title: Biosorption of uranium by lake-harvested biomass from a cyanobacterium bloom.
abstract: The aim of this work was to study some basic aspects of uranium biosorption by powdered biomass of lake-harvested cyanobacterium water-bloom, which consisted predominantly of Microcystis aeruginosa. The optimum pH for uranium biosorption was between 4.0 and 8.0. The batch sorption reached the equilibrium within 1 h. The isotherm fitted the Freundlich model well. Although the Langmuir model fitted the experiment data well at pH 3.0, 5.0 and 7.0, it did not fit at pH 9.0 and 11.0 at all. This implies that different biosorption mechanisms may be involved at different pH values. 0.1 N HCl was effective in uranium desorption. The results indicated that the naturally abundant biomass of otherwise nuisance cyanobacterium bloom exhibited good potential for application in removal of uranium from aqueous solution.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, PR China.
authors.forename: Peng-Fu
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Zhi-Yong
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.forename: Xiang-Jun
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.forename: Xiao-Mei
authors.initials: XM
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Mao-Zhong
authors.initials: MZ
authors.lastname: Min
authors.forename: Li-Wen
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.forename: Zhi-Li
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000042:Absorption; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D018533:Biomass; D000458:Cyanobacteria / Q000378:metabolism*; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005618:Fresh Water / Q000382:microbiology*; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D013997:Time Factors; D014501:Uranium / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*
chemical_list: D014501:Uranium