Application of experimental design and derivative spectrophotometry methods in optimization and analysis of biosorption of binary mixtures of basic dyes from aqueous solutions

- This is the first reported application of Yarrowia lipolytica ISF7 for the simultaneous removal of dyes from water.
- The optimal pH for simultaneous biosorption of MG and CV on Yarrowia lipolytica ISF7 was 7.0.
- Statistical designs were applied for optimization of process variables.
- Interaction between adsorbate and adsorbent was elucidated by FTIR.
- Various equilibrium and kinetic models were tested.

Simultaneous biosorption of malachite green (MG) and crystal violet (CV) on biosorbent Yarrowia lipolytica ISF7 was studied. An appropriate derivative spectrophotometry technique was used to evaluate the concentration of each dye in binary solutions, despite significant interferences in visible light absorbances. The effects of pH, temperature, growth time, initial MG and CV concentration in batch experiments were assessed using Design of Experiment (DOE) according to central composite second order response surface methodology (RSM). The analysis showed that the greatest biosorption efficiency (>99% for both dyes) can be obtained at pH 7.0, T=28 °C, 24 h mixing and 20 mg L−1 initial concentrations for both MG and CV dyes. The quadratic constructed equation ability for fitting experimental data is judged based on criterions like R2 values, significant p and lack-of-fit value strongly confirm its high adequacy and applicability for prediction of revel behavior of the system under study. The proposed model showed very high correlation coefficients (R2=0.9997 for CV and R2=0.9989 for MG), while supported by closeness of predicted and experimental value. A kinetic analysis was carried out, showing that for both dyes a pseudo-second order kinetic model adequately describes the available data. The Langmuir isotherm model in single and binary components has better performance for description of dyes biosorption with maximum monolayer biosorption capacity of 59.4 and 62.7 mg g−1 in single component and 46.4 and 50.0 mg g−1 for CV and MB in binary components, respectively. The surface structure of biosorbents and the possible biosorbents-dyes interactions between were also evaluated by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The values of thermodynamic parameters including ΔG° and ΔH° strongly confirm which method is spontaneous and endothermic.

436