Biosorption of textile dyes by biomass derived from Kluyveromyces marxianus IMB3

Since it had previously been found that biomass derived from the thermotolerant ethanol-producing yeast strain Kluyveromyces marxianus IMB3 exhibited a relatively high affinity for heavy metals it was decided to determine whether or not it might be capable of textile dye biosorption. To this end, biosorption isotherm analysis was carried out using the biomass together with commonly-used textile dyes including Remazol Black B, Remazol Turquoise Blue, Remazol Red, Remazol Golden Yellow and Cibacron Orange. Although the dyes Remazol Black B, Remazol Turquoise Blue and Remazol Red adhered to the Langmuir model, the remaining dyes failed to do so. The observed biosorption capacities at equilibrium dye concentrations of 100 mg/l were compared and it was found that the biomass exhibited a significant affinity for each dye. The potential use of this biosorptive material in the bioremediation of textile processing effluents is discussed.