Biosorption of metal ions with Penicillium chrysogenum

Biosorption of metal ions with Penicillium chrysogenum mycelium is described in this article. Alkaline pretreatment was used to remove proteins and nucleic acids from cells, and this treatment increased the adsorption capacities, for Cr³⁺ from 18.6 mg g⁻¹ to 27.2 mg g⁻¹, for Ni²⁺ from 13.2 mg g⁻¹ to 19.2 mg g⁻¹, for Zn²⁺ from 6.8 mg g⁻¹ to 24.5 mg g⁻¹. The adsorption of metal ions was strongly pH dependent. The mycelium could beused for large-scale removal of Cr³⁺ from tannery wastewater. The results show that this inexpensive mycelium adsorbent has potential in industry because of its high adsorption capacity. The main chelating sites are amino groups (−NH₂) of chitosan in the mycelium. A new model is established, which describes the relation of adsorption of metal ions on pH according to amino group chelating with metal ions and H⁺. The relative errors of simulation for Cu²⁺, Ni²⁺, Zn²⁺, and Cr³⁺ are 4.66%, 5.45%, 11.55%, and 1.69%, respectively.