Production and characterization of bioflocculants for mineral processing applications

Devi, Karthiga K and Natarajan, KA (2015) Production and characterization of bioflocculants for mineral processing applications. In: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MINERAL PROCESSING, 137 . pp. 15-25.

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Abstract

A comparative study of two bacterial strains namely, Bacillus licheniformis and Bacillus firmus in the production of bioflocculants was made. The highest bioflocculant yield of 16.55 g/L was obtained from B. licheniformis (L) and 10 g/L from B. firmus (F). The bioflocculants obtained from the bacterial species were water soluble and insoluble in organic solvents. FTIR spectral analysis revealed the presence of hydroxyl, carboxyl and sugar derivatives in the bioflocculants. Thermal characterization by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) showed the crystalline transition and the melting point (T-m) at 90-100 degrees C. Effects of bioflocculant dosage and pH on the flocculation of clay fines were evaluated. Highest bioflocculation efficiency on kaolin clay suspensions was observed at an optimum bioflocculant dosage of 5 g/L. The optimum pH range for the maximum bioflocculation was at pH 7-9. Bioflocculants exhibited high efficiency in dye decolorization. The maximum Cr (VI) removal was found to be 85 % for L (bioflocculant dosage at 2 g/L). This study demonstrates that microbial bioflocculants find potential applications in mineral processing such as selective flocculation of mineral fines, decolorization of dye solutions and in the remediation of toxic metal solutions. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MINERAL PROCESSING
Publisher:	ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
Additional Information:	Copy right for this article belongs to the ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV, PO BOX 211, 1000 AE AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS
Keywords:	Bacillus lichemformis; Bacillus firmus; Bioflocculants; Clay flocculation; Bioremediation
Department/Centre:	Division of Mechanical Sciences > Materials Engineering (formerly Metallurgy)
Date Deposited:	22 May 2015 07:35
Last Modified:	22 May 2015 07:35
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/51569

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