Adsorption performance in the biosorption of tungsten using Escherichia coli cells can be significantly improved by using cell suspensions that have been heat-treated at <= 100 degrees C. In the case of E. coli cells suspension heated at 100 degrees C, the aqueous tungsten ions concentration rapidly decreased from 0.8 mmol/L to practically zero within 1 h. This biosorption time is much shorter than that of non-heat treated E. coli cells (7 h). Furthermore, the adsorption saturation amount for cells heat-treated at 100 degrees C was significantly increased up to 1.62 mmol(-W)/g(-E. coli) compared to the unheated E. coli cells case (0.62 mmol(-W)/g(-E. coli)). Determination of the surface potential and surface structure along with quantitative analyses of free amino acids of heat-treated E. coli cells were also carried out and revealed that heated cells have a high zeta potential and express a higher concentration of amino acids on the cell surface. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.