Biosorption of lead(II) from aqueous solutions by Phellinus badius

Biosorption of heavy metal ions by fungi is an emerging technology with a potential for treating mineral processing waste water. This paper studies the possibility of using a macro-fungus, Phellinus badius, as an inexpensive adsorbent for the removal of lead from aqueous solutions. P. badius was found to have high adsorption capacity for lead. At a solution pH of 5.0, the lead uptake capacity of P.badius is 0.82 mmol/gram of sorbent (170 mg/g), which is much higher than those of a powdered activated carbon, a natural zeolite and other biomass types tested. The equilibrium isotherm could be described well by the Langmuir equation. Contribution of H+ ion exchange to the total lead uptake was to the extent of 10%. The presence of light metal ions did not affect lead adsorption significantly. The metal binding was found to be rapid with 90% of the total adsorption occurring in 15 minutes. The feasibility of removing lead using the biomass in a fixed bed system was, also examined.