Abstract
The decolorization and degradation of Direct Blue 71 were investigated using a mono culture of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The bacterium was able to decolorize the dye medium to 70.43 % within 48 h under microaerophilic conditions. The medium was then aerated for 24 h to promote the biodegradation of the aromatic amines generated from azo bond cleavage. Reduction in total organic carbon in dye medium was 42.58 % in the microaerophilic stage and 78.39 % in the aerobic stage. The degradation metabolites formed were studied using UV-vis techniques, high performance liquid chromatography, Fourier transform infra red spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy analysis. Data obtained provide evidence for the formation of aromatic amines and their subsequent oxidative biodegradation by a single strain of P. aeruginosa during successive microaerophilic/aerobic stages in the same flask. The influence of incubation temperature (20-45 °C), medium pH (5-10) and initial dye concentration (25-150 mg/L) on decolorization was evaluated to greatly influence decolorization extent. The optimal decolorization conditions were determined by response surface methodology based on three-variable central composite design to obtain maximum decolorization and to determine the significance and interaction effect of the variables on decolorization. The optimal conditions of response were found to be 35.15 °C, pH 8.01 and 49.95 mg/L dye concentration giving an experimental decolorization value of 84.80 %. Very high regression coefficient between the variables and the response (R(2) = 0.9624) indicated a good evaluation of experimental data by polynomial regression model.