Bioleaching and biosorption of Cu2+, Pb2+, and Cd2+ from laptop PCBs by effective fungal strains

Netpae, Tinnapan

doi:10.22104/aet.2026.7596.2131

Bioleaching and biosorption of Cu²⁺, Pb²⁺, and Cd²⁺ from laptop PCBs by effective fungal strains

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Tinnapan Netpae

Environmental Science Program, Faculty of Science and Technology, Nakhon Sawan Rajabhat University, Thailand

10.22104/aet.2026.7596.2131

Abstract

The toxic heavy metals in waste printed circuit boards (PCBs) in electrical and electronic devices make them particularly challenging to manage. This research emphasized the bioleaching and biosorption potential of two effective fungal strains for removing Cu²⁺, Pb²⁺, and Cd²⁺ from laptop PCBs. The bioleaching experiment demonstrated that the two-step bioleaching process using Aspergillus niger effectively extracted heavy metal ions from laptop PCBs. One kilogram of laptop PCB samples contained 130.25±1.53 g of Cu, 18.81±0.09 g of Pb, and 0.037±0.004 g of Cd. The results suggest that Cu²⁺, Pb²⁺, and Cd²⁺ achieved maximum bioleaching efficiencies of 73.06%, 63.91%, and 70.53%, respectively, after a 21-day incubation period. The biosorption experiment using immobilized Humicola phialophoroides biomass pretreated with NaOH demonstrated higher efficiency in removing heavy metal ions from leachate than non-immobilized biomass in bioremediation processes. The maximum heavy metal biosorption by the immobilized cells was achieved at a solution at 30 ^oC after an equilibrium time of 120 minutes at pH 7. The heavy metal ion biosorption capacities were 184.10±3.65 mg Cu g^-1dry wt., 39.60±1.21 mg Pb g^-1dry wt., and 2.28±0.04 mg Cd g^-1 dry wt. The temperature had little effect, while the pH value significantly influenced the sorption process.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords

Biosorption

Bioleaching

Laptop

PCBs

Heavy metal

Subjects

green technologies for environmental sustainability

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