Claviceps purpurea fungus: a promising biosorbent for wastewater treatment

In this study, Claviceps purpurea was successfully used, for the first time, to remove methylene blue dye from aqueous solutions and treat wastewater. This fungus was as efficient as commercially activated carbon in terms of the dye per cent removal, and it required low processing without a significant cost as it is a readily available biomaterial. The adsorption equilibrium was described by Langmuir isotherm and obeyed a pseudo-second order kinetic model. External mass transfer and intra-particle diffusion mass transfer are the main controllers of the adsorption process. The adsorption process is exothermic and spontaneous as well as proceeds with a positive entropy. SEM micrographs allowed for visualization of the particle morphology before and after adsorption. According to EDS spectra, the adsorbent consists of 64 per cent carbon and 32 per cent oxygen. Furthermore, the CP fungus was evaluated for its ability to treat wastewater samples. Based on the results, CP fungus enabled the adsorption of 94 -98 per cent of the contaminants. CP fungus could then be considered a highly efficient water treatment agent.