Biosorption of Cu（II） to extracellular polymeric substances （EPS） from Synechoeystis sp.： a fluorescence quenching study

Biosorption of extracellular polymeric substances （EPS） from Synechocystis sp. （cyanobacterium） with Cu（II） was investigated using fluorescence spectroscopy. Three fluorescence peaks were found in the excitation-emission matrix （EEM） fluorescence spectra of EPS. Fluorescence of peak A （Ex/Em = 275/452 nm） and peak C （Ex/Em= 350/452nm） were originated from humic-like substances and fluorescence of peak B （Ex/ Em= 275/338nm） was attributed to protein-like sub- stances. Fluorescence of peaks A, B, and C could be quenched by Cu（II）. The effective quenching constants （lg Ka） were 2.8-5.84 for peak A, 6.4-9.24 for peak B, and 3.48-6.68 for peak C, respectively. The values of lg Ka showed a decreasing trend with increasing temperature, indicating that the quenching processes were static in nature. The binding constants （lg Kb） followed the order of peak A 〉 peak B 〉 peak C, implying that the humic-like substances in EPS have greater Cu（II） binding capacity than the protein-like substances. The binding site number, n, in EPS-Cu（II） complexes for peaks A, B, and C was less than 1. This suggests the negative cooperativity between multiple binding sites and the presence of more than one Cu binding site.