RESUMO
Arundo donax L. (A. donax) plant, which are naturally grown, is capable of removing heavy metals, toxins and dyes from the environment. In addition the cell structure A. donax enable the whole to make phytoremdation for the most of environmental pollutions. For that reasons, the A. donax cells were obtained and dispersed in polymer compost to form what is called bio-chemical/dye removing system. In details; Polymeric beads were fabricated from natural low cost materials of chitosan (Cs), A. donax (cells), gelatin (GP) and poly vinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) to be applied as a powerful sorbent for CI Basic Red 14 dye. The morphological structure of the fabricated beads was investigated by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and the results revealed that most immobilized A. donax cells into beads and micro-clusters are formed inside the beads. The effect of experimental variables such as sorbent dose, initial dye concentration, pH, and contact time were investigated. Freundlich and Langmuir isotherm models were applied to describe sorbent-dye sorption system. Equilibrium isotherms of CI Basic Red 14 dye on the fabricated beads were obtained, where the first-order rate model is more appropriate.
