Effect of pretreatment on the biosorption of heavy metals on Mucor rouxii

Abstract

Different chemicals were used to study the effect of pretreatment of Mucor rouxii biomass on bioadsorption of Pb2+, Cd2+, Ni2+ and Zn2+. Pretreatment with detergent and alkali chemicals such as NaOH, Na2CO3 and NaHCO3 were found to improve or maintain the bioadsorption capacity in comparison with live M. rouxii biomass. Acid pretreatment using HCl, H2SO4 and C2H4O2 resulted in a significant reduction in the bioadsorption capacity. Pretreatment using CaCl 2 and NaCl slightly reduced the bioadsorption capacity. All the pretreatment methods resulted in a reduction in biomass in comparison with autoclaved biomass. In addition, M. rouxii biomass pretreated with chemicals without autoclaving was still viable, even after boiling. To improve the bioadsorption capacity for metal ions by dead biomass, alkali pretreatment is an effective method, but the loss of biomass after the pretreatment should be taken into consideration while assessing the bioadsorption performance.

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