P. Baskaralingam

Equilibrium and kinetic studies on the removal of Acid Red 114 from aqueous solutions using activated carbons prepared from seed shells

The use of low-cost and ecofriendly adsorbents has been investigated as an ideal alternative to the current expensive methods of removing dyes from wastewater. This paper deals with the removal of Acid Red 114 (AR 114) from aqueous solutions using activated carbons prepared from agricultural waste materials such as gingelly (sesame) (Sp), cotton (Cp) and pongam (Pp) seed shells. Optimum conditions for AR 114 removal were found to be pH 3, adsorbent dosage=3g/L of solution and equilibrium time=4h. Higher removal percentages were observed at lower concentrations of AR 114. The adsorption isotherm data were fitted to Langmuir and Freundlich equation, and the adsorption capacity of the studied adsorbents was in the order Sp>Cp>Pp. Kinetic studies showed that the adsorption followed both pseudo-second-order and Elovich equation. The thermodynamics parameters such as DeltaG degrees, DeltaH degrees, DeltaS degrees were also evaluated. The activated carbons prepared were characterized by FT-IR, SEM and BET analysis.

Chemometric formulation of bacterial consortium-AVS for improved decolorization of resonance-stabilized and heteropolyaromatic dyes.

A bacterial consortium-AVS, consisting of Pseudomonas desmolyticum NCIM 2112, Kocuria rosea MTCC 1532 and Micrococcus glutamicus NCIM 2168 was formulated chemometrically, using the mixture design matrix based on the design of experiments methodology. The formulated consortium-AVS decolorized acid blue 15 and methylene blue with a higher average decolorization rate, which is more rapid than that of the pure cultures. The UV-vis spectrophotometric, Fourier transform infra red spectrophotometric and high performance liquid chromatographic analysis confirm that the decolorization was due to biodegradation by oxido-reductive enzymes, produced by the consortium-AVS. The toxicological assessment of plant growth parameters and the chlorophyll pigment concentrations of Phaseolus mungo and Triticum aestivum seedlings revealed the reduced toxic nature of the biodegraded products.

Removal of Nickel(II) from Aqueous Solutions by Adsorption with Modified ZSM- 5 Zeolites

The sorptive removal of nickel ion from aqueous solutions using modified ZSM-5 zeolites was investigated. Experiments were carried out as a function of solute concentration and different temperatures. Mesoporous material of ZSM-5 zeolite was modified with phosphoric acid by wet method. The modified zeolite was converted to Na

Kinetic and equilibrium studies on the biosorption of textile dyes onto Plantago ovata seeds

The powdered seeds of Plantago ovata (PSPO) were utilized for the removal of Malachite Green (MG) and Rose Bengal (RB) dyes from aqueous media by batch adsorption. The Fourier transform infra red spectroscopy (FTIR) results showed that both the dyes were adsorbed between the cellulose matrices, and this has been verified from the intensifying and narrowing aromatic C-H bending vibration. The morphology of the dye laden adsorbent was studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), which showed that the dyes were adsorbed between the cellulose matrices of the adsorbent. The PSPO was found to be very effective for the removal of MG and RB at pH 7, and equilibrium was attained within 200 min. The kinetic study indicated that the rate limiting step for MG and RB adsorption may be chemisorption and intraparticle diffusion. Adsorption equilibrium data were fitted to Langmuir, Freundlich, Redlich-Peterson and Temkin adsorption isotherms. It is inferred from the equilibrium studies that the adsorption of MG follows the Freundlich isotherm and the adsorption of RB follows the Langmuir isotherm. The maximum monolayer adsorption capacity of the PSPO was found to be 86.23 mg/g for MG and 81.23 mg/g for RB, respectively.

Role of Bacterial Consortia in Bioremediation of Textile Recalcitrant Compounds

The increasing industrial demand for remediating the textile wastewater in an effective way has led to the pervasive acceptance of bioremediation. Bioremediation techniques such as bioaccumulation, biosorption, bioaugmentation, and biodegradation utilize the biological systems to treat the textile effluents containing the recalcitrant dye molecules. Bioremediation is known to be environmentally reliable and is an alternative to the conventional decomposition techniques with the prerequisite to fulfill the efficacy and economic viability. Among the aforementioned bio-remedial measures, biodegradation of the textile dyes is the trustworthy industrial application. Biodegradation of dyes can be achieved using single bacterial strains and co-cultures/consortia. The consortial systems are proven to be advantageous over a single strain as they involve an inductive synergistic mechanism among the co-existing strains. As a result of this co-metabolism, there is a formation of different intermediate metabolites such as toxic aromatic amines which are furthermore mineralized by the other bacterial strains in the consortia.