Shewanella xiamenensis G5-03 isolated from contaminated landfill soil efficiently decolorized five textile azo dyes under static conditions. One of them, Reactive Red 239 (RR239), was completely decolorized at a pH range of 7 to 11 (at 35°C) within 3-6 h. The bacterium was also efficiently decolorized RR239 in a wide temperature range of 25-40°C (at pH 8). The kinetics of RR239 decolorization by G5-03 fitted to the Michaelis–Menten Model (Km = 443.3 mg L-1, Vmax = 166.7 mg L-1 h-1). The decolorization of RR239 was monitored by UV-Vis and FTIR spectroscopy, which showed significant changes in peak positions when compared to the dye spectrum. Overall, the ability of S. xiamenensis G5-03 to decolorize textile azo dyes in a wide range of temperatures and pH (neutral-alkaline) indicate that this strain is a potential candidate for treating dye-containing effluent.

In this study, baker’s yeast-MnO2 composites, produced by direct oxidation of yeast with KMnO4 under acidic conditions, were used as biosorbent to remove the triphenylmethane dye Malachite green (MG) from an aqueous solution. Parameters that influence the adsorption process, such as pH, contact time, temperature, initial dye concentration and biosorbent dosage, were evaluated in batch experiments. The optimum removal of MG was found to be  86.7 mg g-1 at pH 10, 1.0 g L-1 of biomass dosage and 45°C. The kinetic data of dye removal was better described by the pseudo-second-order model. The adsorption process followed the Langmuir isotherm model and the maximum biosorption capacity was estimated to be  243.9 mg g-1 (at 25°C). The negative values of ∆G° and the positive value of ∆H° indicated that the MG biosorption onto yeast-MnO2 composites is spontaneous and endothermic. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) indicated that the nano-MnO2 particles deposited on yeast-MnO2 composites surface facilitated the MG adsorption. It was concluded that baker’s yeast-MnO2 composites have potential for application as adsorbent for removal of MG from aqueous solution.

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In this study, the ability of chemically activated sugarcane bagasse (CASB) as a biosorbent for removing ibuprofen (IBP) from aqueous solution was evaluated. Sugarcane bagasse was activated using hexane and methanol. The effects of pH, contact time, IBP concentration, and temperature were evaluated in batch studies. Higher removal rates of IBP were found at pH 2.0. Kinetic studies indicated that the biosorption follows the pseudo-second-order model. The equilibrium biosorption isotherm was found to follow both Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. The maximum biosorption capacity of CASB was estimated at 7.75 mg g-1 at 20 °C. According to the Dubinin-Radushkevich isotherm model, the activation energy was calculated to be 7.07 kJ mol-1, indicating that a physical process mediated the IBP removal. Thermodynamic analysis suggests that the biosorption is exothermic in nature and non-spontaneous. The FTIR analysis confirmed the interactions between IBP molecules and biosorbent. We concluded that CASB exhibited the potential to be used in the removal of IBP from aqueous media.

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