Biosorption of Chromium, Copper, Nickel and Zinc Ions onto Fungal Pellets of Aspergillus niger 405 from Aqueous Solutions

Željka Filipović-Kovačević¹*, Laszlo Sipos² and Felicita Briški<sup>2

1</sup> Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology, Pierottijeva 6, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia
²Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Marulićev trg 19, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia

Article history:
Received February 8, 2000
Accepted May 17, 2000

Key words:
fungus Aspergillus niger 405, heavy metals, biosorption, single and multi-component metal aqueous solutions

Summary:
Fungal mycelium pellets of Aspergillus niger 405 were used for adsorption of different metal ions. The biosorption of Cu²⁺, Zn²⁺, Ni²⁺ and CrO₄^2– was studied over a range of metal ion concentrations, adsorption time, pH and co-anions. The process of uptake obeyed both the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. The results showed better biosorption for the first three metal ions at pH ranging from 4 to 6. On the contrary, pH values from 3 to 7 had no influence on sorption of chromium. Comparison of metal uptake in single and multi-component aqueous solutions of Cu-Zn-Ni-Cr was discussed. Fungus Aspergillus niger 405 showed a good affinity for binding of Cu²⁺, Zn²⁺ and Ni²⁺ ions in single, while in multi-component solution it occurred only for copper and zinc.

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