News & Notes: Sorption and Desorption of Cobalt by Oscillatoria anguistissima

Oscillatoria anguistissima rapidly adsorbs appreciable amounts of cobalt from the aqueous solutions within 15 min of initial contact with the metal solution. O. anguistissima showed a high sequestration of cobalt at low equilibrium concentrations, and it followed the Freundlich model of adsorption. The adsorption is a strongly pH-dependent and temperature-independent phenomenon. The presence of Mg2+ and Ca2+ (100–200 ppm) resulted in decline in Co2+ adsorption capacity of Oscillatoria biomass. Sulphate and nitrate (0.75–10 mM) drastically reduced the extent of Co2+ biosorption. The biosorption of cobalt is an ion-exchange process as the Co2+ binding was accompanied by release of a large amounts of Mg2+ ions. Na2CO3 (1.0 mM) resulted in about 76% desorption of Co2+ from the loaded biomass.