Bioremoval of heavy metals from aqueous solution using dead biomass of indigenous fungi derived from fertilizer industry effluents: isotherm models evaluation and batch optimization

Abstract

The present work investigated the utilization of dead biomass of the highly multi-heavy metals tolerant indigenous fungal strain NRCA8 isolated from the mycobiome of fertilizer industry effluents that containing multiple heavy metal ions at high levels to remove Pb2+, Ni2+, Zn2+, and Mn2+ as multiple solutes from multi-metals aqueous solutions for the first time. Based on morphotype, lipotype and genotype characteristics, NRCA8 was identified as Cladosporium sp. NRCA8. The optimal conditions for the bioremoval procedure in the batch system were pH 5.5 for maximum removal (91.30%, 43.25%, and 41.50%) of Pb2+, Zn2+ and Mn2+ but pH 6.0 supported the maximum bioremoval and uptake of Ni2+ (51.60% and 2.42 mg/g) by NRCA8 dead biomass from the multi-metals aqueous solution, respectively. The 30 min run time supported the highest removal efficiency and uptake capacity of all heavy metals under study. Moreover, the equilibrium between the sorbent NRCA8 fungal biomass and sorbates Ni2+, Pb2+ and Zn2+ was attained after increasing the dead biomass dose to 5.0 g/L. Dead NRCA8 biomass was described by scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectrometer before and after biosorption of Pb2+, Ni2+, Zn2+ and Mn2+ under multiple metals system. The Langmuir, Freundlich and Dubinin-Kaganer-Radushkevich isotherms were applied to characterize the adsorption equilibrium between Pb2+, Ni2+, Mn2+ and Zn2+ and the adsorbent NRCA8. By comparing the obtained coefficient of regression (R2) by Freundlich (0.997, 0.723, 0.999, and 0.917), Langmiur (0.974, 0.999, 0.974, and 0.911) and Dubinin-Radushkevich (0.9995, 0.756, 0.9996 and 0.900) isotherms values for Pb2+, Zn2+, Ni2+ and Mn2+ adsorption, respectively, it was found that the isotherms are proper in their own merits in characterization the possible of NRCA8 for removal of Pb2+, Zn2+, Ni2+ and Mn2+. DKR isotherm is the best for Pb2+ and Ni2+ (0.9995 and 0.9996) while Langmiur isotherm giving a good fit to the Zn2+ sorption (0.9990) as well as Freundlich isotherm giving a good fit to the Mn2+ sorption (0.9170). The efficiencies of Cladosporium sp. NRCA8 dead biomass for bioremoval of heavy metals from real wastewater under the optimized conditions were Pb2+, Ag+, Mn2+, Zn2+ and Al3+ ˃ Ni2+ ˃ Cr6+ ˃ Co2+ ˃ Fe3+ ˃ Cu2+ ˃ Cd2+. Dead NRCA8 biomass showed efficient ability to adsorb and reduce harmful components in the industrial effluents to a level acceptable for discharge into the environment.

Evaluation of resistance patterns and bioremoval efficiency of hydrocarbons and heavy metals by the mycobiome of petroleum refining wastewater in Jazan with assessment of molecular typing and cytotoxicity of Scedosporium apiospermum JAZ-20

“…Amplification of ribosomal DNA was performed using puReTaq™ Ready-To-Go™ beads (GE Healthcare) with the primers of ITS1 (5′-TCCGTAGGT GAACCTGCGG-3′) and ITS4 (5′-TCCTCCGCTTATTGATATGC-3′) [ 17 ]. PCR amplification performed according to previous studies [ 4 , [17] , [18] , [19] , [20] ]. PCR products tested to determine their correct length and then PCR products were purified and sequenced [ 18 ].…”

“…The fungal mycobiome in this study was characterized to the genus level using the methods outlined as described previously [ [9] , [10] , [11] , [24] , [25] , [26] ]. In accordance with our results, different fungal species were isolated from industrial wastewater including Aspergillus , Penicillium , Fusarium , Acremonium , Lecanicillium , Emmia , Curvularia and Mucor species [ 19 , 20 ]. Notably, in this study, to the best of our knowledge, environmental isolates of Scedosporium species have been discovered for the first time in industrial wastewater in Saudi Arabia.…”

“…This necessitates the exploration of novel industrial wastewater treatment technologies [ 69 ]. In this context, harnessing indigenous mycobiomes from industrial effluents and optimizing bioremoval process parameters emerge as crucial support processes for safe refinery operation [ 19 , 20 ]. Data presented in Table 8 revealed that the dead biomass of JAZ-20 exhibits superior bioremoval capacity for the nine heavy metals studied, extracted from refinery wastewater under various operational conditions.…”