Biosorption of precious metals

Biosorption has emerged as a low-cost and often low-tech option for removal or recovery of base metals from aqueous wastes. The conditions under which precious metals such as gold, platinum and palladium are sorbed by biomass are often very different to those under which base metals are sorbed. This, coupled with the increasingly high demand for precious metals, drives the increase in research into efficient recovery of precious metal ions from all waste material, especially refining wastewaters. Common biosorbents for precious metal ions include various derivatives of chitosan, as well as other compounds with relatively high surface amine functional group content. This is generally due to the ability of the positively charged amine groups to attract anionic precious metal ions at low pH. Recent research regarding the biosorption of some precious metals is reviewed here, with emphasis on the effects of the biosorption environment and the biosorption mechanisms identified.     

Characterization of various functional groups present in the capsule of Microcystis and study of their role in biosorption of Fe, Ni and Cr

This study demonstrates highest biosorption of Fe followed by Ni and Cr by Microcystis in single, bi and trimetallic combination. Fe was not only preferentially adsorbed from the metal mixtures but Ni and Cr failed to decrease its biosorption. The agreement of the data of Fe biosorption with the Langmuir model suggested monolayer sorption and existence of constant sorption energy during the experimental conditions. In contrast to Fe biosorption, Ni and Cr sorption followed the Freundlich isotherm; this demonstrates a multilayer biosorption of the two metals. IR analysis of Microcystis cells confirmed the presence of a large number of -COO(-) and some amino groups in the Microcystis cell wall. The oxygen and nitrogen donor atoms from carboxyl and amino groups were found to play a vital role in metal biosorption by Microcystis cell walls, and ion exchange mechanisms were involved in the biosorption of test metals. Extra peaks present in Ni and Cr treated cells implied that amino groups are more responsible for Ni and Cr biosorption.     

Biosorption of heavy metals by Saccharomyces cerevisiae: a review

Heavy metal pollution has become one of the most serious environmental problems today. Biosorption, using biomaterials such as bacteria, fungi, yeast and algae, is regarded as a cost-effective biotechnology for the treatment of high volume and low concentration complex wastewaters containing heavy metal(s) in the order of 1 to 100 mg/L. Among the promising biosorbents for heavy metal removal which have been researched during the past decades, Saccharomyces cerevisiae has received increasing attention due to the unique nature in spite of its mediocre capacity for metal uptake compared with other fungi. S. cerevisiae is widely used in food and beverage production, is easily cultivated using cheap media, is also a by-product in large quantity as a waste of the fermentation industry, and is easily manipulated at molecular level. The state of the art in the field of biosorption of heavy metals by S. cerevisiae not only in China, but also worldwide, is reviewed in this paper, based on a substantial number of relevant references published recently on the background of biosorption achievements and development. Characteristics of S. cerevisiae in heavy metal biosorption are extensively discussed. The yeast can be studied in various forms for different purposes. Metal-binding capacity for various heavy metals by S. cerevisiae under different conditions is compared. Lead and uranium, for instances, could be removed from dilute solutions more effectively in comparison with other metals. The yeast biosorption largely depends on parameters such as pH, the ratio of the initial metal ion and initial biomass concentration, culture conditions, presence of various ligands and competitive metal ions in solution and to a limited extent on temperature. An assessment of the isotherm equilibrium model, as well as kinetics was performed. The mechanisms of biosorption are understood only to a limited extent. Elucidation of the mechanism of metal uptake is a real challenge in the field of biosorption. Various mechanism assumptions of metal uptake by S. cerevisiae are summarized.     

酿酒酵母吸附重金属离子的研究进展

重金属污染成为当今最重要的环境问题之一。生物吸附法是处理大体积低浓度重金属废水的一种理想方法,近年来有关的研究报道不断增多,但尚未实现工业化应用。酿酒酵母(Saccharomyces cerevisiae)不仅是具有实用潜力的生物吸附剂,也是研究重金属生物吸附机理的良好材料。结合自己的研究成果,总结了酿酒酵母作为生物吸附材料的优点、研究中的表现形式和吸附性能,重点讨论了酿酒酵母生物吸附机理,介绍了等温吸附平衡模型和动力学模型在酵母生物吸附中的应用情况。最后提出生物吸附进一步的研究方向。     

Insights into the interactions of cyanobacteria with uranium

Due to various activities associated with nuclear industry, uranium is migrated to aquatic environments like groundwater, ponds or oceans. Uranium forms stable carbonate complexes in the oxic waters of pH 7–10 which results in a high degree of uranium mobility. Microorganisms employ various mechanisms which significantly influence the mobility and the speciation of uranium in aquatic environments. Uranyl bioremediation studies, this far, have generally focussed on low pH conditions and related to adsorption of positively charged UO₂ ²⁺ onto negatively charged microbial surfaces. Sequestration of anionic uranium species, i.e. [UO₂(CO₃) ₂ ^2? ] and [UO₂(CO₃) ₃ ^4? ] onto microbial surfaces has received only scant attention. Marine cyanobacteria are effective metal adsorbents and represent an important sink for metals in aquatic environment. This article addresses the cyanobacterial interactions with toxic metals in general while stressing on uranium. It focusses on the possible mechanisms employed by cyanobacteria to sequester uranium from aqueous solutions above circumneutral pH where negatively charged uranyl carbonate complexes dominate aqueous uranium speciation. The mechanisms demonstrated by cyanobacteria are important components of biogeochemical cycle of uranium and are useful for the development of appropriate strategies, either to recover or remediate uranium from the aquatic environments.     

Biosorption of Zn(II) by Thiobacillus ferrooxidans

There have been a number of studies considering the possibility of removing and recovering heavy metals from diluted solutions. These are due, principally, because of the commercial value of some metals as well as in the environmental impact caused by them. The traditional methods for removing have several disadvantages when metals are present in concentrations lower than 100 mg/l. Biosorption, which uses biological materials as adsorbents, has been considered as an alternative method. In this work, variables like pH and biomass chemical pretreatment have been studied for its effect on the capacity for zinc biosorption by Thiobacillus ferrooxidans. Also, studies to determinate the time for zinc adsorption were carried out. Results indicate that a capacity as high as 82.61 mg of Zn(II)/g of dry biomass can be obtained at a temperature of 25v°C and that the biosorption process occurs in a time of 30 min.     

Biosorbents for heavy metals removal and their future

A vast array of biological materials, especially bacteria, algae, yeasts and fungi have received increasing attention for heavy metal removal and recovery due to their good performance, low cost and large available quantities. The biosorbent, unlike mono functional ion exchange resins, contains variety of functional sites including carboxyl, imidazole, sulphydryl, amino, phosphate, sulfate, thioether, phenol, carbonyl, amide and hydroxyl moieties. Biosorbents are cheaper, more effective alternatives for the removal of metallic elements, especially heavy metals from aqueous solution. In this paper, based on the literatures and our research results, the biosorbents widely used for heavy metal removal were reviewed, mainly focusing on their cellular structure, biosorption performance, their pretreatment, modification, regeneration/reuse, modeling of biosorption (isotherm and kinetic models), the development of novel biosorbents, their evaluation, potential application and future. The pretreatment and modification of biosorbents aiming to improve their sorption capacity was introduced and evaluated. Molecular biotechnology is a potent tool to elucidate the mechanisms at molecular level, and to construct engineered organisms with higher biosorption capacity and selectivity for the objective metal ions. The potential application of biosorption and biosorbents was discussed. Although the biosorption application is facing the great challenge, there are two trends for the development of the biosorption process for metal removal. One trend is to use hybrid technology for pollutants removal, especially using living cells. Another trend is to develop the commercial biosorbents using immobilization technology, and to improve the biosorption process including regeneration/reuse, making the biosorbents just like a kind of ion exchange resin, as well as to exploit the market with great endeavor.     

Biosorption Potentiality of Living Aspergillus niger Tiegh in Removing Heavy Metal from Aqueous Solution

The species of Aspergillus niger Tiegh isolated from estuarine sediments has been studied for tolerance to heavy metals such as Hg and Pb and for its capacities to uptake metals. A. niger was allowed to grow in monometal- as well as bimetal-containing media (25 mg L^?1) to determine the biosorption capacity of the organism. The effects of temperature and pH on biosorption were studied to elucidate the biosorption property and optimum growth conditions for the organism. Results revealed that 91.1% of Pb and 97.1% of Hg were removed from the monometal solutions, and there was a reduction of 96.9% of Hg and 89.3% of Pb from the bimetal solution after 92 h of fungal growth. The binding mechanism involved between metal ion and functional groups present on the cell surface of the biomass was studied using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), which confirms the presence of amine, hydroxyl, carboxyl, and phosphate groups. The adsorption of metal ions on the biomass surface was confirmed using scanning electron microscopy–energy dispersive x-ray (SEM-EDAX) studies. The experimental study proved that A. Niger can be used as a suitable biosorption agent for removing metal ions when present in low concentration.     

Recent trends in the biosorption of heavy metals: A review

Considerable attention has been focused in recent years upon the field of biosorption for the removal of metal ions from aqueous effluents. Compared to other technologies, the advantages of biosorption are the high purity of the treated waste water and the cheap raw material. Really, the first major challenge for the biosorption field is to select the most promising types of biomass. Abundant biomass types either generated as a waste by-product of large-scale industrial fermentations particularly fungi or certain metal-binding seaweeds have gained importance in recent years due to their natural occurrence, low cost, and, of course, good performance in metal biosorption. Industrial solutions commonly contain multimetal systems or several organic and inorganic substances that form complexes with metals at relatively high stability forming a very complex environment. When several components are present, interference and competition phenomena for sorption sites occur and lead to a more complex mathematical formulation of the process. The most optimal configuration for continuous flow-biosorption seems to the packed-bed column which gets gradually saturated from the feed to the solution exit end. Owing to the competitive ion exchange taking place in the column, one or more of the metals present even at trace levels may overshoot the acceptable limit in the column effluent before the breakthrough point of the targeted metal. Occurrence of ‘overshoot's and impact on heavy metal removal has not been analyzed enough. New trends in biosorption are discussed in this review.     

Chromium removal from a real tanning effluent by autochthonous and allochthonous fungi

Heavy metals represent an important ecological and health hazard due to their toxic effects and their accumulation throughout the food chain. Conventional techniques commonly applied to recover chromium from tanning wastewaters have several disadvantages whereas biosorption has good metal removal performance from large volume of effluents. To date most studies about chromium biosorption have been performed on simulated effluents bypassing the problems due to organic or inorganic ligands present in real industrial wastewaters that may sequestrate the Cr(III) ions. In the present study a tanning effluent was characterized from a mycological point of view and different fungal biomasses were tested for the removal of Cr(III) from the same tanning effluent in which, after the conventional treatments, Cr(III) amount was very low but not enough to guarantee the good quality of the receptor water river. The experiments gave rise to promising results with a percentage of removed Cr(III) up to 40%. Moreover, to elucidate the mechanisms involved in biosorption process, the same biomasses were tested for Cr(III) removal from synthetic aqueous solutions at different Cr(III) concentrations.     

Uptake and transformation of metals and metalloids by microbial mats and their use in bioremediation

Summary Constructed microbial mats, used for studies on the removal and transformation of metals and metalloids, are made by combining cyanobacteria inoculum with a sediment inoculum from a metal-contaminated site. These mats are a heterotrophic and autotrophic community dominated by cyanobacteria and held together by slimy secretions produced by various microbial groups. When contaminated water containing high concentrations of metals is passed over microbial mats immobilized on glass wool, there is rapid removal of the metals from the water. The mats are tolerant of high concentrations of toxic metals and metalloids, such as cadmium, lead, chromium, selenium and arsenic (up to 350 mg L^–1). This tolerance may be due to a number of mechanisms at the molecular, cellular and community levels. Management of toxic metals by the mats is related to deposition of metal compounds outside the cell surfaces as well as chemical modification of the aqueous environment surrounding the mats. The location of metal deposition is determined by factors such as redox gradients, cell surface micro-environments and secretion of extra-cellular bioflocculents. Metal-binding flocculents (polyanionic polysaccharides) are produced in large quantities by the cyanobacterial component of the mat. Steep gradients of redox and oxygen exist from the surface through the laminated strata of microbes. These are produced by photosynthetic oxygen production at the surface and heterotrophic consumption in the deeper regions. Additionally, sulfur-reducing bacteria colonize the lower strata, removing and utilizing the reducing H₂S, rather than water, for photosynthesis. Thus, depending on the chemical character of the microzone of the mat, the sequestered metals or metalloids can be oxidized, reduced and precipitated as sulfides or oxides. For example precipitates of red amorphous elemental selenium were identified in mats exposed to selenate (Se-VI) and insoluble precipitates of manganese, chromium, cadmium, cobalt, and lead were found in mats exposed to soluble salts of these metals. Constructed microbial mats offer several advantages for use in the bioremediation of metal-contaminated sites. These include low cost, durability, ability to function in both fresh and salt water, tolerance to high concentrations of metals and metalloids and the unique capacity of mats to form associations with new microbial species. Thus one or several desired microbial species might be integrated into mats in order to design the community for specific bioremediation applications.     

Biosorption of Cu(II) and Pb(II) ions from aqueous solution by natural spider silk

Aside from its excellent mechanical properties, spider silk (SS) would offer an active surface for heavy metal interaction due to its rich protein structure. The present study describes the potential use of natural (SS) as a sorbent of heavy metals from aqueous solutions. Single and multi-species biosorption experiments of heavy metals by natural SS were conducted using batch and column experiments. The biosorption kinetics, in general, was found to follow the second-order rate expression, and the experimental equilibrium biosorption data fitted reasonably well to Freundlich isotherm. From the Freundlich isotherm, the biosorption capacities of Cu(II) and Pb(II) ions onto SS were found as 0.20 and 0.007 mmol g?1, respectively. The results showed a decrease in the extent of metal ion uptake with lowering the pH.     

Removal of heavy metals by an Aspergillus terreus strain immobilized in a polyurethane matrix

AIMS: The aim was to investigate the biosorption of chromium, nickel and iron from metallurgical effluents, produced by a steel foundry, using a strain of Aspergillus terreus immobilized in polyurethane foam. METHODS AND RESULTS: A. terreus UFMG-F01 was immobilized in polyurethane foam and subjected to biosorption tests with metallurgical effluents. Maximal metal uptake values of 164.5 mg g(-1) iron, 96.5 mg g(-1) chromium and 19.6 mg g(-1) nickel were attained in a culture medium containing 100% of effluent stream supplemented with 1% of glucose, after 6 d of incubation. CONCLUSIONS: Microbial populations in metal-polluted environments include fungi that have adapted to otherwise toxic concentrations of heavy metals and have become metal resistant. In this work, a strain of A. terreus was successfully used as a metal biosorbent for the treatment of metallurgical effluents. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: A. terreus UFMG-F01 was shown to have good biosorption properties with respect to heavy metals. The low cost and simplicity of this technique make its use ideal for the treatment of effluents from steel foundries.     

Mechanism of zinc resistance in a plant growth promoting Pseudomonas fluorescens strain

Bacterial systems have evolved a number of mechanisms, both active and passive, to manage toxic concentrations of heavy metals in their environment. The present study is aimed at describing the zinc resistance mechanism in a rhizospheric isolate, Pseudomonas fluorescens strain Psd. The strain was able to sustain an external Zn²⁺ concentration of up to 5 mM in the medium. The strategy for metal management by the strain was found to be extracellular biosorption with a possible role of exopolysaccharides in metal accumulation. The attainment of equilibrium in biosorption reaction was found to be dependent on initial Zn²⁺ concentration, with the reaction reaching equilibrium faster (50 min) at high initial Zn²⁺ concentration. Biosorption kinetics of the process was adjusted to pseudo-first order rate equation. With the help of Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms, it was established that Zn²⁺ biosorption by the bacterium is a thermodynamically favourable process.     

Cellular transport and homeostasis of essential and nonessential metals

Metals can have a number of detrimental or beneficial effects in the cell, but first they must get in. Organisms have evolved transport mechanisms to get metals that are required, or essential into the cell. Nonessential metals often enter the cell through use of the machinery provided for essential metals. Much work has been done to advance our understanding of how these metals are transported across plasma and organelle membranes. This review provides an overview of essential and nonessential metal transport and homeostatic processes.     

微藻对污水中重金属的生物吸附(英文)

在我国,水源污染问题异常突出,特别是水体重金属污染情况非常严重,因此,如何有效治理水体重金属污染成为了摆在科技工作者面前十分紧迫的任务。利用微藻生物吸附来治理水体重金属污染是一种经济、简便、有效可行的方法,具有极其广阔的应用前景。论文介绍了我国近年水体污染的状况及水体重金属污染特点;综述了水体重金属污染对水体植物、水体动物以及人类潜在的危害;比较了几种常见治理重金属污染的方法;分析了微藻吸附水体重金属的优点,并阐述了微藻对重金属生物吸附的机理及影响生物吸附过程的外在因素;最后提出了今后的研究发展方向。     

Biosorption of heavy metals by distillery-derived biomass

Biomass derived from the Old Bushmill's Distillery Co. Ltd., Northern Ireland was harvested and examined for its ability to function as a biosorbent for metals such as Cu, Zn, Fe, Pb and Ag. Binding studies were carried out using biosorption isotherm analysis. Although the material had previously been shown to be capable of efficient U biosorption, its affinity for Cu, Zn, Fe was lower. However, binding studies with Pb demonstrated that it had a maximum biosorption capacity for that metal of 189?mg/g dry weight of the biomass. In addition, the biomass exhibited a maximum biosorption capacity of 59?mg/g dry weight for Ag and this compared very favourably with previously quoted values for other industrial sources of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. On the basis of the biosorption isotherm analyses carried out in this study, preference for this series of metals by the biomass was found to be Pb?>?U?>?Ag?>?Zn?≥?Fe?>?Cu.     

Biotechnological potential of Microcystis sp. in Cu, Zn and Cd biosorption from single and multimetallic systems

This paper provides information on biosorption of Cu, Zn and Cd by Microcystis sp. in single, bi and trimetallic combination. Highest biosorption of Cu followed by Zn and Cd in single as well as in mixtures containing two or three metals was noticed. The order of inhibition of Cu, Zn and Cd biosorption in bi and trimetallic combinations was suggestive of screening or competition for the binding sites on the cell surface. This observation was reconfirmed by Freundlich adsorption isotherm. K_f values were maximum for Cu (K_f=45.18), followed by Zn (K_f=16.71), and Cd (K_f=15.63) in single metallic system. The K_f values for each test metal was reduced in solution containing more than one metal. Further, the reduction in biosorption of each metal ion due to presence of other metal ion was of greater magnitude at relatively higher concentrations of interfering metal ion. The biosorption of Cu at saturation was less affected when secondary metal (Cd or Zn) was added in the medium. Above results suggest that Microcystis holds great potential for metal biosorption from mixture.     

Cell composition and metal tolerance in cyanobacteria

This review examines interactions between cyanobacteria and metals with an emphasis on metal tolerance in these organisms. Aspects of metal toxicity and accumulation in various cyanobacteria species as related to cell composition will also be reviewed.