Hexavalent Chromium Accumulation by Microscopic Fungi

Abstract

Abstract:The purpose of the study was to optimize the removal of Cr(VI) by means of the Trichoderma viride strain isolated from chromium mud samples a well as the Aspergillus niger and Penicillium citrinum strains from other environments. The growth of organism and removal of chromium(VI) was carried out in water solution of various chromium(VI) contents. The research was carried out at optimal pH for each fungus i.e. Aspergillus niger 4.0, Penicillium citrinum 5.0 and Trichoderma viride 4.5. During 14 days of incubation, samples of 5 ml each were collected every day in order to determine chromium(VI) content in the solution and the effi ciency of bioaccumulation of this element was then specifi ed. Furthermore, chromium contents in fi ltrate and mycelium were checked to verify this type of biological activity of microorganisms. The fungi culture investigated in this study could grow at 10-125 mg/l chromium concentration which indicated that it was characterized by high tolerance to various concentrations of chromium. At 125 mg/l chromium, these organisms could accumulate successfully about 90% of chromium. High tolerance of this culture can make it a potential candidate to be a heavy metal scavenger of chromium.

Optimization with Response Surface Methodology of biosorption conditions of Hg(II) ions from aqueous media by Polyporus Squamosus fungi as a new biosorbent

“…Most of these methods have several disadvantages and tend to be very expensive and time-consuming. However, among these methods, adsorption and biosorption are generally considered to be simple, relatively inexpensive and effective methods of removing heavy metals from wastewater (Hołda 2013, Ji et al 2012. The use of microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, yeast, and algae in treating wastewaters containing toxic heavy metals is gaining favor (Bhatti and Amin 2013, Bhatti and Hamid 2014, Hanif et al 2015.…”