Study of Langmuir kinetics for removal of heavy metals by the fungal biomass

Abstract

The toxic heavy metals cause soil and water pollution. The heavy metals include cadmium, lead, zinc, arsenic, chromium, nickel, mercury, etc. There are physico-chemical methods for the removal of heavy metals from contaminated soils and water. The biosorption technique is easy, eco-friendly and economical for the removal of heavy metals from contaminated soils and water bodies. The work here describes the study of Langmuir kinetics for the removal of heavy metals by Aspergillus clavatus, Aspergillus oryzae and Aspergillus fumigatus. The fungi were isolated from the distillery spentwash-based composts and compost yard soil collected from the sugar factories viz., Theur, Malegaon and Baramati, Maharashtra, India. The Langmuir equations and constants were determined. The data showed the Langmuir isotherm model best fits the experimental data for biosorption of heavy metals viz., Zn, Pb and Ni and also second order pseudo kinetics is obeyed. The kinetics study will help to know curve of biosorption process. The study will be useful for the application of biosorption process on a large-scale.