomass from a large number of low-cost biomaterials, and availability and price are very important selection factors. Microbial biomass, forestry waste and agroindustrial complexes are most frequently examined, as well as various macromolecules of natural origin. In this paper, barley straw that arises as agricultural waste product in barley production in Bosnia and Herzegovina, was used as a biosorbent. In the experimental part, physical and chemical characterization of barley straw was performed, after which the efficiency of removing Cd(II) and Ni(II) from aqueous solutions, using barley straw, and the influence of process parameters (pH value of aqueous solution, biosorbent size, interaction of metal ions) on the biosorption capacity were tested. It can be concluded that barley straw has good adsoption characteristics for the use as a low-cost natural sorbent for the removal of heavy metals from water.