| Summary: | The objective of this paper is to establish the significance of the mycoremediation of contaminants such as Cd<sup>2+</sup> to achieve sustainable and eco-friendly remediation methods. Industries such as electroplating, paint, leather tanning, etc. release an enormous amount of Cd<sup>2+</sup> in wastewater, which can drastically affect our flora and fauna. Herein, we report on the in vitro bioadsorption of Cd<sup>2+</sup> ions using fungal isolates obtained from different contaminated industrial sites. The detailed studies revealed that two fungal species, i.e., <i>Trichoderma fasciculatum </i>and <i>Trichoderma longibrachiatum</i>, were found to be most effective against the removal of Cd<sup>2+</sup> when screened for Cd<sup>2+</sup> tolerance on potato dextrose agar (PDA) in different concentrations. Detailed adsorption studies were conducted by exploring various experimental factors such as incubation time, temperature, pH, inoculum size, and Cd<sup>2+</sup> salt concentrations. Based on optimum experimental conditions, <i>T. fasciculatum</i> exhibited approximately 67.10% removal, while <i>T. longibrachiatum </i>shows 76.25% removal of Cd<sup>2+</sup> ions at pH 5.0, 120 h incubation time, at 30°C. The inoculum sizes for <i>T. fasciculatum</i> and <i>T. longibrachiatum </i>were 2.5% and 2.0%, respectively. Finally, the morphological changes due to Cd<sup>2+</sup> accumulation were examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Further, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectroscopy reveals the presence of various functional groups (-CH, –C=O, NH and –OH), which seem to be responsible for the efficient binding of Cd<sup>2+</sup> ions over the fungal surfaces.
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