Comparison of the heavy metal sorptive properties of three types of immobilized, non-viable Saccharomyces cerevisiae biomass

Abstract

Three preparations of immobilized, non-viable Saccharomyces cerevisiae were produced and tested with respect to their metal accumulating properties and mechanical stability. The biomass preparations PVA Naalginate, PVA Na-orthophosphate and PEI:GA biomass all exhibited excellent mechanical stability. In contrast, the ability of the PEI:GA biomass to remove Cu 2+ from solution exceeded that of the PVA based biomass. Due to the ion exchange nature of metal biosorption, Cu 2+ accumulation from the effluent was influenced by the pH of the influent solution. A low influent pH (pH 1·4) resulted in low breakthrough volumes occurring, whilst this critical point was increased at higher influent pH.