Copper biosorption on immobilized saccharomyces cerevisiae biomass

Biosorption represents a competitive technological alternative for heavy metal removal. This technique exploits the property of certain bio-molecules (or types of biomass) to bind and concentrate selected ions or other molecules from aqueous solutions1. The main advantage of biosorption, compared to traditional sorption techniques, is the application of an inexpensive adsorbing material. The scarce mechanical strength and the difficulties of separation from liquid make however, impractical the direct large scale application of non-living biomasses. Immobilization of the biomass within mechanically stable matrices is needed in industrial practice. The choice of the immobilization matrix is of fundamental importance as it determines not only the mechanical stability but also the possibility of the immobilized biomass to participate in the heavy metal removal. In this contribution, the biosorption of copper onto a non-living Saccharomyces cerevisiae wild strain biomass immobilized in calcium alginate matrices is investigated.