Biosorption of thorium onto Chlorella Vulgaris microalgae in aqueous media.

Thorium biosorption by a green microalga, Chlorella Vulgaris, was studied in a stirred batch reactor to investigate the effect of initial solution pH, metal ion concentration, biomass dosage, contact time, kinetics, equilibrium and thermodynamics of uptake. The green microalgae showed the highest Th adsorption capacity at 45 °C for the solution with a thorium concentration of 350 mg L and initial pH of 4. The amount of uptake raised from 84 to 104 mg g as the temperature increased from 15 to 45 °C for an initial metal concentration of 75 mg L at pH 4.