Investigation on Biosorption of Reactive Blue 140 by Dead Biomass of Aspergillus niger HM11: Kinetics and Isotherm Studies

Abstract: The biosorption equilibria and kinetics of Reactive blue 140 were examined in this study using dead fungal biomass of Aspergillus niger HM11. The results gained from this study were described by Langmuir isotherm model better than Freundlich isotherm models to the biosorption equilibrium data. The second-order kinetic model by Ho and Mckay described well the experimental data. Studies on pH effect and desorption show that chemisorption seems to play a major role in the adsorption process. The maximum adsorption capacity was calculated for dead biomass indicating that dead biomass can be considered as a good sorbent material for Reactive blue 140 solution since autoclaved biomass is much safer as it does not pose any threat to environment. Key words: Biosorption Reactive blue 140 Aspergillus niger HM11 Isotherms Kinetics SEM INTRODUCTION basic elements (mineralizing). Interest is therefore now Dyes usually have a synthetic origin and complex better alternative [9]. aromatic molecular structures which possibly come Fungal systems appear to be most appropriate from coal-tar based hydrocarbons such as benzene, biological agent in the treatment of colored and metallic naphthalene, anthracene, toluene and xylene [1]. There are effluents [10]. In recent years, several adsorbents hav