Comparison of two morphologically different fungal biomass types for experimental separation of labile aluminium species using atomic spectrometry methods

Abstract

This paper reflects some of the recent attempts to apply microbial biomass in analytical procedures, and thus investigates prospects of fungal biomass in experimental separation of labile Al species using flame atomic absorption spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry for their quantification. The three strains of common microscopic filamentous fungi (Neosartorya fischeri, Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus clavatus) were cultivated under dynamic and static conditions to collect morphologically distinguished biomass types to compare their biosorptive uptake of Al. These data, along with 30-day bioaccumulation of Al, were then compared to the soluble fraction of labile positively charged monomeric Al species determined by 8-hydroxyquinoline method. Our results indicate that the labile Al species separation method by biomass was successful in case of 30-day cultivation where 65–109% of Al labile species were bioaccumulated by fungi. However, application of this long-term biological approach has several disadvantages compared to biosorption which, on the other hand, was less successful in separation of labile species with only up to 33% efficiency. Nevertheless, our results indicate that under certain conditions, there is a potential for the microscopic filamentous fungi being applied as a viable bioanalytical tool for the operationally and/or functionally defined fractionation of Al.