Hexavalent chromium removal by waste mycelium of Aspergillus awamori

In this study , the Cr(VI) rem oval po tential of waste mycelium from the industrial x ylanase-producing strain Aspergillus awamori was evaluated. It was d etermined by FTIR analy sis that a mino groups fro m the major fungal wall con stituents, chitin and chitosan, pl ayed a key role in t he metal bindi ng process. The effect of pH, initial ion c oncentration, temperature and amount of biomass o n the re moval was also studied. The re moval efficiency increa sed with decrea sing pH and increa sing te mperature and a mount of bio mass. The mechanism of Cr(VI) removal by A. awamori can b e explained by a two- stage process involving an initial ad sorption stage followed by a reducing st age. The removal process was described by a second-order poly nomial and the opti mal process para meters for attaining Rmax 94.4 % in 48 h were pr edicted, i.e., pH 1.5 and t = 40 °C. From both economic and ecological points of view, a pro- mising po ssibility for the utilization of wa ste industrial mycelium of A. awa- mori as a low-cost Cr(VI) removal agent was proposed.