Bioremoval of Cobalt(II) from Aqueous Solution by Three Different and Resistant Fungal Biomasses

Abstract

The biosorption of Co(II) on three fungal biomasses: <i>Paecilomyces</i> sp., <i>Penicillium</i> sp., and <i>Aspergillus niger</i>, was studied in this work. The fungal biomass of <i>Paecilomyces</i> sp. showed the best results, since it removes 93% at 24 h of incubation, while the biomasses of <i>Penicillium</i> sp. and <i>Aspergillus niger</i> are less efficient, since they remove the metal 77.5% and 70%, respectively, in the same time of incubation, with an optimum pH of removal for the three analyzed biomasses of 5.0 ± 0.2 at 28°C. Regarding the temperature of incubation, the most efficient biomass was that of <i>Paecilomyces</i> sp., since it removes 100%, at 50°C, while the biomasses of <i>Penicillium</i> sp. and <i>Aspergillus niger</i> remove 97.1% and 94.1%, at the same temperature, in 24 hours of incubation. On the contrary, if the concentration of the metal is increased, the removal capacity for the three analyzed biomasses decreases; if the concentration of the bioadsorbent is increased, the removal of the metal also increases. It was observed that, after 4 and 7 days of incubation, 100%, 100%, and 96.4% of Co(II) present in naturally contaminated water were removed, respectively.