Nanoremediation of Acid Red 2 with Alumina Nanoparticles and Klebsiella pneumoniae

Abstract

Acid red 2 is a mono azo dye that adversely affects the environment when discharged into industrial effluents. This study investigates remediation of acid red 2 using alumina nanoparticles and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Decolorization assays at 521 nm were carried out using pure 24 hour bacterial culture, with nanoparticles and bacteria-nanoparticle mixture for 4 hours. Results reveal that 20 mg of alumina nanoparticles decolorized only 23.95% of methyl red whereas 10 ml of bacterial culture combined with 20 mg of alumina nanoparticles decolorized 84.84% of acid red 2 (500 mg/L). The bacterial culture decolorized 79.98% of the dye. Immobilization of nanoparticles on bacteria and dye degradation were confirmed using SEM and FTIR analysis, respectively. Therefore, the synergistic action of alumina nanoparticles and Klebsiella pneumoniae can be exploited for nanoremediation of acid red 2.