Essay Example on To synthesize chitin chitosan from crab and shrimp Shells

Objectives To synthesize chitin chitosan from crab and shrimp shells To characterize chitin chitosan for wastewater treatment applications and To test chitin chitosan for the adsorption of Pb2 and Cu2 on contaminated water Synthesis of chitosan for lead and copper adsorption in waste waters Ryan Gabatino Sally Gano Katrina Guzman Dindi Guzon and Emer Niones Department of Mining Metallurgical and Materials Engineering College of Engineering University of the Philippines Diliman Quezon City ABSTRACT Heavy metal ions such as Pb II and Cu II are commonly found in industrial and mining wastewaters At high concentrations these ions become toxic to humans and animals and may even be detrimental to their health One technique to eliminate Pb II and Cu II from industrial wastewaters involves the use of chitosan as an adsorbent Chitosan is a derivative from the second most common naturally occurring polymer chitin and is primarily sourced from crustaceans such as shrimps and crabs Having synthesized chitosan and characterizing it in this experiment it was found to have an adsorption capacity of 127 mg g Its high performance thus indicates promising potentials as an eco friendly and economic adsorbent for Pb II and Cu II 

INTRODUCTION Chitosan is a biomaterial characterized by the primary amines present on its backbone It is produced through the deacetylation of chitin a naturally occurring polysaccharide found in the exoskeleton of crustaceans This process increases the number of functional groups present in the original structure of chitin making it an effective adsorbent Equipped with hydroxyl and amines chitosan is able to trap heavy metal ions such as Pb II and Cu II onto its structure effectively through either chemical or physical adsorption Chitosan is also biodegradable and non toxic making it much more harmless to the environment compared to present day synthetic chelating agents Ravi Kumar 2000 With a good number of industries polluting the environment today wastewater treatment has become increasingly important despite the expenses it curtails Therefore this study aims to propose a more economic solution to the high costs of conventional technology by introducing chitosan as an alternative to costly yet inefficient filtration systems developed today Hadi 2013