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Aluminium Leaching by Heterotrophic Microorganism Aspergillus niger: An Acidic Leaching?

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Abstract

Bioleaching of aluminium mineral boehmite by filamentous fungus Aspergillus niger was compared to chemical leaching by citric, oxalic and hydrochloric acids to evaluate the significance of A. niger’s metabolites on aluminium mobilization from this natural component of the aluminium ore. Our results highlighted that leaching efficiency of hydrochloric acid at pH 2 was 2.7 times lower compared to fungal bioleaching efficiency. When the organic acids were compared, oxalic acid was a stronger aluminium leaching agent than citric acid. The results suggest that fungal metabolites significantly promoted the release of aluminium and that their acidic properties, despite being useful, were not the most critical factor in the bioleaching of aluminium.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Laboratory Research on Geomaterials, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava, Mlynská dolina, 84215, Bratislava, Slovakia

    Martin Urík, Filip Polák, Marek Bujdoš, Ivana Pifková, Lucia Kořenková, Pavol Littera & Peter Matúš

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  1. Martin Urík
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  2. Filip Polák
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  3. Marek Bujdoš
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  4. Ivana Pifková
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  5. Lucia Kořenková
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  6. Pavol Littera
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  7. Peter Matúš
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Correspondence to Martin Urík.

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Urík, M., Polák, F., Bujdoš, M. et al. Aluminium Leaching by Heterotrophic Microorganism Aspergillus niger: An Acidic Leaching?. Arab J Sci Eng 43, 2369–2374 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-017-2784-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-017-2784-8

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