Equilibrium and kinetic studies of copper(II) removal by three species of dead fungal biomasses

Abstract The batch experiments were conducted to study the copper(II) removal by formaldehyde inactivated Cladosporium cladosporioides , Gliomastix murorum and Bjerkandera sp., at conditions of agitation speed of 150 rpm, temperature of 25 °C, biosorbent dose of 2 g l −1 and contact time of 12 h. It was found that, for each biomass, the optimum pH was 6.0 and the equilibrium establishing time was about 2 h. Without acid or alkali treatment for improving adsorption properties, the experimental maximum copper(II) biosorptions were relatively high: 7.74 mg g −1 for C . cladosporioides , 9.01 mg g −1 for G . murorum , and 12.08 mg g −1 for Bjerkandera sp.. The biosorption data of all the dead fungal biomasses were quite fitted to Langmuir isotherm model and pseudo second-order kinetic model; first-order Lagergren kinetic model gave good adjustment to the data of Bjerkandera sp. but did not fit the data of C . cladosporioides and G . murorum very well. These fungal biomasses exhibited relatively high capacity for the removal of copper(II) from aqueous solutions.