Comparative Study of the Kinetics and Equilibrium of Nickel(Ii) Biosorption From Aqueous Solutions by Free and Immobilized Biomass of Aspergillus Awamori Publisher



Shahverdi F¹ ; Ahmadi M¹ ; Avazmoghadam S² ; Faramarzi MA³
Source: Environmental Progress and Sustainable Energy Published:2015

Abstract

In this research, the kinetics and equilibrium of nickel(II) biosorption were studied in aqueous solutions using batch technique. The biosorption was carried on Ca-alginate beads, on nonliving mycelium of Aspergillus awamori immobilized on Ca-alginate, and on free fungal biomass. The biosorbents were characterized by FTIR and SEM analyses. The experimental data were analyzed in terms of pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order, and intraparticle diffusion kinetic models. It was observed that the biosorption process of Ni(II) ions followed well pseudo-second-order model on all biosorbents. The experimental results showed that biosorption equilibrium on blank Ca-alginate, free biomass, and immobilized fungal biomass fit better to the Langmuir model when compared with the Freundlich model in concentration range studied (25-75 mg L-1). The results showed that the maximum monolayer biosorption capacity of the immobilized fungal biosorbent was 8.34 mg g-1 when compared with the blank Ca-alginate and free biomass with 4.63 and 7.13 mg g-1, respectively. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 34: 1356-1364, 2015 © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog.