ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Cadmium Biosorption Investigation from Aqueous Solutions with Ulva lactuca (Chlorophyta) and Padina pavonica (Phaeophyta) Seaweeds

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis has been employed to identify various functional groups involved in cadmium biosorption into Ulva lactuca (Chlorophyta) and Padina pavonica (Phaeophyta) seaweeds exposed to different cadmium (Cd) (0, 2.5, 5 and 10 mg/L) concentrations for 4 days. Data revealed that Cd stress induced chemical structure alteration into studied seaweeds. Overall, for U. lactuca, carboxylic acids (C-O) & amides (C-N stretch) groups and aromatics groups (C–C stretch) showed a shift in wavelength with Cd stress referring that they may be play an important role in Cd biosorption process. Whereas, for P. pavonica, amides groups (C=O stretch), alcohols (O–H stretch) and phenols (H–bonded) groups showed a slight shift in wavelength indicating that these peaks could involve in Cd biosorption process. Thereby, FTIR analysis seems to be a potent tool for screening chemical structure alteration induced by Cd stress in marine ecosystems.