Muhammad Bachri Amran

Removal of Congo Red dye by adsorption onto phyrophyllite

Synthetic dye‐containing wastewaters from textile, paper, plastic and leather‐tanning industries are a most common organic pollutant. Such dyes may be toxic not only to aquatic life, but also to human beings. Consequently, dye removal from wastewater significantly benefits the environment. The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of phyrophyllite as an adsorbent for Congo Red dye from wastewater. Dye sorption rates were investigated in bench‐scale studies. Evaluation of adsorption performance of phyrophyllite on Congo Red necessitated the determination of Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. Adsorption of Congo Red on phyrophyllite was found to be in conformity with both isotherms. The adsorption capacity for phyrophyllite was found to increase with decrease in particle size and with increase in temperature and intensity of agitation. The results indicated that phyrophyllite was a good adsorbent for Congo Red from wastewaters.

Molybdenum Speciation in Raw Phloem Sap of Castor Bean

Abstract Separation and quantification of molybdenum (Mo) in raw phloem sap from castor bean (Ricinus communis L.) was performed by size exclusion chromatography (SEC) and further purification was performed using quantitative preparative native continuous polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (QPNC-PAGE). For elemental detection, an inductively coupled plasma quadrupole mass spectrometer (ICP-QMS) was applied. Two different SEC columns were utilized: column A, Sephadex G-50 SF (700 mm × 24 mm), and column B, Sephadex G-25 M (28 mm × 9 mm). The protein content of the fractions was determined by the Bradford method. Using column A, two peaks of Mo were detected consisting of a main peak (MoA2) in the low molecular weight area (< 1.35 kDa), and a minor peak (MoA1, ≥ 30 kDa) at the void volume of the column. Both Mo species were detected at the ultraviolet (UV) active absorption area of raw phloem sap. Two peaks of Mo were also detected using column B, the first peak (MoB1) being at the same elution volume as the protein of raw phloem sap, and the second one (MoB2) was eluted in the area of 1.5 to 2.4 mL of elution volume. Raw phloem sap digested by proteinase K-enzyme indicates a significant reduction of MoB1 peak, which suggests that the peak may contain Mo bound to protein or polypeptides. The raw phloem sap and SEC fraction containing highest Mo concentration (MoA2) were furthermore separated by QPNC-PAGE. The result reveals that the Mo-containing fraction from the raw phloem sap was eluted at the same retention volume as the purified sample. This implies that the Mo species were also successfully separated and purified using QPNC-PAGE.