Equilibrium Isotherm, Kinetic Modeling, Optimization, and Characterization Studies of Cadmium Adsorption by Surface-Engineered Escherichia coli

Background: Amongst the methods that remove heavy metals from environment, biosorption approaches have received increased attention because of their environmentally friendly and cost-effective feature, as well as their superior performances.

Methods: In the present study, we investigated the ability of a surface-engineered Escherichia coli, carrying the cyanobacterial metallothionein on the cell surface, in the removal of Ca (II) from solution under different experimental conditions. The biosorption process was optimized using central composite design. In parallel, the kinetics of metal biosorption was studied, and the rate constants of different kinetic models were calculated.

Results: Cadmium biosorption is followed by the second-order kinetics. Freundlich and Langmuir equations were used to analyze sorption data; characteristic parameters were determined for each adsorption isotherm. The biosorption process was optimized using the central composite design. The optimal cadmium sorption capacity (284.69 nmol/mg biomass) was obtained at 40°C (pH 8) and a biomass dosage of 10 mg. The influence of two elutants, EDTA and CaCl2, was also assessed on metal recovery. Approximately, 68.58% and 56.54% of the adsorbed cadmium were removed by EDTA and CaCl2 during desorption, respectively. The Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometer (FTIR) analysis indicated that carboxyl, amino, phosphoryl, thiol, and hydroxyl are the main chemical groups involved in the cadmium bioadsorption process.

Conclusion: Results from this study implied that chemical adsorption on the heterogeneous surface of E. coli E and optimization of adsorption parameters provides a highly efficient bioadsorbent.