A new biosorbent material from eggshell membrane was synthesized through thiol functionalization, which is based on the reduction of disulfide bonds in eggshell membrane by ammonium thioglycolate. The thiol-functionalized eggshell membrane was characterized, and its application as an adsorbent for removal of Cr(VI), Hg(II), Cu(II), Pb(II), Cd(II), and Ag(I) from aqueous water has been investigated. The experimental results revealed that the adsorption abilities of the thiol-functionalized eggshell membrane toward Cr(VI), Hg(II), Cu(II), Pb(II), Cd(II), and Ag(I) improved 1.6-, 5.5-, 7.7-, 12.4-, 12.7-, and 21.1-fold, respectively, compared with that of the eggshell membrane control. The adsorption mechanism and adsorption performance, including the adsorption capacity and the kinetics of the thiol-functionalized eggshell membrane for the target heavy metals, were investigated. The effects of solution pH, coexisting substances, and natural water matrices were studied. The thiol-functionalized eggshell membrane can be used as column packing to fabricate a column for real wastewater purification.

A new bio-MSPE sorbent based on the use of C. micaceus and γ-Fe₂O₃ magnetic nanoparticle was prepared for the preconcentrations of Co(II) and Hg(II). Critical parameters including pH, flow rate, quantity of C. micaceus, quantity of γ-Fe₂O₃ magnetic nanoparticle, eluent (type, concentration and volume), sample volume, and foreign ions were examined. Surface structure and variations after interaction with Co(II) and Hg(II) of bio-MSPE sorbent were investigated by FT-IR, SEM, and EDX. The impact of bio-MSPE column reusage was also tested. The biosorption capacities were determined as 24.7 mg g⁻¹ and 26.2 mg g⁻¹, respectively for Co(II) and Hg(II). Certified reference materials were utilized to find out the accuracy of the prepared bio-MSPE method. This novel bio-MSPE method was accomplished by being applied to real food and water samples. In particular, it will be possible to make use of C. micaceus as new alternatives, in environmental biotechnology applications.

The present study explores the biosorption potential of Pleurotus ostreatus immobilized magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles for solid-phase extractions of Ni(II) and Pb(II) ions from the water and food samples. It was characterized using FTIR, FE-SEM/EDX before and after analyte ions biosorption. Important operational parameters including the effect of initial pH, the flow rate of the sample solution and volume, amount of biomass and support material, interfering ions, best eluent, column reusability were studied. The biosorption capacities of fungus immobilized iron oxide nanoparticles were found as 28.6 and 32.1 mg g⁻¹ for Ni(II) and Pb(II), respectively. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantitation (LOQ) were achieved as 0.019 and 0.062 ng mL⁻¹ for Ni(II), 0.041 and 0.14 ng mL⁻¹ for Pb(II), respectively. The proposed method was validated by applying to certified reference materials and successfully applied for the preconcentrations of Ni(II) and Pb(II) ions from water and food samples by ICP-OES.