title: Flocculation behavior and mechanism of bioflocculant produced by Aspergillus flavus.
abstract: In this study, the flocculation behavior and mechanism of a cation-independent bioflocculant IH-7 produced by Aspergillus flavus were investigated. Results showed 91.6% was the lowest flocculating rate recorded by IH-7 (0.5 mg L(-1)) at pH range 4-8. Moreover, IH-7 showed better flocculation performance than polyaluminum chloride (PAC) at a wide range of flocculant concentration (0.06-25 mg L(-1)), temperature (5-45 °C) and salinity (10-60% w/w). The current study found that cation addition did not significantly enhance the flocculating rate and IH-7 is a positively charged bioflocculant. These findings suggest that charge neutralization is the main flocculation mechanism of IH-7 bioflocculant. IH-7 was significantly used to flocculate different types of suspended solids such as activated carbons, kaolin clays, soil solids and yeast cells.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Biofuel and Biochemical Research (CBBR), Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Bandar Seri Iskandar, 31750 Tronoh, Perak, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Ahmad H Rajab
authors.initials: AHR
authors.lastname: Aljuboori
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia, Sri Serdang 43400, Selangor, Malaysia. Electronic address: azni@eng.upm.edu.my.
authors.forename: Azni
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Idris
authors.affiliation: Department of Soil Sciences and Water Resources, Collage of Agriculture, Baghdad University, Jadriyah, Baghdad, Iraq.
authors.forename: Hamid Hussain Rijab
authors.initials: HHR
authors.lastname: Al-Joubory
authors.affiliation: Centre for Biofuel and Biochemical Research (CBBR), Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Bandar Seri Iskandar, 31750 Tronoh, Perak, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Yoshimitsu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Uemura
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Water Resources Engineering, University of Maiduguri, P.M.B 1069, Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria.
authors.forename: B S U
authors.initials: BSU
authors.lastname: Ibn Abubakar
mesh_terms: D001231:Aspergillus flavus / Q000378:metabolism*; D005427:Flocculation; D062610:Fungal Polysaccharides / Q000378:metabolism; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D007616:Kaolin / Q000737:chemistry*; D013696:Temperature; D018508:Water Purification
chemical_list: D062610:Fungal Polysaccharides; D005656:Fungal Proteins; D007616:Kaolin
keywords: Aspergillus flavus; Bioflocculant; Flocculation; Flocculation mechanism; Microbial flocculant