Evaluating the effectiveness of marine actinobacterial extract and its mediated titanium dioxide nanoparticles in the degradation of azo dyes.

Aim of the present study was to synthesize titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs) from marine actinobacteria and to develop an eco-friendly azo-dye degradation method. A total of five actinobacterial isolates were isolated from Chennai marine sediments, Tamilnadu, India and analyzed for the synthesis of TiO2 NPs using titanium hydroxide. Among these, the isolate PSV 3 showed positive results for the synthesis of TiO2 NPs, which was confirmed by UV analysis. Further characterization of the synthesized TiO2 NPs was done using XRD, AFM and FT-IR analysis. Actinobacterial crude extract and synthesized TiO2 NPs was found efficient in degrading azo dye such as Acid Red 79 (AR-79) and Acid Red 80 (AR-80). Degradation percentage was found to be 81% for AR-79, 83% for AR-80 using actinobacterial crude extract and 84% for AR-79, 85% for AR-80 using TiO2 NPs. Immobilized actinobacterial cells showed 88% for AR-79 and 81% for AR-80, dye degrading capacity. Degraded components were characterized by FT-IR and GC-MS analysis. The phytotoxicity test with 500 μg/mL of untreated dye showed remarkable phenotypic as well as cellular damage to Tagetes erecta plant. Comparatively no such damage was observed on plants by degraded dye components. In biotoxicity assay, treated dyes showed less toxic effect as compared to the untreated dyes.