[Predicting biodegradability from the electrochemical characteristic of azo dyes]

Experiments were conducted to study some electrochemical factors affecting the bacterial reduction (cleavage) of four azo dyes. And a common mixed culture was used as test organism and the reduction of azo dyes Acid Yellow 4, 11, 17 and Acid Yellow Bis was studied. It was found that the azo dyes were reduced at different rates,which could be correlated with the reduction potential of the azo compounds in cyclic voltammetric experiments. Acid Yellow Bis (Er = -616.75 mV) was reduced at the highest rate of 0.01209 mol x (L x h)(-1), Acid Yellow 11 (Er = -593.25 mV) at 0.01040 mol x (L x h)(-1) and Acid Yellow 4 (Er = - 513 mV) at 0.007575 mol x (L x h)(-1). It is showed that the reduction potential is a preliminary tool to predict the decolorization capacity of oxidative and reductive biocatalysts.