Biological biosorption of heavy metals by Aspergillus niger

Abstract

Heavy metals are present in different types of industrial effluents, being responsible for environmental pollution. Microorganisms play a significant role in bioremediation of heavy metal contaminated wastewater and biosorption has attracted the attention in recent years as an alternative to conventional methods for heavy metal removal from wastewater. In this study, potential of A. niger to biosorption of cadmium, nickel and lead from industrial wastewater effluent was investigated. The effect of pH, biomass dosage and initial concentration of the heavy metal on the removal of biosorption were examined. Range of pH, biomass dosage and initial concentration of the heavy metal (Cd2+, Ni2+, Pb2+) in this software were 1.3-8.7, 0.01-0.75 g/l, and 0.5-37.5 mg/l, respectively. A. niger biomass pretreated by boiling in 0.5N NaOH solution for 15 min exhibited high cadmium, Nickel and Lead biosorption capacity about 96.1%, 68.2% and 93.6%, respectively. This research proved that with a pH of 5, biomass dosage of 3.8 g/l and heavy metal concentration of 19 mg/l a biosorption process with A. niger could be successfully used for heavy metal removal industrial wastewater.