Recent developments in the field of environmental biotechnology lead to the search for adsorbents of biological origin, which is reasonably cheap for toxic trace metal removal. This method is specifically termed as biosorption. In this paper, biosorption of heavy metals by Aspergillus niger is reviewed. Characterisation of A. niger in heavy metal biosorption is extensively discussed. Batch and continuous processes are discussed in details. Influence of process parameters like biomass dosage rate, initial metal ion concentration, and pH of the solution, pretreatment, impact of co-cations on metal biosorption is also discussed. Modelling for batch and continuous process operations are focused extensively. Mechanism of biosorption by A. niger is elaborated. © 2011 Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering.

G. K. Suraishkumar

Department Of Biotechnology

Aspergillus niger

Characterisation

Continuous process

ENVIRONMENTAL BIOTECHNOLOGY

Experimental studies

METAL BIOSORPTION

Metal ion concentration

Modelling

NIGER

PRE-TREATMENT

Process parameters

Toxic Trace Metals

Adsorption

Aspergillus

Heavy metals

Metal ions

Metals

Trace elements

Biosorption

IIT Madras is a public technical and research university located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Founded in 1959, it is recognised as an Institute of National Importance.

IIT Madras has been ranked as the top engineering institute in India for four years in a row by the National Institutional Ranking Framework of the MHRD

It currently offers undergraduate, postgraduate and research degrees across 16 disciplines in Engineering, Sciences, Humanities and Management. About 596 faculty belonging to science and engineering departments and centres of the Institute are engaged in teaching, research and industrial consultancy.

IIT Madras

Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering

In this study, biosorption of Cu(II) was investigated in a column of pretreated Aspergillus niger biomass. The breakthrough was measured as a function of influent flow rate and bed height for a feed solution at 10 mg/l metal ion concentration. Biosorption was evaluated in terms of the equilibrium capacity of the column and the amount of metal loading on the A. niger surface. It has been observed that pretreatment of the biomass enhanced the activity of the surface reactive groups and hence the uptake. The breakthrough data obtained was described by bed depth service time (BDST) and Thomas models. The amount of copper adsorbed per gram of pretreated A. niger was 13.4 ± 0.60 mg/g. The sorbed copper was eluted from the column using 0.1N HCl in five consecutive sorption-desorption cycles. For the same initial metal ion concentration, a packed column reactor shows more uptake of Cu(II) in comparison to a batch reactor. © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Fulltext

Chemical Engineering Journal

Copper biosorption in a column of pretreated Aspergillus niger biomass

In this present work, a kinetic model for biosorption of copper was developed considering the possibility of different forms of functional groups being present on the surface of the biomass prepared from Aspergillus niger. Results showed that metal uptake by A. niger was a mass transfer driven process, requiring only 30 min to achieve 70% adsorption efficiency. Copper sorption by A. niger was influenced by the biomass dose, initial metal ion concentration, and pH of the solution. The Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms were used to describe the behavior of the system at different pH. The retention capacity of the biomass was determined at pH 6.0 to be equal to 23.62 mg/g of biomass. The pretreatment with formalin improved the uptake of metal ion. © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Bioresource Technology

Kinetic modeling for the biosorption of copper by pretreated Aspergillus niger biomass

Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects

Statistical modeling and optimization of the cadmium biosorption process in an aqueous solution using Aspergillus niger

Heavy metals extraction from municipal solid waste incineration fly ash using adapted metal tolerant Aspergillus niger

Kinetics, equilibrium and thermodynamic studies on biosorption of hexavalent chromium by dead fungal biomass of marine Aspergillus niger

A review on experimental studies of biosorption of heavy metals by Aspergillus niger

Journal	Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering
ISSN	00084034
Open Access	No