Decolorization Assay of the Anthraquinone Dye Acid Blue 25 by Trichoderma asperellum LBKURCC1 Crude Laccase Extracts

One major concern of the textile industry waste is the health hazard imposed by textile dye waste effluents. Anthraquinone dyes are the second largest group of dyes produced and used annually worldwide, that is difficult to degrade naturally. Biological methods using enzymes for waste treatment is gaining popularity due to its eco-friendliness. Laccase is an enzyme with potential to degrade textile dyes, due to its wide ability to oxidize a wide range of substrates. The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of T. asperellum LBKURCC1 laccase crude extract to decolorize the anthraquinone anionic dye Acid Blue 25 (AB25). A solution of 50 ppm AB25, pH 5.5, was treated with T. asperellum LBKURCC1 laccase crude extract and incubated at room temperature. Absorbance of the solution at 603 nm was measured daily and compared to buffer and heat denatured enzyme controls. No decolorization of AB25 was observed up to 6 days incubation in the enzyme treated samples, as well as the controls. Addition of 0.1 to 5 mM of 1-hydroxybenzotriazole hydrate (HBT) to the decolorization assay did not succeed in mediating the redox reaction of AB25 oxidation by the T. asperellum LBKURCC1 laccase.

Adsorption of Acid Blue 25 on Agricultural Wastes: Efficiency, Kinetics, Mechanism, and Regeneration

In this study, Acid Blue 25 (AB25), which is a negatively charged synthetic dye was removed from an aqueous solution by adsorption onto agricultural wastes, including banana (BP) and durian (DP) peels. The adsorption performances of AB25 were related to surface characteristics of the agricultural wastes, including their chemical functional groups, net surface charge, surface morphology, surface area, and pore volume. Parameters affecting the adsorption, including contact times, initial concentration, pH, and temperature were investigated. The results revealed that the adsorption of AB25 followed pseudo-second order kinetics, and that the adsorption process was controlled by a combination of intraparticle and film diffusion with a two-step mechanism. The equilibrium data could be simulated by the Langmuir isotherm model, suggesting that AB25 molecules are adsorbed on active sites with a uniform binding energy as a monolayer on the adsorbent surface. The adsorption process was spontaneous and exothermic, and the adsorption capacity decreased with the pH of the medium. The spent adsorbents were best regenerated by acid treatment (pH 2), and could be recycled for several adsorption-desorption processes. Under ambient conditions, the maximum adsorption capacities of AB25 on BP and DP were 70.0 and 89.7 mg g−1, respectively, which is much higher than on a large variety of reported adsorbents derived from other agricultural wastes.