Removal of Platinum and Palladium from Wastewater by Means of Biosorption on Fungi Aspergillus sp. and Yeast Saccharomyces sp.

Abstract

The emission of platinum group metals from different sources has caused elevated concentrations of platinum and palladium in samples of airborne particulate matter, soil, surface waters and sewage sludge. The ability of biomass of Aspergillus sp. and yeast Saccharomyces sp. for removal of Pt(IV) and Pd(II) from environmental samples was studied in this work. The pH of the solution, the mass of biosorbent, and contact time were optimized. The Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms and kinetic results were used for interpretation of the process equilibrium of Pt(IV) and Pd(II) on both microorganisms. The maximal efficiency of retention of Pt(IV) on yeast and fungi was obtained at acidic solutions (pH 2.0 for Pt(IV) and pH 2.5–3.5 for Pd(II)). The equilibrium of the biosorption process was attained within 45 min. The best interpretation for the experimental data was given by the Langmuir isotherm. Kinetics of the Pt and Pd adsorption process suit well the pseudo-second-order kinetics model. Fungi Aspergillus sp. shows higher adsorption capacity for both metals than yeast Saccharomyces sp. The maximum adsorption capacity of fungi was 5.49 mg g⁻¹ for Pt(IV) and 4.28 mg g⁻¹ for Pd(II). The fungi possess the ability for efficient removal of studied ions from different wastewater samples (sewage and road run-off water). It was also demonstrated, that quantitative recovery of Pd from industrial wastes could be obtained by biosorption using Aspergillus sp.