Biosorption of cadmium, copper, lead and zinc by inactive biomass of Pseudomonas Putida.

The accumulation of Cd(II), Cu(II), Pb(II) and Zn(II) at mg L-1 concentration levels by inactive freeze-dried biomass of Pseudomonas Putida has been investigated. These metals could be efficiently removed from diluted aqueous solutions. A contact time of 10 min was sufficient to reach equilibrium. The pH has a strong effect on metal biosorption and the optimal pH values were 6.0, 5.0–6.0, 6.0–6.5 and 7.0–7.5 for Cd(II), Cu(II), Pb(II) and Zn(II) respectively. Under these conditions there was 80% removal for all metals studied. The process of biosorption can be described by a Langmuir-type adsorption model. This model accounts for 98% of the data variance. The KA and qmax parameters for each metal are strongly correlated (at confidence levels greater than 98%) with the metal acidity, quantified by the constant of the corresponding M(OH)+ complex, thus confirming previous assertions by other authors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]