Electronic Journal of Biology

Removal of Lead from Aqueous Solutions by Aspergillus niger from Artificial Vinegar Factory

Low concentrations of heavy metals are considerably difficult to remove by conventional techniques. A viable alternative to realize such a removal may be through the application of biosorption by fungal biomass. This research was carried out to estimate the removal of lead from an aqueous solution by biomass of Aspergillus niger from artificial vinegar factory. The adsorption of Pb2+ fitted well with the Langmuir equation, giving adsorption capacity (qmax) and binding constant (b) of 47.62 mg Pb g-1 dry wt. and 3 mg l-1, respectively. The A.niger biomass could also reduce metal concentrations to low residual levels (< 50 mg l-1) within 30 minutes. The adsorption was low at pH 3 - 4, but Pb2+ was well adsorpted in the pH range from 5 to 9 (p < 0.05). Desorption of biosorbed Pb2+ was achieved by elution with 0.1 M HNO3.

Author(s): Tinnapan Netpae

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