Adsorption isotherms of copper(II) for two species of dead fungi biomasses

A study of copper(II) adsorption equilibrium in aqueous solutions was made on dead fungal biomass of Pleurotus pulmonarius CCB019 and Schizophyllum commune in batch systems. A fractional factorial design 24−1 based in preliminary experiments (kinetic and precipitation studies) was made to verify the influence on the response variable of the four factors studied in adsorption process: pH (2.0 and 4.0), temperature (30 and 50 °C), initial metal concentration (4 and 100 mg l−1) and biomass concentration (0.5 and 3.0 g l−1). The response measured was the concentration of metal removed after a contact time of 12 h, with either the P. pulmonarius or the S. commune biomass. Based on results obtained from the fractional factorial design, the experimental conditions used in adsorption isotherm construction were: pH 4.0, temperature 50 °C, biomass concentration 3 g l−1. The initial metal concentration was varied between 5 and 200 mg l−1. The experimental data was best adjusted by Langmuir model for both biomass.