cadmium biosoption by immobilized dead yeast cells from bioethanol industries

dead yeast cells are an abundant residue of the brazilian ethanol industry and the industries still don’t have a proper or desirable destiny for all these cells, which means tons of vitamins and proteins that have not a major end. in the other hand, heavy metal residues are a problem, especially for leather industry, where brazil is also a great producer. in this work, dead yeast cells were used to evaluate cadmium biosorption samples. results have shown that dried dead yeast cells at 20 % (w/v) immobilized in na-alginate beads 0.5 % can be an efficient alternative for the capture of cadmium. the average biosorption rate was 122.10 mg cd/ g of dry biomass in comparison to the control using only the na-alginate beads 0.5 % where the biosorption rate achieved 57.29 mg cd/g of dry biomass. this research opens wide opportunities to allies two major residues created in brazilian industries with a noble end for the industries it selves as for the environment.