Arsenic removal from groundwater by pretreated waste tea fungal biomass

Authors:
G S Murugesan, Muthuswamy Sathishkumar, Krishnaswami Swaminathan

Abstract:
Arsenic contamination in groundwater poses a serious threat to human health. The tea fungus, a waste produced during black tea fermentation, has been examined for its capacity to sequester the metal ions from groundwater samples. Autoclaved fungal tea mat and autoclaving followed by FECl3 pretreated tea fungal mat were exploited for removal of As(III), As(V), and Fe(II) from groundwater sample collected from Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The biosorption rate tends to increase with the increase in contact time and adsorbent dosage. FECl3 pretreated and autoclaved fungal mats removed 100% of As(III) and Fe(II) after 30 min contact time and 77% of AS(V) after 90 min contact time. The optimum adsorbent dosage was 1.0 G/50 mL of water sample. The results revealed that the FeCl3 pretreated fungal mat could be used as an effective biosorbent for As(III) and As(V); autoclaved fungal mat for Fe(II) removal from groundwater sample.

Keywords: tea fungus, biosorption, arsenic, iron, isotherm



Country: India

Citation: Bioresource Technology, 97(3), 483-487.

Study Mailing Address:
Microbial Biotechnology Division, Department of Biotechnology, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore 641 046, Tamil Nadu, India

Date Updated: March 2, 2020