Chlorella sorokiniana immobilized on the biomatrix of vegetable sponge of Luffa cylindrica:: a new system to remove cadmium from contaminated aqueous medium

A new sorption system of microalgal cells immobilized on the biostructural matrix of Luffa cylindrica for sequestering cadmium is reported. Free and immobilized Chlorella sorokiniana removed cadmium from 10 mg l(-1) solution at the efficiency of 92.7% and 97.9% respectively. Maximum cadmium sorption was observed to be 39.2 mg g(-1) at equilibrium (C-eq) of 112.8 mg l(-1) by immobilized microalgal biomass as compared to 33.5 mg g(-1) at C-eq of 116.5 mg l(-1) by free biomass from initial concentration of 150 mg l(-1). In continuous liquid flow column, the cadmium sorption capacity of immobilized C sorokiniana was 192 mg g(-1), which was 73.2% of the total metal passed in 51.51. Metal desorption with 0.1 M HCl was 100% and the desorbed immobilized system was reusable with a similar efficiency in the subsequent cycle. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.