TEMPERATURE AND PH KINETICS FOR ENHANCED BIOSORPTION OF CR (VI) BY HIGHLY CHROMIUM RESISTANT FUNGI GLIOCLADIUM SPP.ZIC

Abstract

This study investigates the kinetics of Cr (VI) biosorption by locally isolated high Cr tolerant fungus Gliocladium sp. ZIC2063. The effect of two most important variables pH and temperature was investigated for enhanced Cr (VI) biosorption. The applicability of the Langmuir and Freundlich models for the different parameters was tested. The result showed that the most suitable sorption temperature was 30ºC with maximum biosorption rate of185.69 mg/l. The data showed that the sorption process is spontaneous and exothermic in nature and that lower solution temperatures favors metal ion removal by the biomass. Similarly Cr (VI) uptake by Gliocladium sp. ZIC2063 was maximum at optimum pH of 3.5. The findings of this investigation suggest that pH and temperature plays a significant role in enhancing the biosorption rate. The coefficient of determination (R2 ) of both models were mostly greater than 0.9. This indicates that biosorption data is best fitted in both models