Biodegradation and Decolorization of Dye Wastewater: A Review

Abstract

The total production of all kinds of dyes in China has reached 900,000 tons. Dyes are used in various industries, such as textiles, foods, paper-making and plastic industries. In these industries, a large quantity of dye wastewater is produced and dye contamination changes the water color, enhances the eutrophication, depletes oxygen and ultimately disturbs aquatic organisms to great extent. Dye wastewater has become one of the key pollution sources. In recent years, dye biodegradation has been extensively explored. The paper reviews biodegradation of dyes under aerobic, anaerobic, anaerobic-aerobic conditions and the degradation of dyes by microorganisms. Moreover, we summarized the possible degradation mechanisms of dyes to provide the basis for biological treatment of dye wastewater.