Heavy metal biosorption by white-rot fungi

In this study, heavy metal biosorption potentials of two white-rot fungi. P olyporous versicolor and Phanarochaete chrysosporium, which are commonly us ed in wastewater treatment were determined. Biosorption studies were perfor med for Cu(II), Cr(III), Cd(II), Ni(II) and Pb(II) at the same operational conditions and the effectiveness of both fungi at removing these heavy meta ls was compared. It was found that both P. versicolor and P. chrysosporium were the most effective in removing Pb(II) from aqeous solutions with maxim um biosorption capacities of 57.5 and 110 mg Pb(II)/g dry biomass, respecti vely. With P. versicolor, the adsorptive capacity order was determined to b e Pb(II)>Ni(II)>Cr(III)>Cd(II)>Cu(II) whereas the order was Pb(II)>Cr(III)> Cu(II))=Cd(II)>Ni(II) with P. chrysosporium. As a general trend, metal remo val efficiency with these fungi decreased as the initial metal ion concentr ation increased. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights res erved.