Microbial degradation of textile dye by bacillus / Khairun 'Aqilah Hanis Khamis

Dyes are discharged as colored effluent to the environment from dyeing process
and finishing treatment and they are regarded as a pollutant. They may be can give
negative impact to human health and a toxic to aquatic life. The physic and chemical
method of industrial effluent treatment are have many drawbacks which will lead
to secondary pollution. Hence, the ability of microorganisms to degrade the dye has
been identified as an alternative method because of eco-friendly and inexpensive
nature under certain conditions. Furthermore, bacteria capable growth and degrade
the dye by both aerobic and anaerobic metabolism. In current research work, an azo
dye, Congo red, was used as a model textile effluent for treatment by the bacteria,
Bacillus under aerobic conditions. Bacillus was able to degrade Congo red dye with
the efficiency of 83.12% at a concentration of 25 ppm within 5 days. The
temperature and pH were reported as pH 7.55 and temperature 30'C considered to
be the optimum degradation conditions because in these conditions only the
maximum degraded was found. The metabolic product of Congo red degradation
by this bacteria was identified by UV-Vis Spectrophotometer. The percentage of
degradation was measured using Spectrophotometer at 497 nm. The above results
show the degradation potential suggests the applicability of this bacteria, Bacillus
to be used as the biological treatment in the effluent from textile industries.