Abstract
The biomass of Corynebacterium glutamicum was evaluated for its potential to remove reactive dyes from aqueous solution. Five reactive dyes tested in this study were Reactive Orange 11, Reactive Yellow 2, Reactive Black 5, Reactive Blue 4 and Reactive Red 4. The reactive dyes were effectively removed by the biomass at solution pH ranging from 1 to 3 while little uptake occurred at pH above 6. The maximum uptake of the reactive dyes was in the range of 137-464 mg/g. Biosorption isotherm showed that the biomass had a high affinity to the reactive dyes. Also, the sorbed dye on the biomass surface is easily desorbed under neutral condition, refecting that the C. glutamicum biomass can be repeatedly reused for the dye removal. When considering that the C. glutamicum biomass is much cheaper than commercial adsorbents such as activated carbons and ion exchange resins, this biomass waste is a candidate for cost-effective biosorbent.
