A Novel Mycelial Pellet Enhanced by Activated Carbon for Eriochrome Black T-containing Wastewater Treatment

Background: Improved mycelial pellet with superior decolorization ability and reusability was firstly cultivated and coupled with activated carbon for enhancement of dyecontaining wastewater adsorption, which was named MP-AC. Methodology: Depending on several parameters such as pellet size and dry/wet ratio, the optimum amount of activated carbon powder was determined as 0.015 g·mL-1 spore suspension, and the mycelial pellet contained the certain amount of activated carbon powder named as MP-AC-5. The microscope and SEM images clearly described the activated carbon powder wrapped in the net of pellet unevenly without destroying the structure. By comparing with single mycelial pellets (SMP) under different condition, the decolorization ability of MP-AC-5 was investigated and the results showed that MP-AC-5 (1.0g) had higher decolorization efficiency and better reusability than SMP (1.5g) under different pH and dyeconcentrations. Conclusion: The pseudo-second order kinetic model was able to describe the biosorption equilibrium of Eriochrome black T (EBT) onto the MP-AC-5 with a high determination coefficient (R2 > 0.999) and the Langmuir isotherm model was able to describe the biosorption equilibrium of Eriochrome black T (EBT) onto the MP-AC-5.