Biosorption of textile dyes by biomass derived from Kluyveromyces marxianus IMB3

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