This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is designed to establish the technical feasibility for use of a novel marine exopolysaccharide in the removal of heavy metals from industrial effluents and environmental media. These metal pollutants are among the most prevalent and problematic waste treatment and environmental remediation targets. Current technologies provide only partially effective treatment and are costly to implement and use. It is proposed that a complex exopolysaccharide (EPS), which is produced by a recently discovered marine microorganism and which is known to possess strong ion exchange properties, be evaluated for its ability to selectively adsorb heavy metals from complex waste streams containing non-hazardous metals under anticipated field conditions. It is further proposed to evaluate approaches for incorporation of this material into a fixed or supported polymer matrix system. The objectives of this Phase I project are: ) To assess the capacity of this EPS for binding regulated and non regulated metal singly and in combination, and 2) to evaluate various crosslinking and other polymer stabilization procedures to produce an EPS adsorbent that is usable under a variety of process conditions and which can be easily regenerated. It is anticipated that this work will identify methodology for the use of EPS adsorbents for the selective removal of regulated metals from complex, dilute or otherwise difficult to treat metal-containing waste streams.
