Biosorption of Cyanide by Chlorella vulgaris

Abstract

Cyanide is a highly toxic species and occurs in the wastes generated from many kinds of industries. Cyanide compounds can be treated by different methods. Biosorption has been widely used for removal of toxic pollutants from wastewaters. In this study, the biosorption of free cyanide from aqueous solutions by microalgae Chlorella vulgaris has been investigated. The removal efficiencies of cyanide at different initial concentration of cyanide (20-120 mg/L) and temperature (20-40 ⁰C) was determined. Free cyanide removal was obtained as 78% at 40 mg/L initial cyanide concentration and 40 ⁰C. The adsorption equilibrium data fitted well to Langmuir isotherm model.