Rodrigues, Debora F.2015-08-222015-08-22May 20132013-05http://hdl.handle.net/10657/981Heavy metals at high concentrations are toxic to the environment and living organisms. The present study aims to investigate the best conditions for the removal of CuSO4.5H2O and KCrO4 by two bacterial species: Ochrobactrum intermedium and Cupriavidus metallidurans. The minimum inhibitory concentrations of C. metallidurans and O. Intermedium were determined to be 750 and 300 ppm for Cu2+, and 100 ppm and 1000 ppm for Cr6+, respectively for each microorganism. Biosorption experiments were also performed with dead and live biomasses of C. metallidurans and O. intermedium. The results show that dead biomass presented better Cu2+ biosorption capacity than live cells. Chromium was removed more efficiently by live cells of O. intermedium than dead biomass; while C. metallidurans dead biomass biosorbed better than live biomass. The biosorption results fitted well with the Langmuir isotherm model. The main mechanism of live biomass adsorption was determined to be through carboxylic, hydroxyl, and amino functional groups.application/pdfengThe author of this work is the copyright owner. UH Libraries and the Texas Digital Library have their permission to store and provide access to this work. Further transmission, reproduction, or presentation of this work is prohibited except with permission of the author(s).Heavy metalsBiosorptionCopperChromiumCupriavidus metalliduransOchrobactrum intermediumEnvironmental engineering2015-08-22Thesisborn digital