Copper accumulation by Aspergillus awamori.

Aspergillus awamori accumulated Cu2+ from aqueous solutions. The level of copper uptake was dependent on the ambient metal concentration. The process consisted of two phases: a fast initial phase and a slower secondary phase. Chelation of these ions occurs by chemical, equilibrated and saturable mechanism, following the mathematical models of Langmuir and Freundlich, with better performance on the Langmuir model. Data transformation allowed us to calculate the kinetic constants of the sorption reaction.