Evaluating the Biosorption Properties of Three Bacillus Strains for Cu۲+ Uptake From Wastewater

Introduction: Toxic metal ion contamination is one of the most important environmental issues in the world. Wastewater of mines and certain industries are known sources of environmental heavy metal contaminations. Also, Copper (Cu) contamination is a common issue. Using biological tools particularly bacterial-derived compounds could be appropriate for bioremediation. Materials and Methods: In this study, the Cu۲+ uptake from Chah Musa mine wastewater by three different Bacillus species was assessed using the batch equilibrium isotherm. The impact of pH, exposure time, temperature, and the bioabsorbent dose on the adsorption of Cu۲+ ions was assessed. Also, the kinetics and isotherm models of Cu۲+ ions adsorption were studied for three different Bacillus species.    Results: The results showed that the maximum removal Cu۲+ ions (۹۹%) was obtained for Bacillus thuringiensis biomas. The correlation coefficient value (R۲) of Freundlich isotherm was higher than Langmuir isotherm indicating better metal uptake based on the Freundlich model. The rates of adsorption for all bioadsorbant were attained to be conforming to the pseudo-second-order.Conclusions: According to the current study, all three dead Gram-positive Bacillus spp. are favorable and effective candidates for the removal of Cu۲+ from aqueous solutions and industrial wastewaters.

Keywords:

Biosorption , Microbial Dead Cells , Mine Wastewater , Copper Ion , Bacillus