Bacterial biosorption and biosorbents

Water pollution due to presence of metals has become one of the most serious environmental problems today. Biosorption, using inactive/dead biomaterials such as bacteria, fungi, algae Algae and industrial/agricultural wastes, is regarded as cost-effective technology for the treatment of metal-bearing wastewaters. In recent years, several biosorbents have been investigated, but the bacterial biomass has since proven to be the most effective and promising biosorbent for wide variety of metals. The state of the art in the field of biosorption of metals by bacterial biomass is discussed in this article. It is their basic cell wall constituents that are responsible for this high metal uptake Metal uptake. The properties of the cell wall constituents, such as peptidoglycan, and the role of functional groups, such as carboxyl, amine and phosphonate, are discussed on the basis of their biosorption potential. A systematic comparison of the literature, based on the metal binding capacity Binding capacity of bacterial biomass under different conditions, is also provided. To enhance biosorption capacity, biomass can be chemically modified, via various techniques, or genetically engineered. The problems associated with microbial biosorption are analysed, with suitable remedies discussed. Thus, this chapter presents the achievements and current status of bacterial biosorption technology, and hopes to provide insights into this research frontier.