TY - JOUR
T1 - Periphyton biofilms
T2 - A novel and natural biological system for the effective removal of sulphonated azo dye methyl orange by synergistic mechanism
AU - Shabbir, Sadaf
AU - Faheem, Muhammad
AU - Ali, Naeem
AU - Kerr, Philip G.
AU - Wu, Yonghong
N1 - Includes bibliographical references.
PY - 2017/1/1
Y1 - 2017/1/1
N2 - Due to their large scale use, azo dyes are adversely affecting aquatic fauna and flora as well as humans. The persistent nature of sulphonated azo dyes makes them potential ecotoxic hazards. The aim of the present study was to employ a proficient, locally available biomaterial, viz. periphyton (i.e. epiphyton, epilithon or metaphyton), for removal of the azo dye, methyl orange (MO). Results showed that the periphytic biofilms are capable of completely removing comparatively high concentrations (up to 500 mg L−1) of MO from wastewater. The removal of MO occurs by a synergistic mechanism involving bioadsorption and biodegradation processes. The adsorption of MO by periphyton can be described by pseudo-second order kinetics. Elovich and intraparticle diffusion models as well as Langmuir equations fit well to the MO adsorption process. FTIR analysis of MO and its metabolites demonstrated biotransformation into simpler compounds within 72 h. GC-MS/MS analysis showed the conversion of MO into simpler compounds such as phenol, ethyl acetate and acetyl acetate. The results indicated that periphyton is a promising biomaterial for the complete removal of MO from wastewater and that the treatment process has the potential for in situ removal of MO at contaminated sites.
AB - Due to their large scale use, azo dyes are adversely affecting aquatic fauna and flora as well as humans. The persistent nature of sulphonated azo dyes makes them potential ecotoxic hazards. The aim of the present study was to employ a proficient, locally available biomaterial, viz. periphyton (i.e. epiphyton, epilithon or metaphyton), for removal of the azo dye, methyl orange (MO). Results showed that the periphytic biofilms are capable of completely removing comparatively high concentrations (up to 500 mg L−1) of MO from wastewater. The removal of MO occurs by a synergistic mechanism involving bioadsorption and biodegradation processes. The adsorption of MO by periphyton can be described by pseudo-second order kinetics. Elovich and intraparticle diffusion models as well as Langmuir equations fit well to the MO adsorption process. FTIR analysis of MO and its metabolites demonstrated biotransformation into simpler compounds within 72 h. GC-MS/MS analysis showed the conversion of MO into simpler compounds such as phenol, ethyl acetate and acetyl acetate. The results indicated that periphyton is a promising biomaterial for the complete removal of MO from wastewater and that the treatment process has the potential for in situ removal of MO at contaminated sites.
KW - Aliphatic hydrocarbons
KW - Bioremediation
KW - Methyl orange
KW - Periphyton
KW - Synergistic
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84991461064&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84991461064&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2016.10.002
DO - 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2016.10.002
M3 - Article
C2 - 27728882
SN - 0045-6535
VL - 167
SP - 236
EP - 246
JO - Chemosphere - Global Change Science
JF - Chemosphere - Global Change Science
ER -