Adsorption Behavior of Mercury on Functionalized Aspergillus versicolor Mycelia: Atomic Force Microscopic Study

The adsorption characteristics of mercury on Aspergillus versicolor mycelia have been studied under varied environments. The mycelia are functionalized by carbon disulfide (CS₂) treatment under alkaline conditions to examine the enhance uptake capacity and explore its potentiality in pollution control management. The functionalized A. versicolor mycelia have been characterized by scanning electron microscopy−energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM-EDXA), attenuated total reflection infrared (ATR-IR), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) probing. SEM and AFM images exhibit the formation of nanoparticles on the mycelial surface. ATR-IR profile confirms the functionalization of the mycelia following chemical treatment. ATR-IR and EDXA results demonstrate the binding of the sulfur groups of the functionalized mycelia to the mercury and consequent formation metal sulfide. AFM study reveals that the mycelial surface is covered by a layer of densely packed domain like structures. Sectional analysis yields significant increase in average roughness (R_rms) value (20.5 ± 1.82 nm) compared to that of the pristine mycelia (4.56 ± 0.82 nm). Surface rigidity (0.88 ± 0.06 N/m) and elasticity (92.6 ± 10.2 MPa) obtained from a force distance curve using finite element modeling are found to increase significantly with respect to the corresponding values of (0.65 ± 0.05 N/m and 32.8 ± 4.5 MPa) of the nonfunctionalized mycelia. The maximum mercury adsorption capacity of the functionalized mycelia is observed to be 256.5 mg/g in comparison to 80.71 mg/g for the pristine mycelia.