Biosorption and Biodegradation of Chromium Complex Dye Using Aspergillus Species

• Published in: Journal of hazardous, toxic and radioactive waste toxic and radioactive waste, 2014-10, Vol.18 (4)
• Main Authors: Ghosh, Arpita, Dastidar, Manisha Ghosh, Sreekrishnan, T. R
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Technical Papers
• ISSN: 2153-5493; 2153-5515
• DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)HZ.2153-5515.0000230

AbstractThe present study was conducted in batch bioreactors to evaluate the removal of color, chromium, and chemical oxygen demand (COD) from Acid Orange 86 (i.e., chromium complex dye) solution by growing Aspergillus sp. isolated from the sludge of a textile industry. The organism was found to grow in the dye solution and was tolerant up to a concentration of 10,000  mg/L of the dye. During its growth, Aspergillus sp. effectively decolorized and removed chromium from the dye solution at a concentration up to 10,000  mg/L. After 50 h of contact time, the color removal decreased from 98.2 to 42% and the chromium removal decreased from 100 to 50% by increasing the initial concentration of dye from 50 to 10,000  mg/L at pH 5 using 10% v/v inoculum concentration. The COD removal after decolorization and biosorption decreased from 69.83 to 49% by increasing the initial concentration of dye from 50 to 1,000  mg/L. Biodegradation and biosorption of the dye during decolorization were indicated by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopic methods. Scanning electron micrographs indicated the structural distortion of the fungal biomass after microbial treatment. Phytotoxicity tests showed that the biotreated wastewater was less toxic to Cicer arietinum seeds.