Myco and phyto remediation of heavy metals from aqueous solution

Biosorption technique was applied to remove the Ni(II), Cu(II), Cr(III) and Cr(VI) from single metal solution. Seven fungal species viz., Aspergillus niger, A. terreus, A. flavus, Trichoderma harzianum, Alternaria alternata, Rhizopus arrhizus & Cunninghamella echinulata, three agricultural materials viz., Oryzae sativa straw (rice straw), Cicer arietinum dried seed (gram husk) & luffa cylindrical dried fruit (luffa sponge), leaves of five trees i.e., Neem (Azadaricta indica), Dareek (Melia azedarach), Bohar (Ficus benglensis), Peepal (Ficus relgiosa), sunflower (Helianthus annus) and charcoal were chosen as adsorbent material. Laboratory biosorption experiments were performed with different concentrations of each of four metals. Results showed highly significant sequestering capacity of all selected biosorbents for both Cr(III & VI) in comparison to Cu(II) and Ni(II) ions. Removal efficiency of candidate biosorbents reached up to 80%, 58% and 52% for Cr(III & VI), Cu(II) and Ni(II) ions, respectively.