Formation of composite sorbent by P. chrysogenum strain F1 and ferrihydrite in water for arsenic removal

Abstract In this work, P. chrysogenum strain F1-ferrihydrite composites (PFC) were applied to the bioremediation of polluted mimic wastewater with high concentration (50–500 mg/L) of arsenic. An interesting phenomenon was discovered that the PFC was formed in situ in the process of removal of As(III), which can greatly improve their practical application in separation and reutilization. The results showed that optimum removal efficiency achieved 81.23% for As(III) at an initial concentration of 100 mg/L that also could be up to 75.00% at 200 mg/L with composite sorbent PFC. According to the adsorption isotherms and kinetics experiments, the adsorption reaction included both physical adsorption and chemical adsorption. The formation of composite PFC significantly promoted the sorption of As(III) ion between biomass and ferrihydrite from aqueous. The adsorption rates and capacities for arsenic were both enhanced markedly than biomass and ferrihydrite individually as well. Adsorption-desorption experiment indicated PFC maintained to a dominant with 74.47% of removal efficiency over 3 cycles. This research demonstrated that PFC has great potential in removing high concentration of As(III) from wastewater.