Biosorption of Cu2+ from aqueous solutions by pretreated Cladosporium sp.

In this paper, adsorption properties of a pretreated of Cladosporium sp. for Cu2 were studied. The fungi pretreated with some chemical reagents exhibited higher Cu2+ removal capacities than native biomass. The optimum chemical reagent was 0.2M NaOH. After 0.2M NaOH pretreatment, optimum conditions of biosorption were found to be pH 5.0, temperature 35 degrees C, and stirring speed of 100rpm. Equilibrium isotherms were obtained from adsorption experiments and the biosorption maximun capacity obtained was at 28.31mg/g. The biosorbed metal ions were effectively eluted by 0.05M HNO3 solution. After eluting, the biosorbed metal ions biomass was regenerated by washing with deionized water and then contacted with a solution containing 0. 1M of Ca2+, Mg2+ ions before further adsorption tests. The pretreated fungi biomass could be used for three cycles: biosorption, elution of biosorbed ion, regeneration of biomass.

Decolorization of anthraquinone dye by Aspergillus ficuum in various physiological states.

Decolorization of reactive brilliant blue KN-R by Aspergillus ficuum was investigated on suspended spores, mycelial pellets, immobilized cells. It was found that Aspergillus ficuum could effectively decolorize reactive brilliant blue KN-R especially when grown as pelleted mycelia. Many factors affecting the decolorization process in nitrogen-limited media (NLM) were studied, including: initial pH, temperature, and mycelial age. Results showed that the media containing reactive brilliant blue KN-R at 50 mg/L could be decolorized by 96% of the initial color in 42 h, in most conditions tested, the dye degraded products assayed by UV-visible spectrophotometer and macroscopic observation showed that the decolorization of reactive brilliant blue KN-R by mycelial pellets includes two important processes: biodegradation and biosorption. Kinetic study revealed that reactive brilliant KN-R biodegradation by mycelial pellets and suspended spores conformed to first-order reaction model while reactive brilliant blue KN-R biodegradation by immobilized cell followed zero-order model. In addition, mycelial pellets was found to biodegrade KN-R more quickly than suspended spores and immobilized cell.