Abstract
This study investigated the usability of two drying methods to recover heavy metals contained in manganese nodules. Materials containing harmful heavy metals would be discharged during deep-sea mining processes. To improve the efficiency of future remediation practices, high-performance technology should have to be applied. Herein, two nontoxic and bio-derived substances, alginate and rhamnolipids, were used to form complexes. The complexes formed a complicated alginate-rhamnolipid (Alg-Rh) structure and that could prohibit heavy metals from being discharged by solidifying them within the complex. The content, appearance, composition, and particles of the Alg-Rh complexes formed by two drying methods—freeze-drying and high-temperature drying—were studied. In particular, metal compositions were observed between the different drying methods. These methods were found to provide good potential for remediating high concentrations of target heavy metals. Therefore, these findings can be used as a basis for future remediation technologies, including useful heavy metal recovery and high-efficiency separation.
Remediation of Heavy Metals in Deep-sea Mining Tailings by Using Rhamnolipid
