Decolorization of Reactive Black 39 and Acid Red 360 by Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

The aim of this work is to evaluate decolorization of Reactive Black 39 (RB39) and Acid Red 360 (AR360) by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which was isolated from a non-dye-contaminated activated sludge biomass. In the present study, the effect of various physicochemical parameters, initial dye concentration, temperature, pH, inoculum size and yeast extract concentration as an organic source on decolorization were investigated. P. aeruginosa was able to decolorize 20 mg/L RB39 completely within 144 hours in the presence of 0.5 g/L yeast extract at 25°C. Decolorization efficiencies for AR360 were found to be higher than RB39 under the same conditions. Optimal temperature to decolorize RB39 and AR360 was found to be 30 and 25°C, respectively. The activation energy (Ea) values for decolorization of RB39 and AR360 were found to be 61.89 kJ/mol and 81.18 kJ/mol, respectively. Experience showed that the pH and inoculum size had a considerable effect on decolorization of RB39 and AR360 by P. aeruginosa.