Journal of Environmental Treatment Techniques

2020, Volume 8, Issue 3, Pages: 936-946

J. Environ. Treat. Tech.

ISSN: 2309-1185

Journal web link: http://www.jett.dormaj.com

Nano Bioremediation of Textile Dye Effluent

using Magnetite Nanoparticles Encapsulated

Alginate Beads

A. Lincy *, P. Jegathambal , Martin Mkandawire , Stephanie MacQuarrie

Water Institute, Karunya Institute of Technology and Sciences, Coimbatore, India

Department of Chemistry, Cape Breton University, Nova Scotia, Canada

Received: 02/05/2020

Accepted: 12/06/2020

Published: 20/09/2020

Abstract

Due to increase in urbanization and industrialization, both water consumption and wastewater generation are high. It is a great

challenge to treat and provide safe water to the society. The conventional treatment methods are energy and cost intensive. These

limitations can be subsided by the application of nanotechnology that shows better efficiency in terms of treatment of wastewater.

The use of nanoparticles increases the adsorption of dye and removal efficiency due to their smaller size and increased Surface to

Volume (S/V) ratio. In this paper, magnetite nanoparticles were synthesized using Reverse Co-Precipitation method and their textile

dye removal efficiency using adsorption was studied in treatment of blue dye water. The synthesized magnetite nanoparticles were

qualitatively and quantitively characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Field Emission Scanning Electron

Microscopy (FESEM), UV-Vis Spectroscopy and Cyclic Voltammetry (CV). The observed continuous absorption spectral band

by FTIR and UV-Vis spectrum confirmed the formation of magnetite nanoparticles. The magnetite nanoparticles observed in

FESEM exhibited spherical shape with size of 60-100nm. The specific capacitance of the magnetics nanoparticles observed through

CV was 1828.5mA/g. The dye adsorption potential of magnetite nanoparticles was studied by conducting experiments on the

encapsulated alginate magnetic nanoparticles beads by varying operational parameters like contact time, pH, adsorbent dosage and

dye concentration. From the results, 82.4% removal of azo blue dye was observed with the initial dye concentration of 25 ppm.

Finally, the operational parameters were optimized based on maximum removal of blue dye.

Keywords: Nanotechnology, Magnetite, Beads, Adsorption, Blue dye

Introduction¹

the penetration of sunlight and oxygen which is more

essential for the survival of more aquatic forms. Textile

industries utilize substantial volume of water and chemicals

for wet-processing of textiles. There are nearly 8,000

chemical products associated with the dyeing process. So,

viable techno economical solutions are needed for treating

such types of wastewater. The eco-friendly and

economically adoptable wastewater remediation using

nanotechnology is one of the current areas of focus. Nano

bioremediation is a new emerging technique which employs

nanoparticles to clean up the environment and it removes the

pollutants and dyes efficiently. Numerous researches across

the globe are ongoing in green nanotechnology related to the

synthesis of nanoparticles using microorganisms. The

alternatives for conventional method of synthesis have been

modified with various biological entities and are being

Water is the basic necessity on earth for the human and

providing the clean water to society is of prime importance

for their better well-being. Water is highly contaminated due

to pollution, high population, amplification of industry and

textile effluents which lead to life time undermining

sicknesses[1]. The water consuming industries like paper

and pulp manufacturing, plastics, dyeing of cloth and

tanneries discharge a large amount of wastewater into the

soil and aquatic ecosystem. Few dyes are toxic in nature and

their presence in industrial effluents is of major

environmental concern because they are usually very

recalcitrant to microbial degradation. In some situations, the

dye solution will undergo anaerobic degradation and it will

form carcinogenic compounds that will end up in the food

chain [16]. Moreover, highly dyed wastewaters will block

Corresponding author: P. Jegathambal, Water Institute, Karunya Institute of Technology and Sciences, Coimbatore, India. E-

mail: jegatha@karunya.edu.