Biomass of Termitomyces clypeatus for chromium(III) removal from chrome tanning wastewater

Chrome tanning wastewater generated during leather processing is one of the major source of aquatic contamination which has deleterious effect on the environment. To deal this problem, many types of biosorbents have been used so far. In this study, fugal biomass of Termitomyces clypeatus, a byproduct of enzyme, and fermentation industry have been employed for Cr(III) removal from chrome tanning effluent. The maximum metal uptake (q (e)) of 24.84 mg g(-1) was obtained with an optimum pH and temperature of 4 and 60 A degrees C for an initial metal concentration of 100 ppm at an adsorbent dosage of 2 g L-1. Adsorption process was best fitted by pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Sorption process obeys Freundlich adsorption isotherm model, rather than Langmuir. The presence of functional groups and morphological changes on the biomass responsible for metal uptake was confirmed by FT-IR and scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analyses.