Removal of heavy metals from aqueous solution using Rhizopus delemar mycelia in free and polyurethane-bound form.
This study assesses the ability of mycelia of Rhizopus delemar (both free and immobilized on polyurethane foam) to remove heavy metals from single-ion solutions as well as from a mixture of them. All experiments were conducted using 0.5-5 mm solutions of CuSO4 x 5H2O, CoCl2-6H2O and FeSO4 7H2O. Mycelia immobilized on polyurethane foam cells showed some times increase in uptake compared with that of free cells. Metal ions accumulation from a mixed solution was decreased slightly for cobalt and iron and considerable for copper ions. Heavy metal uptake was examined in the immobilized column experiments and more than 92% heavy metal removal (mg heavy metals removed/mg heavy metals added) from a mixed solution was achieved during the 5 cycles. During these experiments, the dry weight of the immobilized cells was decreased by only 2%. These results showed that immobilized mycelia of Rhizopus delemar can be used repeatedly for removal of heavy metals from aqueous solutions.
Tsekova
Kolishka
K
Laboratory of Microbial Ecology, Institute of Microbiology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia. kolishka@yahoo.com
Petrov
Galin
G
D000042:Absorption; D018914:Cells, Immobilized; D003035:Cobalt / Q000302:isolation & purification; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D011140:Polyurethanes; D012233:Rhizopus; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000302:isolation & purification*
D019216:Metals, Heavy; D011140:Polyurethanes; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D003035:Cobalt