Removal of Reactive Blue 19 by encapsulating Lactobacillus casei into Freeze-Dried Chitosan Beads

The release of dye residue into water has been threatening human health and the aquatic ecosystem for decades. Chitosan is one of the natural abundant biomasses that show excellent adsorption toward colorants. Nevertheless, sophisticated chemical modifications of chitosan are usually required to maintain its physical and chemical stabilities in practical applications. hi the present study, simple freeze-drying has been applied to chitosan beads which show good stability at low pHs. The results show complete decolourization of Reactive Blue 19 (RB19) within 2 hours with a pH of 3 at a temperature of 37 degrees C. The encapsulation of five bacterium Lactobacillus casei (L. easel) into chitosan beads for dyestuff removal is also performed. Kinetics studies show a faster initial rate of adsorption by L. casei chitosan beads with a pH of 3 at a temperature of 37 degrees C. The adsorptions partially follow the intraparticle diffusion mechanism.