Biosorption of bromophenol blue from aqueous solutions by Rhizopus stolonifer biomass

The removal of bromophenol blue dye (BPB), from aqueous solutions, by biosorption on a non-living biomass of Rhizopus stolonifer was investigated in a batch system. Pretreatment of the biomass with NaOH was found to be the most effective means to enhance the biosorption of BPB. The fungal biomass exhibited the highest dye sorption capacity at pH 2 and the uptake process followed the pseudo-second order reaction model. The equilibrium sorption capacity of the biomass increased as the initial dye concentration increased, and the maximum uptake value was estimated at 1111 mg/g according to Langmuir adsorption isotherm. The adsorbed dye was easily desorbed from a fungal biomass with 0.1 M NaOH solution and the regenerated biomass could be reused for other biosorption essays with similar performances.