Environmentally friendly starch/alginate aerogels for copper adsorption from aqueous media. A microstructural and kinetic study.

This work investigated the synthesis and characterization of alginate/starch porous materials and their application as copper ions adsorbents from aqueous media. Initially, pregel aqueous solutions with different biopolymer concentrations (1, 3, and 5% w/w) and alginate contents (25, 50, and 75% w/w) were prepared. Hydrogel formation was performed by internal and external gelation methods.