Lead Biosorption (Pb) And Cadmium (Cd) By Flavobacterium Sp Bacteria

Abstract

This research studies the ability of Pb and Cd biosorption by Flavobacterium sp bacteria and the characteristics of bacteria after being exposed to the heavy metal. Heavy metals Pb and Cd with concentrations (2, 4, 6, 8 and 10) ppm were exposed to bacteria as much as 0.4 mL and measured reduction in metal content every 3 days for 30 days. Analysis of the decrease in Pb and Cd levels uses an Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS) while the bacterial characteristics test after exposure to heavy metals uses Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). This research shows that the Flavobacterium sp bacteria is able to absorb heavy metals Pb and Cd, this can be seen from the decrease in metal content in the growing media that gets smaller with increasing exposure time until all metals are absorbed 100%. The most maximum biosorption process occurred in Pb 2 ppm metal solution on day 18 achieved metal reduction percent of 96.08%, while the highest absorption of Cd metal occ urred at a concentration of 10 ppm on day 24 achieved a reduction percent of 77.21 %. SEM photo showed that the Flavobacterium sp bacteria experienced increased levels of heavy metals Pb and Cd after being exposed to the metals for 30 days with an increase of < 1.5% in Pb metals and < 0.5% in Cd metals.