This work focused on the bioremoval of heavy
metals by mangrove-derived
Trichoderma
biomass in the
artificial sewage water. Of the 12 isolates tested,
Hypocrea lixii
TSK8 (JQ809340) was found to be a potent strain in
removal of lead and iron. The bioremoval was enhanced
through adsorption kinetics and process optimization using
statistical model of the response surface methodology. The
magnitude of Langmuir constant was 0.64 L mg
-1 and
0.42 L mg
-1 for lead and iron, respectively. Adsorption
capacity was determined as 49.2 mg g
-1 and 51.3 mg g
-1
for lead and iron, respectively. The optimized conditions
for maximum removal of lead and iron were standardized.
The biosorption of metals was also confirmed by scanning
electron microscopic and X-ray energy-dispersive spectrometer
analyses. The results revealed that dried biomass
of the
H. lixii TSK8 was a potent biosorbent for efficient
bioremoval of lead and iron.
