Simple adsorptive removal of crystal violet, a triarylmethane dye, from synthetic wastewater using Fe (III)-treated pine needle biochar.

Untreated and Fe (III)-treated pine needle biochar (PNB) were evaluated at different pH for the removal of toxic crystal violet (CV) dye from synthetic wastewaters. Adsorption kinetics followed the pseudo-first-order kinetics involving intra-particle diffusion process. The adsorption rate constant increased with Fe treatment of PNB especially at pH 7.0. Adsorption data of CV conformed well to Freundlich adsorption isotherms and both adsorption capacity (ln K) and order of adsorption (1/n) of CV were nearly doubled with Fe (III) treatment of PNB at pH 7.0. Desorption of adsorbed CV from both untreated and Fe (III)-treated PNB could be accounted satisfactorily by third-degree polynomial equations. An increase in ionic strength and temperature enhanced dye adsorption onto untreated and Fe (III)-treated PNB. Adsorption of CV was an endothermic and spontaneous reaction with an increase in entropy of the system. FTIR spectra revealed that C = O of carboxylic acid aryls and C = O and C-O-C in lignin residues of PNB reacted with Fe (III) besides the formation of some iron oxyhydroxide minerals. The changes in FTIR confirmed the possible bonding of positively charged moiety of CV with the untreated and Fe-treated PNB. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) revealed the porous surfaces of PNB with clear accumulation of Fe (III) after treatment and deposition of CV dye on surfaces and pores of PNB. Iron (III)-treated PNB at pH 7.0 can serve as an ecofriendly and cost-effective adsorbent for the efficient removal of CV dye from wastewaters.

Effect of iron treatment and equilibrium pH on the kinetics of removal of some substituted phenols from synthetic wastewater onto Nostoc sp. biomass.

Substituted phenols, such as 4-Nitrophenol (4-NP) and 2,4-Dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP), that are present in industrial wastewaters are considered as priority pollutants due to their toxic effects. Their removal by biosorption presents an eco-friendly, cost-effective method. The kinetics of removal of 4-NP and 2,4-DCP by untreated Nostoc sp. (UNB) and Fe-treated Nostoc sp. biomass (FNB) were studied at three different pH (4.0, 7.0 and 9.0). The highest sorption of both phenols (2.28 mg 4-NP and 1.51 mg 2,4-DCP g-1) coupled with the lowest cumulative percentage desorption was recorded with FNB at pH 7.0. The sorption of both phenols by UNB and FNB was best accounted for by pseudo-second-order kinetics. Compared to UNB, FNB had significantly higher equilibrium sorption capacities for both phenols at all the three pH values and also higher sorption rate constants of 4-NP at pH 4 and 9 and of 2,4-DCP at pH 4 and 7. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis showed that -OH and COO- groups of UNB interacted with Fe+3. The sorption of 4-NP and 2,4-DCP on UNB was likely through H-bonding/structural cation bridging with the phenolic group, while their sorption onto FNB appeared to be a complexation reaction with very low reversibility.

Evaluation of three novel soil bacterial strains for efficient biodegradation of persistent boscalid fungicide: Kinetics and identification of microbial biodegradation intermediates.

Boscalid, a new fungicide of anilide group, is intended to prevent and treat grey mould (Botrytis cinerea), primarily in vines and other fruit plants. In many regions, its long half-life in soil and water poses a serious environmental threat. Boscalid is reported to be toxic to a variety of aquatic organisms. One of the best ways to lessen the amount of boscalid that gets into surface and ground waters is to reduce its concentration in soil. Soil microbes are crucial for the degradation of organic pollutants including pesticides. The present study reports the assessment of three novel soil bacterial strains isolated from pesticide-contaminated soil of Crop research centre, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, India, which possess boscalid degradation ability. Two of these bacterial isolates could degrade boscalid up to 85-95% within 36 h of incubation period under shaking conditions in the minimal medium. The growth pattern of degrading bacterial isolates was monitored by recording the optical density (OD) of bacterial suspension using an ultra violet (UV)-visible spectrophotometer, whereas the concentration of primary boscalid was recorded by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC-UV). A linear relationship was observed between the bacterial growth and the decrease in the residual concentration of boscalid. The concentration of boscalid during incubation with different bacterial strains could be best predicted by a second-order polynomial relationship with time and OD of the suspension as independent variables. Three degradation intermediates of boscalid namely, N-(1,1'-biphenyl-2-yl)pyridine-3-carboxamide (C18H14N2O, N-{[1,1'-biphenyl]-2-yl}-2-chloropyridine-3-carboxamide (C18H13N2OCl), and N-{[4'-chloro-1,1'-biphenyl]-2-yl}-2-chloropyridine ({C17H11NCl2}OH) were identified by the liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) analysis of biodegraded samples. The biodegradation of boscalid through bacterial isolates seemed to be an economical and eco-friendly method for degrading a highly persistent boscalid fungicide.

An insight into the sorption kinetics of boscalid onto soils: Effect of general soil properties.

Boscalid is a carboxamide fungicide widely used for crop protection, however owing to its high persistence, it is detected in high concentrations in various environments. Since the fate of such xenobiotics is strongly influenced by its interaction with soil components a better understanding of its adsorption onto soils of varying properties could allow the adjustment of its application in a given agro-ecological region to limit the consequent environmental burden. The present investigation was carried out to examine the kinetics of boscalid adsorption onto ten Indian soils of varying physico-chemical properties. Kinetic data of boscalid for all soils under investigation fitted well to both pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order kinetic models. However, based on the standard error of estimate (S.E.est.) values pseudo-first-order model was better for all soil samples, except one soil which had the lowest readily oxidizable organic carbon. Adsorption of boscalid by soils appeared to be controlled by the diffusion-chemisorption process while for soils especially rich in readily oxidizable organic carbon or clay + silt content the intra-particle diffusion process seemed to be more important. Stepwise regression of kinetic parameters on soil properties revealed that the inclusion of a set of some soil properties could help better prediction of adsorbed amounts of boscalid and kinetic constants. These findings may help assess the fate and possible transport of boscalid fungicide in different soils.