Adsorption behavior of copper ions on Mucor rouxii biomass through microscopic and FTIR analysis

Mucor rouxii biomass (MRB) was found to be most potent sorbent for the removal of copper from its aqueous solution. Maximum adsorption was noted within pH range 5.0–6.0, and the process follows Langmuir adsorption isotherm (r2 = 0.998). Adsorption process is very fast initially and reaches equilibrium very quickly following pseudo second order rate kinetics. Amino, carboxyl and phosphate groups present on the cell surface of the biomass are involved in chemical interaction with copper ion as revealed from FTIR and SEM-EDX study and also by blocking experiments. Both SEM and AFM micrographs revealed the formation of metal nanostructure on the biomass surface due to copper adsorption. Biomass surface modification indicates the major involvement of amino functional group for the binding probably through the chelation. Copper ion can be eluted from the adsorbed biomass with 0.1 M hydrochloric acid.