Water treatment: Chitosan associated with electrochemical methods

摘要

Pollution of water bodies due to the presence of toxic metals and organic compounds, bring out a series of environmental problems of public, government and social character. In addition, water pollution, has become the target and source of concern in many industrial sectors. Therefore, it is essential to develop technologies for treatment and purification of water. Chitosan is a natural product derived from chitin, extracted mainly from the shells of crustaceans. It is a low cost, renewable and biodegradable biopolymer of great socioeconomic and environmental importance. The classic treatment of wastewater containing metals involves physical chemistry processes of precipitation, ion exchange and electrochemistry. Electrochemical technology has been presented as the most promising methods for treating wastewater polluted with metals, colloids, dyes or oil in water emulsions; besides being used in removing organic compounds. Alternative methods like adsorption with biosorbents have been investigated. The great advantage of this latter over other techniques is the low generation of residues, easy recovery of metals and the possibility of reuse of the adsorbent. This article aimed to carry out an exploratory study, of bibliographical nature, on the use of chitosan in electrochemical methods for water treatment.