title: Biosurfactant of marine origin exhibiting heavy metal remediation properties.
abstract: The present study was aimed at elucidating the role of biosurfactant product isolated from a marine bacterium in removing heavy metals from heavy metal containing solutions. In this study, metal removal was biosurfactant-mediated. Efficiency of metal removal depended on the concentration of the metal as well as that of the biosurfactant. At a concentration 5x, the critical micelle concentration (CMC), almost complete removal of 100 ppm of lead and cadmium occurred. Atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) studies also showed metal removal at a concentration less than the CMC in contrast to earlier findings that only micelles are involved in metal removal. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) equipped with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) further substantiated these findings.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India.
authors.forename: Palashpriya
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Das
authors.forename: Soumen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mukherjee
authors.forename: Ramkrishna
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sen
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D001419:Bacteria / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D012623:Seawater / Q000382:microbiology*; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D013057:Spectrum Analysis; D013501:Surface-Active Agents / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D019216:Metals, Heavy; D013501:Surface-Active Agents