INTRODUCTION

Due to tremendous increase of industrialization and mans demand for color usage, the
demand for dyes has increased as well. Azo dyes are most versatile class of dyes and have
been used widely in textile and paper printing industries (Doble, 2!".
Azo dye is a synthetic organic dye which is characterized with the presence of one or more
azo (#$%$#" chromophore usually attached to aromatic groups. &he group of molecules
responsible for color formation is 'nown as (chromophore). &his structure is connected to a
group (auxochrome) which is used to shade the colour of the dye such as amines (#$*2",
carboxyl (#+,,*", hydroxyl (#,*" and sulphonic acid sodium salt (#-,.$a" (Anbarasan,
2/20 1entura 2 3arin, 2/.".
4igure /5 6emazol 7lac' !, an example of a typical azo dye (Anbarasan, 2/2"
Almost 8 percentage of industrial total dyes used in industrial are azo dyes due to their
relatively simple synthesis, better technical performance and broad range of spectrum
colours. &hese synthetic compounds can be defined as color fibers permanently, such that
they will not lose this color when exposed to sweat, light, water and many chemical
substances including oxidizing agents and also to microbial attac'.( (+he9uer et al., 2//"
Azo dyes are generally resistant to biodegradation due to their complex structures and the
conventional physicochemical treatment processes are not suitable enough for the complete
degradation and conversion to +,2. (Doble, 2!"
&herefore the dyes released into the environment in the form of coloured wastewater alters
the ph, increase biochemical oxygen demand (7,D", chemical oxygen demand (+,D" and
gives intense colorization to the water which is tend to be associated with contamination.
+onse9uently this inhibits the photosynthesis of a9uatic life and deplete dissolved oxygen
and toxicity to living organisms. :hen these dyes are bro'en down anaerobically, they are
capable of releasing aromatic amines which are very toxic, carcinogenic and mutagenic
(+hac'o 2 -ubramaniam, 2//0 -ol;s et al., 2/20 1entura 2 3arin, 2/.".
&he ecological effects of these dyes in industrial effluents have been under serious discussion
in the past few decades. &he expansion of textile industries conse9uently has given a rise in
environmental pollution as these dyes find their way into wastewaster facilities. A significant
amount of residual dye could be found in these industrial effluents due to the inefficiency in
dyeing processes (<hang et al., 2/".
:astewater containing dyes is very difficult to treat, since the dyes are recalcitrant organic
molecules, resistant to aerobic digestion, and are stable to light. (=horeishi 2 *aghighi,
2.". &here has been no specific method of removing colors from the dye waste as the
treatment methods varies according to the type and characteristics of the dye. &hree types of
the methods has been practised, physical, chemical and biological methods. >hysical and
chemical methods can be effective techni9ues but more energy and chemical were used
compare to biological treatment method. 7esides that some of the chemical methods are tend
to form highly toxic sludge which is made very troublesome for safe removal (+hac'o 2
-ubramaniam, 2//0 *assan et al., 2/.".
7iodegradation of synthetic dyes with the application of microorganisms is effective and
simple. 7y this method mineralization of these recalcitrant compounds can be achieved.
7iological process of dye removal can be classified into two categories5 aerobic treatment
and anaerobic treatment (Anbarasan, 2/20 $ares et al., 2/.".
3icroorganisms utilize dissolved oxygen to convert the waste into biomass and carbon
dioxide in aerobic treatment. Aerobic organisms oxidize aromatic ring compounds to simpler
molecules. *owever this method proven ineffective because the ability to destroy the
cheromogens are very less ($ares et al., 2/.". :hile in anaerobic treatment the complex dye
structure will be bro'en into aromatic amines by reduction of azo bonds in the absence of
molecular oxygen. *owever anaerobic microorganism is unable to further stabilize the azo
dye metabolites (Anbarasan, 2/2".
&herefore combined anaerobic and aerobic treatment is the most effective concept for
removing azo dye from wastewater. ?n this combined treatment method, biodegradation of
azo dye will be carried out in two stages where at stage / azo dye is degraded to aromatic
amines under anaerobic condition while at stage 2 involves aerobic degradation of aromatic
amines ($ares et al., 2/.".
Conclusion
Azo dyes has been used widely worldwide. Discharge of azo dyes in water bodies has
resulted environmental pollution. ,ver few decades much research and studies has been
concentrated on decolorization and degradation of azo dye. Due to the complex structure of
azo dye, many technologies failed to be implemented for degradation of the dye fully.
*owever combination of anaerobic treatment followed by aerobic treatment is found to be
very promising. ?n future, potential of different group of microbes for degrading dyes should
be investigated deeply and be applied in textile wastewater treatment.
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