Production and characterization of biosurfactants and their Application in the bioremediation of aromatic organics Contaminated water and soil

Abstract

The growth of industries and increase in population led to the usage newlineof many organic compounds, including aromatic/polycyclic aromatic newlinehydrocarbons (PAHs). Aromatic organics are of great concern as they are one newlineof the main class of contaminants in water and soil, and it enters the newlineenvironment by anthropogenic activities. newlineEnormous techniques are being applied to eradicate the aromatic newlineorganic compounds from water and soil, including chemical oxidation, solvent newlineextraction, photocatalysis and microbial degradation. But each method has its newlineown demerits, such as not being suitable for field remediation, inefficient in newlinetrace levels of pollutants and creating secondary pollutants. Hence, an effective newlineeco-friendly method has to be developed to remove aromatic compounds from newlinethe environment. Bioremediation is one of the effective and eco-friendly newlinemethods to eliminate various contaminants using microorganisms and other newlinebiological means. In recent days, biosurfactants have gained much attention newlinetowards remediation processes. Biosurfactants (BS) are surface-active newlinemolecules produced by microorganisms, which can increase the surface area of newlinehydrophobic substances and increase the bioavailability of the contaminants for newlinedegradation. It promotes bioavailability and consequent biodegradability of newlinecontaminants. newlineIn this work, an attempt has been made to eliminate 2,4- newlinedichlorophenol (2,4-DCP), 4-nitrophenol (4-NP), phenolic sulfonate newlinecondensate (PS) and naphthalene sulfonate condensate (NS) from water and newlinesoil using their respective amino acid enhanced cationic biosurfactant obtained newlinefrom different microorganisms. newline