The mycelial growth kinetics, cadmium biosorption capacity and main governing biosorption mechanism of Pleurotus ostreatus (oyster mushroom) have been determined in this study. The fungus mycelium exhibits a sigmoidal (S-shaped) growth curve in which the growth rates for the lag and exponential phases are 0.1 and 0.31 g/L.day, respectively. The grown fungus is subjected to elemental, infra-red and scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy analyses while biosorption data are fitted to established adsorption isotherm models, namely, Langmuir, Freundlich and Dubinin-Radushkevich. It is strongly suggested that the main governing mechanism involved is chemisorption due to good fitting of biosorption data to Langmuir and Dubinin-Radushkevich models with possibility of involvement of both ion exchange and complexation. Data presented in the study are very useful for design of future pilot-or industrial-scale biosorption water purification system.Running title: Biosorption of cadmium using Pleurotus ostreatus

The potential of Pleurotus ostreatus spent mushroom compost (PSMC) as a green biosorbent for nickel (II) biosorption was investigated in this study. A novel approach of using the half-saturation concentration of biosorbent to rapidly determine the uptake, kinetics and mechanism of biosorption was employed together with cost per unit uptake analysis to determine the potential of this biosorbent. Fifty per cent nickel (II) biosorption was obtained at a half-saturation constant of 0.7 g biosorbent concentration, initial pH in the range of 4-8, 10 min contact time, 50 mL 50 mg/L nickel (II) initial concentration. The experimental data were well fitted with the Langmuir isotherm model and the maximum nickel (II) biosorption was 3.04 mg/g. The results corresponded well to a second pseudo order kinetic model with the coefficient of determination value of 0.9999. Based on FTIR analysis, the general alkyl, hydroxyl or amino, aliphatic alcohol and carbonyl functional groups of biosorbent were involved in the biosorption process. Therefore, biosorption of nickel (II) must involve several mechanisms simultaneously such as physical adsorption, chemisorption and ion exchange. Cost comparison for PSMC with Amberlite IRC-86 ion exchange resin indicates that the biosorbent has the potential to be developed into a cost effective and environmentally friendly treatment system.

Carbamazepine is an anti-epileptic pharmaceuticalcompound which is frequently detected in wastewater. However, this compound is hardly degraded naturally due to its persistency. Thus, carbamazepine presents in water stream and household water supply as well as wastewater treatment plant. This paper focuses on various species of fungi and bacteria used in carbamazepine biodegradation and the carbamazepine degrading-enzymes involved in the degradation pathways. Selected research papers on carbamazepine biodegradation using fungi and bacteria were reviewed. The efficiency and approaches in term of methodologies and technologies used were highlighted in this paper. Such study sheds light on gaps of study and future research direction on carbamazepine biodegradation.