BIOSORPTION OF HEAVY METAL IONS FROM WASTEWATER BY STREPTOMYCES VIRIDOSPORUS

摘要

The ability of Streptomyces viridosporus in sorbing heavy metals from wastewater has been investigated. It was found out that the biomass of the soil microorganism could be used in sorbing Pb~(2+), Cu~(2+), Zn~(2+) and Ni~(2+) ions from acidic solutions of metal ion concentration between 10 and 100 ppm. Over 99% of Pb~(2+) and 88% of Cu~(2+) ions were sorbed from wastewater of concentration 10 ppm with Ni~(2+) and Zn~(2+) recording values below 50% for a contact period of 4 hours. The quantity of metal ions sorbed per gram of biomass from the wastewater was in the order Pb~(2+) > Cu~(2+) > Ni~(2+) > Zn~(2+) and this is related to their electronegativities. Biosorption was sensitive to variations in pH and in the range investigated; metal binding was optimum at 5.5. About 63% antimony was also sorbed from dilute cyanide solution.