Removal of emulsified oil from water by fruiting bodies of macro-fungus (Auricularia polytricha)

PLoS One. 2014 Apr 17;9(4):e95162. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0095162. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of utilizing the fruiting bodies of a jelly macro-fungus Auricularia polytricha as adsorbents to remove emulsified oil from water. The effects of several factors, including temperature, initial pH, agitation speed, and adsorbent dosage, were taken into account. Results showed that the optimized conditions for adsorption of A. polytricha were a temperature of 35°C, pH of 7.5, and agitation speed of 100 rpm. The adsorption kinetics were characterized by the pseudo-first order model, which showed the adsorption to be a fast physical process. The Langmuir-Freundlich isotherm described the adsorption very well and predicted the maximum adsorption capacity of 398 mg g-1, under optimized conditions. As illustrated by scanning electron micrographs, the oil particles were adsorbed onto the hairs covering the bottom surface and could be desorbed by normal temperature volatilization. The material could be used as an emulsified oil adsorbent at least three times, retaining more than 95% of the maximum adsorption capacity. The results demonstrated that the fruiting bodies of A. polytricha can be a useful adsorbent to remove emulsified oil from water.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Basidiomycota / chemistry*
  • Emulsifying Agents / chemistry*
  • Fruiting Bodies, Fungal / chemistry*
  • Oils / chemistry*
  • Wastewater / chemistry*
  • Water Purification / methods*

Substances

  • Emulsifying Agents
  • Oils
  • Waste Water

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Innovative doctorial program of Sun Yat-sen University (2013, http://graduate.sysu.edu.cn) and partly supported by grants from the Chinese National Natural Science Foundation (Nos. 51039007 and 51179212). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.