B. laterosporus (MTCC 1628) showed better potential adsorbent
for the biosorption of heavy metals like Cd (II) and Ni (II), as
compared to many other bacterial biomasses reported in
literature. The maximum uptake values for biosorption of Cd
(II) and Ni (II) on B. laterosporus was found to be 85.47 mg/g and
44.44 mg/g, respectively. Presence of many functional groups on
the cell surface is responsible for biosorption of metal ions
leading to high metal uptake. Ion exchange, adsorption and
complexation are the main mechanisms involved in biosorption
of selected cations on B. laterosporus.