Speaker
Description
Heavy metal contamination has harmful consequences for the ecosystem. They are naturally non-biodegradable, and can cause severe ecotoxicity and numerous pathologies. Several techniques have been used for metal pollution control. The aim of the present work is to exploit the rearing waste of the Black Soldier Fly Hermetia illucens (pupal stage) to produce chitin and its derivative chitosan, and to study the interaction of this biopolymer with Zinc and Cadmium. All the samples obtained were characterized by several methods, including FTIR, DRX, EDX, potentiometric and viscosimetric studies. The chitosan obtained has interesting physicochemical properties (DA = 3.40%, Mv = 220,378.88 g/mol, and ICr = 45.34%). Chitosan was also found to have an interaction rate with Cd and Zn of around 32.59% and 27.26% respectively. Taken as a whole, the work carried out constitutes an enhancement of a chitinous source (BSF) and confirms the high interaction capacity of chitosan with the heavy metals studied.
