Removal Of Chromium(?),Methyl Orange And Methylene Blue From Aqueous Solution Using Mycelial Pellets Of Penicillium Simplicissimum Impregnated With Powdered Biochar

Cr(?) is a highly toxic carcinogen and easy to be absorbed and accumulated in human body. The dye in wastewater can absorb the ray and reduce the transparency of the water, which would influence the aquatic organisms and microorganism and water self-purification. Microbial materials have emerged as an economic, innovative and eco-friendly option of removing heavy metals and dyes from water bodies. Biochar has promising sorption properties for various contaminants of water due to the factors such as high surface area, micro-porous structure and diverse surface sites. In wastewater treatment applications, activated carbon or biochar is applied to support biofilm to degrade contaminants subsisting in the wastewater. Another method is immobilization where activated carbon or biochar is used in combination with microorganism. The major issues of immobilization are the cost of the polymer and the cost of the immobilization process.In this paper, mycelia pellets of Penicillium simplicissimum impregnated with powdered biochar were synthesized and applied to remove chromium(?), methyl orange(MO) and methylene blue(MB) from aqueous solution. The effects of p H, adsorbent dosage, initial concentration and contact time were investigated via batch experiments. The results showed that the new biosorbent is efficient for dye adsorption and can be separated from aqueous solution completely by filtration. Scanning electron microscopy(SEM) analysis showed that the filamentous network of mycelia pellets of Penicillium simplicissimum entrapped powdered biochar firmly and reserved a large surface area for biosorption. Fourier transform infrared(FTIR) analysis suggested that O-H, N-H, C-H, C=O, and C-OH groups were involved in removing pollutant.The sorption equilibrium time of chromium(?), MO and MB is 34 h, 48 h and 60 h, respectively. The batch biosorption experimental results showed that 10 g mycelial pellets and 0.2 g powdered biochar could form the most stable pellets and exhibit a good biosorption capacity for the removal of Cr(?), MB and MO. The removal of Cr(?) was close to 100% at p H 2.0. The optimum p H range of MO biosorption is 5~6 while the biosorption of MB in alkaline condition is better than in acidic conditions. Kinetic studies indicated that the pseudo-second order equation was best fitted for Cr(?) removal from aqueous solution. Freundlich isotherm was found to be better applied for the adsorption equilibrium data of Cr(?) removal,while the adsorption process of MO and MB is better defined by Langmuir isotherm model.