R Bashardoost - Food Process Engineering and Biotechnology Research Center, Dep. of Chemical Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology
S Shokrollahzadeh - Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology
F Vahabzadeh - Food Process Engineering and Biotechnology Research Center, Dep. of Chemical Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology

Phanerochaete chrysosporium was immobilized on to loofa sponge and ability of the live and heat-inactivated loofa-immobilized fungal mycelia for the biosorption of mercury ions from the aqueous solutions was evaluated in the present study. The Hg (II) biosorption process is studied through batch experiments at 35°C with regard to the influence of contact time. The biosorption equilibrium time of mercury ions on the tested biosorbents was about 60 min and it seems that biosorption didn’t change more with time. The maximum capacity of loofaimmobilized P. chrysosporium (live and heat-inactivated fungus) for Hg (II) removal was determined using specification given in kinetic profiles. i.e, 62.1, 93.89 (mg/g). In order to examine the controlling mechanism of biosorption process, pseudo-second-order reaction rate equation was used. The experimental data were applied to the Ho’s model. The result showed that kinetics were found to be best-fit the pseudo-second-order reaction rate equation.

Hg (II), Phanerochaete Chrysosporium, Kinetic, Biosorption, Loofa sponge