Preliminary study on the dye removal efficacy of immobilized marine and freshwater microalgal beads from textile wastewater

Abstract

Discharge of textile wastewater containing toxic dyes can adversely affect aquatic organisms and human health. The objective of the study was to investigate the potential of immobilized marine microalgae (Chlorella marina, Isochrysis galbana, Tetraselmis sp. Dunaliella salina and Nannochloropsis sp.) and freshwater microalga (Chlorella sp.) in removing dye from textile wastewater (TW). The present study incorporated the use of 2% sodium alginate matrixes for decoloration. Among the algal species tested, the highest colour removal was noticed in Isochrysis galbana (55%) followed by freshwater Chlorella sp. (43%). The present method is easy to use, cost effective and devoid of technical problems.

Keywords: Marine microalga, immobilization, textile wastewater, Chlorella marina, Isochrysis galbana, Dunaliella salina, biosorption, bioremediation.

African Journal of Biotechnology, Vol 13(22) 2288-2294