Characterization and sorption properties of Aspergillus niger waste biomass

The structure and the biosorption properties of fungal biomass of Aspergillus niger originated from citric acid fermentation industry was investigated. This waste biomass, produced in high quantity in carefully controlled industrial processes, has certain favourable characteristics that may be improved for its usefulness. In environmental chemistry, it is known for the removal of heavy metals cations. In this work, different alkaline treatments (1M NaOH/20°C/24 h and 10M NaOH/107°C/6 h) were used to evaluate the dependence of sorption properties of biomass on the cell wall composition. The biosorption was studied by the batch method, with the biomass concentration of 1 g/l, at pH 6. The adsorption of lead was more effective than that of cadmium. The biosorption capacity was evaluated using the biosorption isotherm derived from the equilibrium data. At pH 6, the maximmum lead biosorption capacity estimated with the Langmuir model was 93 mg/g dry biomass.