Recent Advances in Biosorption of Copper and Cobalt by Filamentous Fungi

Abstract

Copper (Cu) and Cobalt (Co) are among the most toxic heavy metals from mining and other industrial activities. Both are known to pose serious environmental concerns, particularly to water resources, if not properly treated. In recent years several filamentous fungal strains have been isolated, identified and assessed for their heavy metal biosorption capacity for potential application in bioremediation of Cu and Co wastes. Despite the growing interest in heavy metal removal by filamentous fungi, their exploitation faces numerous challenges such as finding suitable candidates for biosorption. Based on current findings, various strains of filamentous fungi have high metal uptake capacity, particularly for Cu and Co. Several works indicate that Trichoderma, Penicillium, and Aspergillus species have higher Cu and Co biosorption capacity compared to other fungal species such as Geotrichum, Monilia, and Fusarium. It is believed that far more fungal species with even higher biosorption capability are yet to be isolated. Furthermore, the application of filamentous fungi for bioremediation is considered environmentally friendly, highly effective, reliable, and affordable, due to their low technology pre-requisites. In this review, we highlight the capacity of various identified filamentous fungal isolates for biosorption of copper and cobalt from various environments, as well as their future prospects.

Keywords: bioremediation; biosorption; cobalt; copper; filamentous fungi.

FIGURE 1

Typical laboratory schematic process of heavy metal biosorption by filamentous fungi (Biosorption analysis is accomplished from experiment 1 to 7).

FIGURE 2

Mechanisms of heavy metals absorption by microorganisms.

FIGURE 3

Biosorption mechanisms of copper, cobalt and other heavy metals by filamentous fungi, modified from Ahemad and Kibret (2013) and Siddiquee et al. (2015).

FIGURE 4

The effect of fungal biomass concentration on the removal of Co (II) (500 mg/L, 100 rpm, 28°C, pH 5.0, 24 h) Extracted from Cárdenas González et al. (2019).