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Bioaccumulation of metals using immobilized Zoogloea ramigera

Thesis/Dissertation ·
OSTI ID:5599276

Zoogloea ramigera, a bacterium which produces an extracellular polysaccharide, was used to develop a system which would efficiently remove a variety of metals from polluted water. The organism was grown in a defined or complex medium, immobilized in calcium-alginate, crosslinked with 1% polyethyleneimine (PEI), placed into fluidized or packed-bed reactors, and exposed to various metal solutions. The Ca-alginate immobilized Zoogloea ramigera removed 90% or more Cd from 0.5 ppm to 250 ppm metal-amended solutions. Cd alone and Cd, Sr, Mn, Cu, and Zn in mixed metal solutions was/were adsorbed at 95% efficiency or better when three fluidized-bed reactors were placed in sequence. In the same system Pb was removed at 81.3% and 74.7% when present in 10 ppm and 20 ppm solutions. Inefficiency for Pb was due to the formation of PbSO{sub 4} which resulted in the formation of an insoluble precipitate. Studies comparing ethylene oxide killed cells to live cells showed that metal binding was dependent on the presence of the extracellular polysaccharide produced by Zoogloea ramigera, and not on cellular activity.

Research Organization:
Oklahoma Univ., Norman, OK (USA)
OSTI ID:
5599276
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English