Kinetic and equilibrium modelling on Copper(II) removal by live and dead cells of Trichoderma asperellum and the impact of pre-treatments on biosorption

In this study, the approach is to evaluate the use of Trichoderma asperellum biomass as a biosorbent for Cu2+ removal. Both live and dead cells are investigated. The feasibility of T. asperellum as biosorbent is further explored by pre-treating the cells and evaluating their subsequent Cu2+ removal efficacy. Results revealed that dead cells of T. asperellum attained biosorption equilibrium within the first 10 min of contact with Cu2+ while live cells reached equilibrium after 20 min. Dead cells also absorbed significantly higher amounts of Cu2+ (12.42 mg g-1) compared to live cells (5.69 mg g1). The biosorption mechanism for both live and dead cells of T. asperellum complied with the Langmuir isotherm and pseudo second-order kinetic, suggesting monolayer sorption. Pre-treatment of dead cells with alkali solutions (NaOH and laundry detergent) further improved sorption efficacy.