Biodegradation of Reactive Dyes by Two Microalgal Species

Dye wastewater is one of the most difficult to treat. Meanwhile, there has been exhaustive research on biosorption of dye waste water and it is evolving as an attractive option to supplement conventional treatment processes. This paper examines the capacity of Spirogyra sp. and Oscillatoria sp. to decolorize two model dyes, Blue dye and Red dyes from their aqueous solutions. The effect of algal biomass on the rate of decolorization was studied. The rate of dye decolorization was found to increase with the increase of algal concentration. The biodegradation was monitored by UV-Vis and FTIR analysis. In conclusion, Spirogyra sp. showed high efficiency for color removal of the examined dyes.