Biosorption Performance of Multimetal Resistant Fungus Penicillium chrysogenum XJ-1 for Removal of Cu and Cr from Aqueous Solutions.

Adsorption for heavy metals via biomaterials such as fungal biomass presents a practical remediation technique for polluted water. Among all known filamentous fungi,Penicillium chrysogenumis widespread in nature and can serve as a biosorbent for heavy metals. In the current study, the ability ofP. chrysogenumXJ-1 to remove copper (Cu2+) and chromium (Cr6+) from water was evaluated. The maximum biosorption capacity of XJ-1 for Cu2+reached 42.83 ± 0.57 mg g−1dry biomass at pH 5.0 after the equilibrium time of 1.5 h. The maximum biosorption capacity for Cr6+at pH 3.0 reached 52.69 ± 1.68 mg g−1dry biomass after the equilibrium time of 1.5 h. The biosorption data of XJ-1 biomass were well fitted to the Freundlich isotherm model and the pseudo-second-order Lagergren kinetic model. Laundry powder-treated and HCl-treated XJ-1 biomass significantly enhanced its adsorption capacity to Cu2+and Cr6+, respectively. HCl and NaOH were suitable desorbents for Cu2+/Cr6+loading biomass, respectively. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analyses revealed that hydroxyl, amine, and sulfonyl groups on the biosorbent contributed to binding Cu2+and Cr6+and that carbonyl and carboxyl groups were also vital binding sites of Cu2+. Scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive x-ray (SEM-EDX) analyses confirmed that considerable amounts of metals were precipitated on the cell surface of XJ-1. Our results suggested that XJ-1 might be used to purify multimetal-contaminated water. This low-cost and eco-friendly biomass of XJ-1 seems to have a broad use in the restoration of metal-contaminated water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]