Abstract
Heavy metals are inorganic persistent pollutants with adverse health and environmental effects. In our study, self-synthesized iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles were encapsulated in the Phanerochaete chrysosporium (P. chrysosporium) hyphae. The prepared biosorbents possessed high efficiency for Pb(II) biosorption from single and binary metal systems. The maximum biosorption capacity was found to be 50.05 mg g(-1) at pH 5.0. Environmental scanning electron microscope accompanied with energy disperse spectroscopy (ESEM-EDS) characterization showed Pb(II) ions were partially enriched via extracellular complexation and surface biosorption. MR analysis, defined as the ratio of heavy metals removed to H+ released, confirmed the ion-exchange, surface complexation and extracellular chelation behavior of the biosorbents. Moreover, distinct increase in the interior of Pb(II) contents in the immobilized P. chrysosporium suggested that iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles promoted bio sorption process. The proposed immobilized biosorbents, showing high efficiency and strong feasibility, exhibited the potential application in Pb-containing industrial wastewater treatment.