Biosorption of lead by Phanerochaete chrysosporium in the form of pellets

The growth of Phanerochaete chrysosporium(ATCC 24725) in pellets was influenced by culture time, medium pH, C/N, surfactant concentration, spore number in inoculum, and shaking rate. The removal of Pb2+ from aqueous solution by this kind of mycelial pellets was studied. The results indicated that many factors affected biosorption. These factors included pH, Pb2+ concentration, co-ion, adsorption time, and chemical pretreatments of biomass. Under optimum biosorption conditions(pH 4.5, 27 degrees C, 16 h), the highest lead uptake of 108 mg/g, was observed with mycelial pellets of 1.5-1.7 mm in diameter which were treated with 0.1 mol/L NaOH solution before adsorption. Pretreatment of biomass with NaOH further increased its biosorption capacity.