CADMIUM AND COPPER SORPTION ON PECTIN ENCAPSULATED IN CALCIUM ALGINATE BEADS

Pectin is an acidic polysaccharide constituted by monomer units of galacturonic acid. It is a main component of peel fruits where is present as protopectin. Due to the presence of a high number of carboxylic binding sites in its structure, pectin (Pect) shows a good sequestering capacity towards metal ions. Pectin has been proposed as a sorbent to remove metal ions from aqueous solutions. In this work the ability of pectin on solid phase to remove Cd(II) and Cu(II) from aqueous solutions has been evaluated. To this end, a powder of a commercial pectin, (esterified potassium salt from Citrus fruit) was encapsulated in a polymeric matrix of calcium alginate (CA) at different ratios of pectin …