There has been a trend toward the
use of microorganisms as the
biomaterial for removing dyes and metals from wastewater. However,
native microorganism cells have low mechanical stability, which limit
their further application in industries. In this study, chlorine dioxide
(ClO
2
), a high-efficiency, low-toxicity, and environmentally
benign disinfectant, was used for microorganism surface modification
to enhance the mechanical stability and metal ion adsorption of the
cell. ClO
2
can either modify cell walls to improve their
metal adsorption capacity or modify cell membranes to improve their
mechanical stability. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy analysis
indicated that several cell surface groups were involved in the cell
wall modification of
Bacillus
sp. Microscopic
observation indicated that ClO
2
treatment could deter cell
membranes from forming vesicles in sodium hydroxide (NaOH) aqueous
solution, and freeze-etching showed that ClO
2
treatment
could alter the erythrocyte membrane proteins which might also contribute
to improving the cell stability. The experimental results on
Bacillus
sp.,
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
, and
Mucor rouxii
show that ClO
2
treatment may increase, or at least not reduce, the ability
of microbial cells to adsorb heavy metals, but it can significantly
improve the resistance of these cells to NaOH cleavage. It seems ClO
2
is a promising auxiliary for biosorption of heavy-metal ions.