Abstract
The treatment of metal-polluted wastes is a challenging issue of environmental concern. Metals can be removed using microbial biomass, and this is an interesting approach towards the design of eco-friendly technologies for liquid waste treatment. The study reported here aimed to optimize nickel and cobalt biosorption from aqueous solutions using three native metal–resistant Serratia marcescens strains. Ni(II) and Co(II) biosorption by S. marcescens strains was found to fit better to Langmuir’s model, with maximum uptake capacities of 13.5 mg g−1 for Ni(II) ions and 19.9 mg g−1 for Co(II) ions. Different experimental conditions of initial metal concentration, pH, initial biomass, and temperature were optimized using the Plackett–Burman method, and, finally, biomass and metal concentration were studied using the response surface methodology (RSM) to improve biosorption. The optimum uptake capacities for Co(II) ions by the three biosorbents used were obtained for initial metal concentrations of 35–40 mg L−1 and an initial biomass of 6 mg. For Ni(II) ions, the optimum uptake capacity was achieved with 1 mg of initial biomass for S. marcescens C-1 and C-19, and with 7 mg for S. marcescens C-16, with initial concentrations of 20–50 mg L−1. The results obtained demonstrate the viability of native S. marcescens strains as biosorbents for Ni(II) and Co(II) removal. This study also contributes to our understanding of the potential uses of serpentine microbial populations for the design of environmental cleanup technologies.
Highlights
Human activity is one of the main sources of heavy metals in the environment (Volesky, 2007)
No significant differences were observed in the biosorption capacity of the S. marcescens C-1 biomass after 15 min or 30,min of contact with Co(II) solution, as shown by the similar letters obtained after analysis of variance (ANOVA) of the corresponding q values (Fig. 1A)
A study of the Ni(II) and Co(II) biosorption capacity of native metal–resistant S. marcescens strains C-1, 16, and 19 showed recovery values comparable to, and in some cases higher than, those reported for other Enterobacteriaceae
Summary
Human activity is one of the main sources of heavy metals in the environment (Volesky, 2007). For. Page 2 of 18 this reason, the treatment of metal-containing wastes has become an issue of environmental and public health concern. One of the most widely used techniques for the remediation of soils contaminated with heavy metals involves reducing mobilization by means of an organic or inorganic sorbent. Microorganism-based technologies are considered to be feasible alternatives for this purpose, since the physical and chemical treatments of heavy metal– containing effluents is often expensive and generates large amounts of sludge and cannot usually be used to treat metal concentrations below 100 mg L−1 (Volesky, 2007)
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