Synergistic and simultaneous biosorption of phenanthrene and iodine from aqueous solutions by soil indigenous bacterial biomass as a low-cost biosorbent

The removal of phenanthrene and iodine from aqueous solutions in single and binary systems by inactivated soil indigenous bacterial biomass (SIBB), as well as affecting factors, were evaluated. Sorption kinetic and isotherm studies were carried out to investigate the synergistic effects of phenanthrene and iodine. Optimal parameters for the biosorption process included a solution pH of 6.0 and biosorbent dosage of 0.75 g L(−1). The ionic strength significantly decreased the biosorption of both phenanthrene and iodine in single conditions, while no obvious influences were found in the binary conditions. A pseudo-second-order model was well fitted to the kinetic biosorption data for both phenanthrene and iodine. The results showed that the presence of co-solute accelerated the biosorption processes and the pseudo-second-order biosorption rates (k(2)) for phenanthrene and iodine increased from 0.005441 to 0.009825 g mg(−1) min(−1) and from 0.000114 to 0.000223 g mg(−1) min(−1), respectively. The SIBB showed strong affinity with both phenanthrene and iodine, with a partition coefficient K(d) (Linear model) of 6892.4 L kg(−1) for phenanthrene and affinity parameter K(L) (Langmuir model) of 232 500 L kg(−1) for iodine. The presence of co-solute illustrated a synergistic effect on the biosorption of phenanthrene and iodine due to intermolecular forces between phenanthrene and iodine, enhancing the K(d) of 34.7% for phenanthrene and K(L) of 107.0% for iodine, respectively. The results suggested that SIBB was an effective material for the simultaneous biosorption of phenanthrene and iodine from aqueous solutions.