BIOMASS-MEDIATED BINDING AND RECOVERY OF TEXTILE DYES FROM WASTE EFFLUENTS

Thirty species of fungi (filamentous and yeast) and bacteria were tested for their ability to remove C.I. Reactive Black 5, Reactive Blue 19 and Leuco Sulfur Black 1 textile dyes from simulated plant waste effluents. Both dead and live forms of each of the species were tested. Species were ranked according to dye binding efficiencies (unit weight of dye bound per unit weight of biomass) and predicted biomass cost to completely decolorize a unit volume of dyecontaining effluent. The results describe a potential biomass-based industrial process for recovering and reusing textile dyes.