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Development in Wastewater Treatment

Research and Processes : Innovative


Microbe-Based Applications for
Removal Maulin P. Shah
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Development in Wastewater Treatment Research and


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Development in Wastewater Treatment Research and


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Development in
Wastewater Treatment
Research and
Processes
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Development in
Wastewater Treatment
Research and
Processes
Innovative Microbe-Based
Applications for Removal of
Chemicals and Metals in
Wastewater Treatment Plants

Edited by
Maulin P. Shah
Senior Environmental Microbiologist, Environmental Microbiology
Lab, Bharuch, Gujarat, India

Susana Rodriguez-Couto
Department of Separation Science, LUT School of Engineering
Science, LUT University, Mikkeli, Finland

Riti Thapar Kapoor


Assistant Professor (Grade-III), Amity Institute of Biotechnology,
Amity University, Uttar Pradesh, India
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Typeset by TNQ Technologies


Contents
Contributors.......................................................................................... xix

CHAPTER 1 A comparative study between physicochemical and


biological methods for effective removal of textile
dye from wastewater ............................................... 1
Subhasish Dutta and Joyani Bhattacharjee
1 Introduction ...................................................................... 1
2 Types of dyes and their toxicity............................................ 2
2.1 Azo dyes...................................................................3
2.2 Acid dye ...................................................................4
2.3 Basic dye ..................................................................4
2.4 Direct dye .................................................................4
2.5 Vat dye .....................................................................4
3 Physical methods ............................................................... 4
3.1 Adsorption.................................................................5
3.2 Coagulation and flocculation.........................................7
3.3 Emerging physical method for the treatment of textile
dye effluents ..............................................................8
4 Membrane technology......................................................... 8
4.1 Microfiltration............................................................8
4.2 Reverse osmosis .........................................................9
4.3 Nanofiltration.............................................................9
4.4 Ultrafiltration .............................................................9
5 Chemical methods.............................................................. 9
5.1 Fenton method ......................................................... 10
5.2 Ozonation................................................................ 10
5.3 Cucurbitiril .............................................................. 11
5.4 Sodium hypochlorite ................................................. 11
5.5 Recent biochemical trend ........................................... 12
6 Advanced oxidation process................................................13
7 Biological methods............................................................14
7.1 Degradation with bacteria........................................... 15
7.2 Degradation with algal culture .................................... 16
7.3 Degradation with yeast .............................................. 16
7.4 Degradation with fungi .............................................. 16
7.5 Degradation with white-rot fungi................................. 16
7.6 Enzyme system of white-rot fungi ............................... 17
8 Conclusion.......................................................................19
References .......................................................................19
v
vi Contents

CHAPTER 2 An approach toward developing clean green


techniques to deal with heavy metal toxicity
using the microbiome.............................................23
Subhasish Dutta and Pitam Chakrabarti
1 Introduction .....................................................................23
2 Different heavy metals and their impacts...............................24
2.1 Arsenic ................................................................... 24
2.2 Cadmium ................................................................ 25
2.3 Lead....................................................................... 25
2.4 Nickel..................................................................... 26
2.5 Mercury .................................................................. 26
2.6 Copper.................................................................... 26
2.7 Chromium ............................................................... 26
3 Bioremediation: the savior of the environment .......................28
3.1 Biosorption.............................................................. 28
3.2 Bioaugmentation: a new green technology .................... 30
3.3 Phytoremediation...................................................... 31
3.4 Mycoremediation, erasing environmental pollutants........ 32
3.5 Bioventing and biosparging ........................................ 33
3.6 Cyanoremediation..................................................... 34
3.7 Biostimulation.......................................................... 35
3.8 Bioleaching ............................................................. 36
4 Factors affecting bioremediation ..........................................37
4.1 Availability of nutrients ............................................. 37
4.2 Temperature............................................................. 37
4.3 pH.......................................................................... 37
5 Conclusion.......................................................................38
References .......................................................................38
CHAPTER 3 Microbial degradation of pesticides: microbial
potential for degradation of pesticides....................41
Sangeeta Kumari, Deepak Kumar and
S.M. Paul Khurana
1 Introduction: pesticides effect on environment health ..............41
1.1 Pesticides ................................................................ 43
1.2 Classification of pesticide........................................... 43
1.3 Pesticide fate in the environment ................................. 43
2 Biomagnification: tenacious effect of pesticides......................47
2.1 Bioaccumulation and biomagnification ......................... 47
3 Microbial potential: effective degradation of pesticides............48
Contents vii

4 Types of bioremediation technologies ...................................50


4.1 Bioremediation factors............................................... 52
5 Biochemical mechanism of pesticides bioremediation..............52
5.1 Inference ................................................................. 54
References .......................................................................60
CHAPTER 4 Biodegradation and photocatalysis of
pharmaceuticals in wastewater ..............................69
Salman Farissi, Sneha Ramesh,
Muthukumar Muthuchamy and Anbazhagi Muthukumar
1 Introduction .....................................................................69
1.1 Pharmaceuticals........................................................ 70
2 Biodegradation .................................................................71
3 Biodegradation approaches for the treatment of
pharmaceutical wastes........................................................72
3.1 Bacterial degradation................................................. 72
3.2 Fungal degradation.................................................... 73
3.3 Enzymatic degradation............................................... 74
4 Factors affecting the biodegradation of pharmaceuticals...........77
4.1 Photocatalysis .......................................................... 78
4.2 Process enhancement conditions.................................. 84
4.3 Recent advancements and approaches........................... 85
4.4 Photoelectrocatalytic oxidation.................................... 88
5 Conclusion.......................................................................92
References .......................................................................93
CHAPTER 5 Recent trends in the microbial degradation and
bioremediation of emerging pollutants in
wastewater treatment system .................................99
Jayshree Annamalai, Sabeela Beevi Ummalyma and
Ashok Pandey
1 Introduction .....................................................................99
2 Emerging pollutants as micropollutants............................... 100
2.1 Pharmaceuticals...................................................... 101
2.2 Pesticides .............................................................. 102
2.3 Plasticizers ............................................................ 106
2.4 Brominated flame retardants ..................................... 107
2.5 Perfluorinated compounds ........................................ 108
3 Fate of emerging micropollutants in aqueous
environment ................................................................... 109
viii Contents

4 Microbial degradation of micropollutants ............................ 111


4.1 Degradation pathways and metabolic residues of
phthalate esters....................................................... 111
5 Microbial cells and their enzymes in wastewater treatment..... 112
5.1 Bacteria and fungi................................................... 114
5.2 Microalgae ............................................................ 116
6 Perspectives of microbial degradation and challenges ............ 117
7 Advancements in microbial cell-based wastewater treatment .. 117
7.1 Genetic engineering ................................................ 117
7.2 Biogenic nanoparticles............................................. 118
7.3 Integrated systems................................................... 118
8 Conclusion..................................................................... 119
Acknowledgment ............................................................ 119
References ..................................................................... 120
CHAPTER 6 Biological methods for textile dyes removal
from wastewaters................................................. 127
Ashish Kumar Sahoo, Anjali Dahiya and Bhisma K. Patel
1 Introduction ................................................................... 127
1.1 Types of dyes......................................................... 129
1.2 Textile dyes and their impact on the environment......... 131
1.3 Methods for the treatment of textile dyes .................... 134
1.4 Biological treatment ................................................ 134
1.5 Decolorization treatment of dispersed textile dyes ........ 144
1.6 Conclusion and outlook ........................................... 145
References ..................................................................... 146
CHAPTER 7 Importance and applications of biofilm in
microbe-assisted bioremediation .......................... 153
Janhavi Gadkari, Sourish Bhattacharya and
Anupama Shrivastav
1 Introduction ................................................................... 153
2 An overview of biofilm .................................................... 154
2.1 Composition of biofilms........................................... 155
2.2 Mechanism of biofilm formation ............................... 156
2.3 Factors affecting biofilm formation ............................ 157
2.4 Biofilm formed by different microbial species ............. 159
3 An overview of bioremediation.......................................... 161
4 Role of biofilm in bioremediation ...................................... 162
5 Strategies for use of biofilm in bioremediation ..................... 163
Contents ix

6 Types of pollutants remediated by biofilms.......................... 164


7 Application of biofilm in bioremediation............................. 165
7.1 Persistent organic pollutants (POPs)........................... 165
7.2 Inorganic pollutants: heavy metals and synthetic dyes ... 166
7.3 Oil-contaminated water............................................ 167
7.4 Pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) ..... 168
7.5 Pesticides .............................................................. 168
8 Challenges in biofilm mediated bioremediation .................... 169
References ..................................................................... 170
CHAPTER 8 Microorganism: an ecofriendly tool for waste
management and environmental safety ................. 175
Shubhangi Parmar, Sagar Daki, Sourish Bhattacharya
and Anupama Shrivastav
1 Introduction ................................................................... 175
2 Types of wastes and its sources ......................................... 176
3 Role of microorganisms in waste management ..................... 177
3.1 Sewage treatment.................................................... 178
3.2 Energy production................................................... 178
3.3 Treatment of soil .................................................... 178
3.4 Oil spills treatment.................................................. 179
4 Advantages of bioremediation over conventional methods...... 179
5 Different approaches for microbial waste management .......... 181
5.1 Bioleaching ........................................................... 182
5.2 Bioaugmentation..................................................... 182
5.3 Biostimulation........................................................ 183
5.4 Bioventing............................................................. 183
5.5 Biopiles ................................................................ 184
5.6 Biofiltration ........................................................... 184
5.7 Microbe assisted phytoremediation ............................ 185
6 Treatment of wastewater using microbes ............................. 186
6.1 Bacteria ................................................................ 186
6.2 Algae.................................................................... 186
6.3 Fungi.................................................................... 189
7 Challenges in microbial waste management by
bioremediation................................................................ 189
8 Role of indigenous microorganisms for environmental
protection ...................................................................... 190
9 Conclusion..................................................................... 191
References ..................................................................... 191
x Contents

CHAPTER 9 Microbial degradation of lignin: conversion,


application, and challenges ................................. 195
Aryama Raychaudhuri and Manaswini Behera
1 Introduction ................................................................... 195
2 Chemical structure of lignin and sources ............................. 196
3 Biological degradation of lignin......................................... 198
3.1 Lignin degradation by fungi...................................... 199
3.2 Lignin degradation by bacteria .................................. 201
4 Enzymes associated with lignin degradation ........................ 203
4.1 Lignin peroxidase ................................................... 203
4.2 Manganese peroxidase............................................. 204
4.3 Versatile peroxidase ................................................ 205
4.4 Laccase................................................................. 205
4.5 Bacterial ligninolytic enzymes .................................. 206
5 Regulation of ligninolytic enzymes .................................... 207
5.1 Induction of metal ions ............................................ 207
5.2 Induction of ethanol ................................................ 208
5.3 Induction nutrients .................................................. 208
5.4 Induction of phenolic compounds .............................. 208
6 Bioconversion of lignin to value-added bioproducts .............. 209
6.1 Microbial lipids ...................................................... 209
6.2 Polyhydroxyalkanoates ............................................ 212
6.3 Vanillin ................................................................. 213
6.4 Muconic acid ......................................................... 214
7 Current challenges and future perspectives .......................... 214
8 Conclusion..................................................................... 215
References ..................................................................... 216
CHAPTER 10 Ligninolytic enzymes: a promising tools for
bioremediation of waste water............................ 221
Hiren K. Patel, Rishee K. Kalaria, Divyesh K. Vasava
and Hiren N. Bhalani
1 Introduction.................................................................. 221
2 Ligninolytic enzymes..................................................... 223
2.1 Molecular structure and mechanisms of ligninolytic
enzymes...............................................................223
3 Laccases ...................................................................... 224
3.1 Laccase structure and catalytic mechanism.................224
4 Heme-peroxidases ......................................................... 225
5 Lignin peroxidase (LiP).................................................. 226
Contents xi

6 Manganese peroxidase (MnP).......................................... 227


7 Sources of ligninolytic enzymes....................................... 227
8 Application of ligninolytic enzymes ................................. 228
8.1 Delignification of lignocelluloses ............................229
8.2 Removal of recalcitrant polyaromatic hydrocarbons ...229
8.3 Conversion of coal to low molecular mass fraction ....230
8.4 Biopulping and biobleaching in paper industry..........230
8.5 Polymerization in polymer ventures ........................231
8.6 Biodegradation of colors .......................................231
8.7 Wastewater treatment............................................232
8.8 Soil treatment......................................................233
8.9 Lignolytic enzymes applications in various
industries............................................................234
8.10 Role of ligninolytic enzymes in lignin degradation.....235
9 Improvement strategies for ligninolytic enzyme production .. 236
10 Conclusions.................................................................. 237
References ................................................................... 237
CHAPTER 11 Bioaccumulation and detoxification of heavy
metals: an insight into the mechanism................ 243
Mohita Chugh, Lakhan Kumar, Deepti Bhardwaj and
Navneeta Bharadvaja
1 Introduction.................................................................. 243
2 Industrial effluent containing heavy metals ........................ 244
2.1 Metal finishing ......................................................244
2.2 Mining.................................................................245
2.3 Textiles industries ..................................................245
2.4 Nuclear plants .......................................................245
3 Heavy metals in industrial effluent ................................... 245
3.1 Arsenic ................................................................245
3.2 Lead....................................................................246
3.3 Mercury ...............................................................246
3.4 Cadmium .............................................................246
4 Analysis of heavy metals................................................ 246
5 Heavy metal toxicity...................................................... 247
5.1 Environment .........................................................247
5.2 Plants ..................................................................248
5.3 Microorganisms.....................................................248
5.4 Humans................................................................249
6 Bioremediation ............................................................. 250
7 Bioaccumulation ........................................................... 252
xii Contents

8 Detoxification............................................................... 253
9 Different types of bioremediators for heavy metals ............. 256
9.1 Algae...................................................................257
9.2 Fungi...................................................................258
9.3 Bacteria ...............................................................258
10 Integrated system .......................................................... 259
11 Conclusion and future perspectives................................... 260
References ................................................................... 261
CHAPTER 12 Membrane proteins mediated microbial-
electrochemical remediation technology............. 265
Jesús Pérez-Garcı´a, Javier Bacame-Valenzuela,
Diana Mayra Sánchez López,
José de Jesús Gómez-Guzmán,
Martha Leticia Jiménez González,
Luis Ortiz-Frade and Yolanda Reyes-Vidal
1 Introduction ................................................................. 265
2 Microbial electrochemistry ............................................. 267
2.1 Microbial-electrochemical systems for
bioremediation ..................................................... 268
3 Membrane protein complex in electrogenic bacteria for
bioremediation ............................................................. 270
3.1 Respiratory complexes of Shewanella oneidensis and
heavy metals biodegradation................................... 270
3.2 Redox mediators of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in
environmental bioremediation ................................. 272
3.3 Geobacter sulfurreducens cytochromes and
nanowires in heavy metals reduction ........................ 272
4 Biological enzymes for environmental bioremediation......... 273
4.1 Oxidoreductases ................................................... 274
4.2 Peroxidases.......................................................... 274
4.3 Oxygenases.......................................................... 275
4.4 Monooxygenases .................................................. 275
4.5 Methane oxygenase (MMO) ................................... 276
4.6 Laccases.............................................................. 276
5 Electrochemical characterization of redox enzymes ............ 277
5.1 Cyclic voltammetry............................................... 277
5.2 Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS).......... 278
5.3 Coupled spectroscopic and electrochemical
techniques ........................................................... 279
6 Perspectives ................................................................. 281
References ................................................................... 282
Contents xiii

CHAPTER 13 Bioremediation strategies to overcome heavy


metals and radionuclides from the
environment....................................................... 287
Sanchayita Basu, Pujaita Banerjee, Sudeshna Banerjee,
Bhaswati Ghosh, Arunima Bhattacharjee, Dipanjan Roy,
Pragati Singh and Ashutosh Kumar
1 Introduction ................................................................. 287
2 Microbial interactions with radionuclides and heavy metals . 289
3 Organisms involved in bioremediation.............................. 292
4 Bioremediation of heavy metals and radionuclides ............. 295
5 Limitations and future prospects...................................... 297
6 Conclusion .................................................................. 298
References ................................................................... 298
CHAPTER 14 Microbial remediation of tannery wastewater...... 303
Lakhan Kumar, Khushbu, Mohita Chugh and
Navneeta Bharadvaja
1 Introduction to tanneries ................................................ 303
2 Characteristics of tannery waste water.............................. 305
3 Environmental and health impacts ................................... 305
4 Wastewater treatment methods adopted in tanneries............ 308
4.1 Physicochemical remediation of tannery wastewater
constituents.......................................................... 310
4.2 Biological treatment or bioremediation of tannery
wastewater........................................................... 312
5 Microbial remediation ................................................... 312
5.1 Bacterial remediation of tannery effluent
constituents.......................................................... 313
5.2 Phycoremediation or algal remediation of tannery
wastewater constituents.......................................... 317
5.3 Fungal remediation or mycoremediation of tannery
wastewater constituents.......................................... 317
6 Challenges and limitations to biological wastewater
treatment methods employed in tannery industries.............. 320
7 Recent advancements .................................................... 321
7.1 Metagenomic approach for bioprospecting potential
microbes and enzymes for tannery wastewater
treatment............................................................. 321
7.2 Microbial biosensors for detection and monitoring of
contaminants present in tannery wastewater............... 322
8 Solid waste management practices................................... 323
References ................................................................... 323
xiv Contents

CHAPTER 15 Biological methods for degradation of textile


dyes from textile effluent .................................... 329
Muhammad Shoaib, Ambreen Ashar,
Zeeshan Ahmad Bhutta, Iqra Muzammil,
Moazam Ali and Ayesha Kanwal
1 Introduction ................................................................. 329
2 Types and characteristics of dyes..................................... 332
3 Methods of dye removal ................................................ 333
3.1 Physicochemical methods....................................... 333
3.2 Biological methods ............................................... 334
4 Conclusion .................................................................. 350
References................................................................... 351
CHAPTER 16 Biodegradation of azo dye using microbiological
consortium ........................................................ 355
Chitra Devi Venkatachalam, Mothil Sengottian,
Sathish Raam Ravichandran and
Sivakumar Venkatachalam
1 Introduction ................................................................. 355
2 Azo dyes in textile industry ............................................ 356
2.1 Classification of azo dyes....................................... 356
2.2 Impact of textile effluents containing azo dyes on
environment......................................................... 357
2.3 Different methods used in degradation of azo dyes ..... 359
3 Microbiological degradation of azo dyes........................... 359
3.1 Degradation mechanism with bacteria ...................... 360
3.2 Degradation mechanism with algae.......................... 362
3.3 Degradation mechanism with fungi.......................... 362
3.4 Advantages of using microbiological consortia .......... 363
4 Parameters involved during microbial azo-dye degradation .. 364
4.1 Effect of carbon source.......................................... 364
4.2 Effect of nitrogen source........................................ 364
4.3 Effect of dye concentration..................................... 366
4.4 Effect of inoculum size.......................................... 366
4.5 Effect of pH......................................................... 366
4.6 Effect of temperature............................................. 366
4.7 Effect of time....................................................... 367
4.8 Effect of agitation ................................................. 367
5 Conclusion .................................................................. 367
References................................................................... 368
Contents xv

CHAPTER 17 Removal of pesticides from water and waste


water by microbes ............................................. 371
Pinal Bhatt and Anupama Shrivastav
1 Introduction ................................................................. 371
2 Pesticide...................................................................... 372
2.1 Organochloride pesticide........................................ 374
2.2 Organophosphate pesticide ..................................... 375
2.3 Carbamate pesticide .............................................. 375
2.4 Other classes........................................................ 375
3 Impact of pesticide........................................................ 375
4 Metabolism and degradation of pesticide .......................... 378
4.1 Application of adsorbent ........................................ 378
5 Biodegradation ............................................................. 382
5.1 Types of pesticides-degrading microorganism ............ 384
5.2 The mechanism of microbial degradation of
pesticides ............................................................ 384
5.3 Commonly used pesticide degradation of
microorganisms .................................................... 388
5.4 Microbial degradation of pesticide technology ........... 388
6 Factors affect biodegradation .......................................... 389
6.1 Environmental factors............................................ 390
6.2 Effect of pesticide structure .................................... 391
6.3 The impact of microorganisms ................................ 392
7 Current scenario ........................................................... 392
8 Conclusion .................................................................. 394
References................................................................... 395
CHAPTER 18 An ecofriendly approach toward waste
management and environmental safety through
microorganisms ................................................. 401
Kunwali Das, Suraj Chetri, Priya Khadgawat,
Sidak Minocha, Aveepsa Sengupta,
Bipin Kumar Sharma and Ashutosh Kumar
1 Introduction ................................................................. 401
2 Microorganisms in the environment ................................. 403
2.1 Bacteria .............................................................. 403
2.2 Fungi.................................................................. 404
2.3 Viruses................................................................ 404
2.4 Protozoa.............................................................. 405
2.5 Algae.................................................................. 405
2.6 Archaea .............................................................. 406
xvi Contents

3 Microorganisms for waste management ............................ 406


3.1 Industrial waste .................................................... 406
3.2 Municipal waste ................................................... 408
3.3 Agricultural wastes ............................................... 409
3.4 Biomedical waste.................................................. 409
3.5 Radioactive waste ................................................. 410
4 Microorganisms in environmental safety........................... 410
5 Conclusion .................................................................. 413
References................................................................... 414
CHAPTER 19 Enzymatic decolorization and degradation of
azo dyes ............................................................ 419
Devikaben Bharatbhai Vishani and
Anupama Shrivastav
1 Introduction................................................................. 419
2 Dyes........................................................................... 420
3 Azo dye ...................................................................... 420
4 Classification of azo dyes............................................... 421
4.1 Acid dyes ............................................................ 421
4.2 Basic or cationic dyes............................................ 421
4.3 Direct dyes .......................................................... 421
4.4 Mordant dyes ....................................................... 421
4.5 Vat dyes .............................................................. 422
4.6 Azoic dyes........................................................... 422
4.7 Reactive dyes....................................................... 422
4.8 Disperse dyes....................................................... 422
4.9 Solvent dyes ........................................................ 423
5 Strucutre of dyes .......................................................... 423
6 Different method for the removal of dyes ......................... 423
6.1 Degradation methods of dyes.................................. 424
6.2 Biologycal method................................................ 426
7 Decolorization and degradation of azo dyes by
azoreductase ................................................................ 428
7.1 Decolorization and degradation azo dyes by laccase ... 428
8 Factor affecting dyes degradation by biological method ...... 429
8.1 pH...................................................................... 429
8.2 Temperature......................................................... 429
8.3 Oxygen ............................................................... 430
9 Mechanism of azo dyes ................................................. 430
10 Conclusion .................................................................. 430
Further reading............................................................. 431
Contents xvii

CHAPTER 20 Azo dyes: a notorious class of water pollutant,


and role of enzymes to decolorize and
degrade them..................................................... 433
Vivek Chauhan, Priya Gautam and
Shamsher S. Kanwar
1 Introduction ................................................................. 433
2 Enzyme-meditated decolorization and degradation of
azo dye ....................................................................... 434
3 Mechanism of degradation and decolorization by
peroxidases.................................................................. 436
3.1 Manganese peroxidase........................................... 437
3.2 Lignin peroxidase ................................................. 438
3.3 Horseradish peroxidase .......................................... 438
4 Mechanism of degradation and decolorization by laccase .... 439
5 Mechanism of degradation and decolorization by
azoreductases ............................................................... 441
6 Conclusion .................................................................. 444
Acknowledgments......................................................... 445
References................................................................... 445
CHAPTER 21 Biofilm mediated bioremediation and other
applications....................................................... 449
Rajalakshmi Sridharan and
Veena Gayathri Krishnaswamy
1 Introduction.................................................................. 449
2 Biofilms in bioremediation.............................................. 450
3 Bioreactors in biofilm formation ...................................... 451
4 Biofilm mediated remediation.......................................... 452
5 Marine biofilms............................................................. 453
6 Marine biofilm in elimination of plastic debris ................... 454
7 Factors affecting the remediation using biofilm................... 455
7.1 Nature of matrix ....................................................455
7.2 pH.......................................................................455
7.3 Temperature..........................................................456
8 Qs in pollutant degradation ............................................. 456
9 Biofilms as source for value added products....................... 456
10 Conclusion................................................................... 456
References................................................................... 457

Index...................................................................................................461
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Contributors
Kunwali Das
Department of Microbiology, Tripura University (A Central University), Agartala,
Tripura, India
Moazam Ali
Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, University of Agriculture,
Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan
Jayshree Annamalai
Centre for Environmental Studies, Department of Civil Engineering, Anna
University, CEG Campus, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Ambreen Ashar
Department of Chemistry, Government College Women University, Faisalabad,
Punjab, Pakistan
Javier Bacame-Valenzuela
Center of Research and Technological Development in Electrochemistry,
Querétaro Technology Park, Pedro Escobedo, Querétaro, México; CONACYT-
Center of Research and Technological Development in Electrochemistry,
Querétaro Technology Park, Pedro Escobedo, Querétaro, México
Pujaita Banerjee
Department of Life Sciences, Presidency University, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Sudeshna Banerjee
Department of Microbiology, Amity University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
Sanchayita Basu
Department of Microbiology, Tripura University (A Central University), Agartala,
Tripura, India
Manaswini Behera
School of Infrastructure, Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar,
Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
Hiren N. Bhalani
College of Agriculture, Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh, Gujarat,
India
Navneeta Bharadvaja
Plant Biotechnology Laboratory, Department of Biotechnology, Delhi
Technological University, New Delhi, Delhi, India
Devikaben Bharatbhai Vishani
Department of Microbiology, Parul Institute of Applied Sciences, Parul University,
Vadodara, Gujarat, India

xix
xx Contributors

Deepti Bhardwaj
Plant Biotechnology Laboratory, Department of Biotechnology, Delhi
Technological University, New Delhi, Delhi, India
Pinal Bhatt
Department of Microbiology, Parul Institute of Applied Sciences, Parul University,
Vadodara, Gujarat, India
Joyani Bhattacharjee
Department of Biotechnology, Haldia Institute of Technology, Haldia, West
Bengal, India
Arunima Bhattacharjee
Department of Microbiology, Tripura University (A Central University), Agartala,
Tripura, India
Sourish Bhattacharya
Process Design and Engineering Cell, CSIR Central Salt and Marine Chemicals
Research Institute, Bhavnagar, Gujarat, India
Zeeshan Ahmad Bhutta
The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Easter
Bush Campus, Midlothian, Scotland, United Kingdom
Pitam Chakrabarti
Department of Biotechnology, Haldia Institute of Technology, Haldia, West
Bengal, India
Vivek Chauhan
Department of Biotechnology, Himachal Pradesh University, Summer Hill,
Himachal Pradesh, India
Suraj Chetri
Department of Zoology, Cotton University, Guwahati, Assam, India
Mohita Chugh
Plant Biotechnology Laboratory, Department of Biotechnology, Delhi
Technological University, New Delhi, Delhi, India
Anjali Dahiya
Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati,
Assam, India
Sagar Daki
Process Design and Engineering Cell, CSIR Central Salt and Marine Chemicals
Research Institute, Bhavnagar, Gujarat, India
José de Jesús Gómez-Guzmán
Center of Research and Technological Development in Electrochemistry,
Querétaro Technology Park, Pedro Escobedo, Querétaro, México
Contributors xxi

Subhasish Dutta
Department of Biotechnology, Haldia Institute of Technology, Haldia, West
Bengal, India
Salman Farissi
Department of Environmental Science, School of Earth Science Systems, Central
University of Kerala, Kasaragod, Kerala, India
Janhavi Gadkari
Department of Microbiology, Parul Institute of Applied Sciences, Parul University,
Vadodara, Gujarat, India
Priya Gautam
Department of Biotechnology, Himachal Pradesh University, Summer Hill,
Himachal Pradesh, India
Bhaswati Ghosh
Department of Microbiology, Sarsuna College, University of Calcutta, Kolkata,
West Bengal, India
Martha Leticia Jiménez González
Center of Research and Technological Development in Electrochemistry,
Querétaro Technology Park, Pedro Escobedo, Querétaro, México
Rishee K. Kalaria
ASPEE Shakilam Biotechnology Institute, Navsari Agricultural University, Surat,
Gujarat, India
Ayesha Kanwal
Institute of Biochemistry, Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, The Islamia
University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan
Shamsher S. Kanwar
Department of Biotechnology, Himachal Pradesh University, Summer Hill,
Himachal Pradesh, India
Priya Khadgawat
Department of Genetics, University of Delhi, New Delhi, Delhi, India
Khushbu
Department of Applied Chemistry, Delhi Technological University, New Delhi,
Delhi, India
Veena Gayathri Krishnaswamy
Department of Biotechnology Stella Maris College (Autonomous), Affiliated to
University of Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Deepak Kumar
Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University Haryana, Gurugram, Haryana,
India
xxii Contributors

Lakhan Kumar
Plant Biotechnology Laboratory, Department of Biotechnology, Delhi
Technological University, New Delhi, Delhi, India
Ashutosh Kumar
Department of Microbiology, Tripura University (A Central University), Agartala,
Tripura, India
Sangeeta Kumari
Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University Haryana, Gurugram, Haryana,
India
Sidak Minocha
Department of Genetics, University of Delhi, New Delhi, Delhi, India
Muthukumar Muthuchamy
Department of Environmental Science, School of Earth Science Systems, Central
University of Kerala, Kasaragod, Kerala, India
Anbazhagi Muthukumar
Department of Environmental Science, School of Earth Science Systems, Central
University of Kerala, Kasaragod, Kerala, India
Iqra Muzammil
Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, University of Agriculture,
Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan
Luis Ortiz-Frade
Center of Research and Technological Development in Electrochemistry,
Querétaro Technology Park, Pedro Escobedo, Querétaro, México
Ashok Pandey
CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicological Research, Lucknow, Uttar Praesh, India
Shubhangi Parmar
Process Design and Engineering Cell, CSIR Central Salt and Marine Chemicals
Research Institute, Bhavnagar, Gujarat, India
Hiren K. Patel
School of Sciences, P P Savani University, Surat, Gujarat, India
Bhisma K. Patel
Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati,
Assam, India
S.M. Paul Khurana
Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University Haryana, Gurugram, Haryana,
India
Contributors xxiii

Jesús Pérez-Garcı́a
Center of Research and Technological Development in Electrochemistry,
Querétaro Technology Park, Pedro Escobedo, Querétaro, México
Sneha Ramesh
Department of Environmental Science, School of Earth Science Systems, Central
University of Kerala, Kasaragod, Kerala, India
Sathish Raam Ravichandran
Department of Chemical Engineering, Kongu Engineering College, Erode, Tamil
Nadu, India
Aryama Raychaudhuri
School of Infrastructure, Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar,
Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
Yolanda Reyes-Vidal
Center of Research and Technological Development in Electrochemistry,
Querétaro Technology Park, Pedro Escobedo, Querétaro, México; CONACYT-
Center of Research and Technological Development in Electrochemistry,
Querétaro Technology Park, Pedro Escobedo, Querétaro, México
Dipanjan Roy
Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Ramkrishna Mission Vivekananda
Educational and Research Institute (RKMVERI), Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Ashish Kumar Sahoo
Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati,
Assam, India
Mothil Sengottian
Department of Chemical Engineering, Kongu Engineering College, Erode, Tamil
Nadu, India
Aveepsa Sengupta
Department of Microbiology, Tripura University (A Central University), Agartala,
Tripura, India
Bipin Kumar Sharma
Department of Microbiology, Tripura University (A Central University), Agartala,
Tripura, India
Muhammad Shoaib
Institute of Microbiology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan;
Key Laboratory of New Animal Drug Project, Gansu Province, Key Laboratory of
Veterinary Pharmaceutical Development, Ministry of Agriculture, Lanzhou
Institute of Husbandry and Pharmaceutical Sciences of CAAS, Lanzhou, China
xxiv Contributors

Anupama Shrivastav
Department of Microbiology, Parul Institute of Applied Sciences, Parul University,
Vadodara, Gujarat, India
Pragati Singh
Department of Microbiology, Tripura University (A Central University), Agartala,
Tripura, India
Rajalakshmi Sridharan
Department of Biotechnology Stella Maris College (Autonomous), Affiliated to
University of Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Diana Mayra Sánchez López
Center of Research and Technological Development in Electrochemistry,
Querétaro Technology Park, Pedro Escobedo, Querétaro, México
Sabeela Beevi Ummalyma
Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development (IBSD), An Autonomous
Institute Under Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, Takyelpat,
Imphal, Manipur, India
Divyesh K. Vasava
College of Agriculture, Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh, Gujarat,
India
Chitra Devi Venkatachalam
Department of Food Technology, Kongu Engineering College, Erode, Tamil Nadu,
India
Sivakumar Venkatachalam
Department of Chemical Engineering, AC Tech Campus, Anna University,
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
CHAPTER

A comparative study
between physicochemical
and biological methods for
effective removal of textile
1
dye from wastewater
Subhasish Dutta, Joyani Bhattacharjee
Department of Biotechnology, Haldia Institute of Technology, Haldia, West Bengal, India

1. Introduction
One of the major sources of pollution in nature is industrial wastewater. Due to high
global development, various chemical agents like dyes, pigments, and other aro-
matic compounds are used in industries such as textile, printing, pharmaceuticals,
and plastics to generate products with better results (Khan and et al., 2020). Various
studies have confirmed that an average sized textile industry consumes around 1.6
million liters of water per day for the production of about 8000 kg of fabric. A
research from World Bank has said around 17%e20% of textile industry water
pollution comes from dyeing and finishing treatments that are applied to the fabric.
The processes included in the main steps of textile industry are resizing, dyeing,
printing and some finishing steps. The finishing steps are softening, cross-linking
and waterproofing and they require a huge amount of water supply (Nemr, 2012;
Bhatia et al., 2017). Large amount of effluents are generated from dyeing and the
finishing processes. Dyeing can be defined as the process of applying colors to
the fabrics which are resistant to the effect of light, water, and soap. Tannin and
lignin are considered examples of coloring agents. For various other processes to
be carried out in the textile industry, a particular mixture is made out of chemicals,
dye stuffs, and water. Once the process is completely done this mixture is released
into various water bodies (Anjaneyulu et al., 2005). The presence of suspended solid
particles, high chemical oxygen demand (COD), synthetic dyes, and heavy metals
such as lead, mercury, and cadmium have been considered to increase the toxicity
of water. These textile effluents alter the color and composition of the water bodies
making it very hazardous for the marine ecosystem (Nguyen and Ruey-Shin, 2013).
Dyes have high thermal and photo stability which helps them to persist for an
extended period of time in the water environment if left untreated. The dark color
imparted by these toxic chemicals reduces the sunlight penetration thus hampering
photosynthesis. They also inhibit the growth and activity of microorganisms.

Development in Wastewater Treatment Research and Processes. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-85657-7.00003-1 1


Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
2 CHAPTER 1 A comparative study between physicochemical and biological

The effluents generated from these textile industries are not only considered to be
toxic for the aquatic ecosystem but they are also enriched by the presence of various
carcinogenic and mutagenic substances which are harmful to human beings too. For
instance, the very famous azo dye, which is one of the main components of textile
industry, is very much responsible for bladder cancer in humans (Ramachandran
et al., 2013). They also cause severe damage to kidney, brain, reproductive system.
Therefore, in this chapter an effort has been made in discussing the preexisting phys-
iochemical methods to remove toxicity from textile effluents and their inefficiencies
and cost effectiveness, with special focus on biological methods which have been
found beneficial.

2. Types of dyes and their toxicity


One of the most important sources of water pollution globally is the toxic effluents
generated from textile industry (Porter, 1973). The main contaminants are gener-
ally produced from dyes and finishing processes (El Harfi and El Harif, 2017).
Dyes can be defined as complex, unsaturated organic compounds which are soluble
in either oil or water. When dyes are applied to substances, it imparts colors
through a process which changes the crystalline structure of colored substance
(Porter, 1973; Benkhaya et al., 2020). Solubility of different dyes in water also dif-
fers from one another. Dyes are widely used in various industries such as textile,
pharmaceuticals, plastics, cosmetics, and so forth. During the middle of 19th cen-
tury natural dyes were synthesized for the first time. They were synthesized mostly
from natural substances like animals, plants, insects and minerals. These dyes are
generally nonsubstantive and are usually applied on textiles with the help of mor-
dents which have affinity for both the fiber and the coloring substance. In compar-
ison to synthetic dyes, these natural dyes are much less toxic and are also easily
treated by biodegradation. In 1871, the first synthetic dye was produced by Woulfe
who treated indigo, a natural dye with nitric acid to produce picric acid (El Harfi
and El Harif, 2017). Nearly 10,000 different kinds of textile dyes and pigments are
used. 7  105 tons of synthetic dyes are produced globally, annually (Singh and
Arora, 2011; Ramachandran et al., 2013). Dyes can be classified into two cate-
gories, based on presence of chromophoric groups in their chemical structures
and usage or application methods (Nemr, 2012).
A chromophore is an atom or a group of atom who is responsible for production
of color because of its ability to absorb light in a near UV region. Compounds
bearing the chromophores are called chromogen. Examples of some chromophoric
groups are N¼O, -NO2, -N¼N-, -C¼O, (CH-CH)n, C¼S, and -C¼N (Benkhaya
et al., 2020).
Auxochromes can be defined as a group which does not itself act as a chromo-
phore, but whose presence alters the intensity as well as wavelength of absorption.
These groups can be acidic or basic in nature. Examples of some acidic groups are
-OH, -COOH, -SO3H. Examples of some basic groups are -NH2, -NHR, and -NR2
(Benkhaya et al., 2020; Singh and Arora, 2011).
2. Types of dyes and their toxicity 3

Based on the presence of chromophoric groups, dyes can be classified into more
than 20e30 groups. Out of which most important ones are nitro dyes, nitroso dyes,
azo dyes, trimethyl ethane dyes, phthalein dyes, indigo dyes, anthraquinone dyes,
and sulfur dye (Benkhaya et al., 2020; Ramachandran et al., 2013).

2.1 Azo dyes


Of all kinds of synthetic dyes, azo dye derivatives are the most widely used ones
around 70% in the textile industries (Nemr, 2012). It has been found out that nearly
1million azo dyes are produced annually. They have -N¼N-chromophoric group in
their structure. Azo dye can again be classified into disazo, trisazo, monazo, polyazo,
and tetrakisazo based on the number of azo dye linkage present (Benkhaya et al.,
2020). The immense popularity of azo dyes is due to some factors. They are the
variations and adaptations that are needed for the multipurpose use of these dyes
and the high molar extinction of azo dye compounds (El Harfi and El Harif,
2017). Azo dyes are formed in situ when two colorless or slightly colored com-
pounds called napthols react (Benkhaya et al., 2020). These azo dyes when conju-
gated with heterocyclic aromatic groups, complex structures are formed. These
structures help in the expression of various colors in the dye. One of the major
drawbacks of using azo dye in the textile industry is, azo dye on reaction with
any blue-violet range of colors gives a dull shade (Benkhaya et al., 2020). A total
of 896 dyes whose chemical structures are known and they are available in the textile
database. According to the European Annex XVII of reach, there are 22 regulated
aromatic amines and only 426 out of 898 dyes can generate a variety or two of
them (Benkhaya et al., 2020). Azo amino dyes can be considered as a suitable
example for organic compounds consisting of zwitterionic resonance system (Singh
and Ram, 2017). Nowadays synthetic dyes are preferably more used than natural
ones. Azo dyes, despite having such a huge impact in the textile industry, have a
lot of major harmful effects too (Saini, 2017). It was noticed that the nitro group
present in the azo dyes, after breaking down generates obnoxious products such
as 1, 4-phenylenediamine, and o-tolidine, which were proved to be mutagenic in
nature. 3-methoxy-4-aminoazobenzene, an aromatic amine was found to be hepato-
carcinogen in rats and a source of potent mutagen in bacteria (Saini, 2017; Singh and
Ram, 2017). There are few specific cases where the azo dyes after being biodegraded
by microorganisms are producing certain derivatives that are found to be highly
toxic. For example, there is a commercial textile dye, namely Acid Violet 7, which
is toxic enough to cause lipid peroxidation, chromosomal aberrations and inhibition
of enzyme acetylcholinesterase. This dye when biodegraded using Pseudomonas
putida, breaks down into respective metabolites such as 4-aminoacetanilide and
5-acetamido-2-amino-1-hydroxy-3, and 6-naphtalene disulfonic acid, which is far
more toxic than Acid Violet 7 (Nemr, 2012).
Based on application method, textile dyes can be classified into the following.
4 CHAPTER 1 A comparative study between physicochemical and biological

2.2 Acid dye


Due to interactions between the protons of the fiber and the negative charge of the
dyes due to the presence of sulfonic or carboxylic acid groups, acid dyes are consid-
ered to be highly water soluble anionic dyes. These dyes, compared to direct dyes
and vat dyes, and have poor lightfastness on textile dyes. According to chemical
composition, acid dyes can be classified into azo, anthraquinone, triarylmethane,
nitro, and nitroso compounds (Porter, 1973).

2.3 Basic dye


These are water soluble cationic dyes which give high intensity and bright colors that
are visible even at low concentration. These dyes bind with fibers like wool, poly-
ester which have exclusive anionic sites to bind with the cationic parts of these basic
dyes. Major chemical categories are diazahemicyanine, triarylmethane, cyanine,
hemicyanine, thiazine, oxazine, and acridine (Porter, 1973).

2.4 Direct dye


These are anionic dyes that are water soluble in nature. They contain sulfonic acid
group, which have affinity toward cellulose fibers mainly azo compounds that come
under this group. Main advantage of direct dye over fiber-reactive dyes is that direct
dyes are more resistive in fading out under light (Porter, 1973).

2.5 Vat dye


These are the type of dyes which require oxygen to develop their color. These dyes are
usually insoluble in water but are soluble in alkali reduction, i.e., sodium dithionite in
the presence of sodium hydroxide common compounds are anthraquinone or indi-
goids (Nemr, 2012). These synthetic dyes are highly toxic in nature. So when these
dye effluents from the industries are discharged into the water bodies, it not only
increases pollution but also is very much harmful to all the living beings. Thus, we
discuss few physico-chemical methods and the adversities associated with those pro-
cesses and the need to choose certain biological methods to eradicate the problem of
textile dye toxicity (Singh and Arora, 2011; Ramachandran et al., 2013).
The untreated effluents from the textile industries when dumped in water bodies
cause serious side effects on animals and plants (Natarajan et al., 2018). Thus
various conventional approaches have been taken into consideration to treat the
effluents (Anjaneyulu et al., 2005) (Table 1.1).

3. Physical methods
Physical methods can be defined as a straight forward method to remove toxic efflu-
ents from wastewater by the application of forces such as gravitation, electrical
3. Physical methods 5

Table 1.1 Classification of dyes.


Class of dye Chromophoric group Example
Azo dye Methyl orange

Nitro dye Acid yellow 24

Indigo dye Acid blue71

Anthraquinone dye Reactive blue 4

Pthalein dye Phenolphthalein

Triphenyl Methane dye Malachite green

Nitroso dye Fast green O

Sulfur dye Indophenol

Xanthene dye Rhodamine B

Modified from El Harfi, S., El Harfi, A., 2017. Classifications, properties and applications of textile dyes: a
review. Appl. J. Environ. Eng. Sci. 3 (3), 00000e00003 and Singh, P.K., Ram, L.S., 2017. Bio-removal
of azo dyes: a review. Int. J. Appl. Sci. Biotechnol. 5 (2), 108e126.

attraction, and van der Waal’s force. Of all the three methodologies (physical, chem-
ical, and biological), physical method is the most used one as it is much simpler, effi-
cient, and the least amount of chemicals and biological organisms are used (Vanitha
et al., 2018).

3.1 Adsorption
Of all the available physical methods, adsorption has been proven to be the most effi-
cient and widely used technology to treat waste water effluents (Anjaneyulu et al.,
2005). Adsorption can be defined as a physicochemical mass transfer process where
6 CHAPTER 1 A comparative study between physicochemical and biological

elements are concentrated on the surface of the adsorbent (solid or liquid). This pro-
cess happens in the interface of either two similar or different states for example,
liquid-liquid, gas-liquid, and solid-liquid (Natarajan et al., 2018). The process of
adsorption has been considered as one of the most feasible equilibrium separation
techniques to remove toxic effluents from water bodies due to its economic effi-
ciency and also due to the production of high quality products (Natarajan et al.,
2018). To perform adsorption, no pretreatment is required. Often, it is used as a post-
treatment for various other conventional methods as the process doesn’t produce
additional toxic matters as a result in the end (Vanitha et al., 2018). The surface
on which the process of adsorption takes place is called adsorbent and the adsorbates
are the molecules that get adhered to the surface of adsorbent. If the process of
adsorption is characterized by low heat generation and is reversible in nature, it is
called physisorption (physical adsorption). If the process is characterized by
high heat generation and is irreversible in nature with chemical force acting
between adsorbate and adsorbent, it is called chemisorptions (chemical adsorption)
(Natarajan et al., 2018).
Factors affecting adsorption: There are certain physicochemical factors associ-
ated with adsorption such as temperature, pH, solution concentration, nature of
adsorbate (molecular structure, size, and weight), surface charge, and time duration
of contact (Vanitha et al., 2018; Saini, 2017).
Due to the rising popularity of the adsorption process, a vast range of adsorbents
are used nowadays. Few of them are chitin, almond peels, fly ashes, baggase, acti-
vated carbon, sugarcane, etc.

3.1.1 Adsorption by clay particles


Clays are low cost raw materials used for making zeolites. Zeolites are used widely
in adsorption, ion exchange and irradiation process. Kaolinite and montmorillonite
are two types of clay minerals, they are widely used as dye adsorbents. Cationic dye,
methylene blue is absorbed by kaolinite at a rate of 16 mg/g min. Whereas, for mont-
morillonite the rate varies from 10 mg/g min in the first 5minto 0.55 mg/g min over
the next hour to 0.07 mg/g min for the final hour. Such difference in adsorption rate
is due to the variance in anionic exchange rate of the clays (Nguyen and Ruey-Shin,
2013).

3.1.2 Adsorption by activated carbon


This is one of the most common techniques of removal of effluents. Efficiency of
activated carbon depends on the nature of carbon particle used and also the kind
of dye effluent it is applied on. For instance, activated carbon is most useful in
adsorbing cationic, mordant and acid dyes (90%). Efficiency of activated carbon
reduces for removal of sulfur, dispersed, and reactive dyes (40%). But this issue
can be solved by using an excess amount of activated carbon (Saini, 2017; Robinson
et al., 2001). Activated carbon particles can be made from anything carbonaceous.
Scientists long used coal as a source, but because coal is a nonrenewable source
of energy, activated carbon is now synthesized from renewable, cost-efficient
3. Physical methods 7

substances like biomass, waste materials, and so forth (Vanitha et al., 2018). Acti-
vated carbon particle comes in different shapes and sizes. Powdered activated carbon
(PAC) is very fine in structure thus they can stay suspended for longer while and
making it difficult to be reused. Adding a little quantity of polyaluminum chloride
can enhance the decolorization rate making it easier to collect the sludge from
settling tank and reuse them. In case of granular activated carbon (GAC), it is easier
to replace the GAC packed bed with fresh amount of carbon particles when
exhausted (Nguyen and Ruey-Shin, 2013).

3.1.3 Adsorption by wood chips


These are best used for the adsorption of acid dyes. But they are not widely used as
these wood chips are usually nonrenewable and are burned down to generate power
after being used as adsorbents (Robinson et al., 2001).

3.1.4 Adsorption by silica gel


It is an effective way of removing basic dyes but it is not used much commercially
due to the huge amount of side reactions associated with it (Robinson et al., 2001).

3.2 Coagulation and flocculation


Coagulation is one of the conventional methods of treating wastewater toxicity. This
method is mostly effective for disperse dyes (Anjaneyulu et al., 2005). To reduce the
number of colored effluents from the water bodies, positively charged coagulants are
formed from hydrolysis of metal salts such as iron, aluminum etc. (Anjaneyulu et al.,
2005). These coagulants join together with the negative dye particles forming
neutral clusters which then become macro enough to get filtered. The coagulating
agents are generally polymers which are synthetic in nature having a high molecular
rate and linear structure. Generally used coagulants are aluminum sulfate, aluminum
chloride, ferric chloride, ferric sulfate, cationic organic polymers, etc. (Anjaneyulu
et al., 2005). During the preparation of the macroflocs, the flocculants are added
slowly. There are certain factors that alter the process of coagulation. There are
chemicals present, pH, temperature, mixing time, and retention speed of the system,
which affects the process of coagulation (Verma et al., 2012). Electro coagulation is
the electro chemical treatment of textile dyes, where electrolytic reactions are per-
formed followed by the process of coagulation and sedimentation. This treatment
has been proven to be extremely effective even at higher pH. This method has
been most effective for direct dye removal from wastewater (Verma et al., 2012).
From the research conducted by Yang et al. it was concluded that Al-coagulation
is much more effective for the removal of direct, disperse and reactive dyes. During
the process, OH is formed in the cathode which in turn increases the solution pH,
thus restoring the solution color and dissolving the coagulants. Whereas
Fe-coagulation method is used for color removal from effluents while forming
NaCIO, a strong oxidizing agent as a byproduct which helps in further decomposi-
tion of the dye structure (Yang and McGarrahan, 2005).
8 CHAPTER 1 A comparative study between physicochemical and biological

3.2.1 Irradiation
This is the simplest yet effective technique to remove textile dye effluents from
waste water. This process requires a large amount of UV radiation and constant dis-
solved oxygen supply. Titanium dioxide acts as a catalyst in the process. On treating
a secondary effluent with irradiation of gamma ray it was found that there was a
reduction of 64% COD, 34% TOC, and 88% of color (Anjaneyulu et al., 2005;
Robinson et al., 2001).

3.3 Emerging physical method for the treatment of textile dye


effluents
3.3.1 Biosorption
Various physical methods have been chosen for the removal of textile dye effluents
from waste water. But most of these methods are cost effective and are meant for low
scale in situ treatment. Biosorption can be defined as the process of accumulating
toxic effluents with the help of microorganisms. Depending on the kind of textile
dye, the rate of binding of the microorganism differs too (Robinson et al., 2001).
On the experiment conducted by Sulak et al. to study the biosorption of aqueous
textile effluents by wheat bran, it was inferred that wheat bran was effective in
removing effluents of certain textile dyes such as are Reactive Red 180, Reactive
black5, Reactiveorange16, Directred80, Acid red, Acid yellow 199 from the aqueous
solution. The percentage of dye removal was found to be directly proportional to the
amount of biosorbent and textile dyes present in the solution. Thermodynamically,
the process was noted to be spontaneous and exothermic. On plotting the biosorption
data in the Langmuir isotherm, adsorption was found to be monolayer (Sulak and
Cengiz Yatmaz, 2012).

4. Membrane technology
Membrane technology can be considered as one of the most effective and cost-
efficient methods which not only help in decolorization but also in reduction of
BOD and COD of wastewater. The main advantage of membrane technology is
that the drench can be further reused. This kind of technology is immensely useful
in places where there is shortage of water (Buckley, 1992). On the basis of classifi-
cation of dye and degree of separation of effluents, this process can be classified into
four types.

4.1 Microfiltration
This is one of the oldest yet most capable ways of removing suspended particles hav-
ing aperture approximately 0.1e1 mm. Through this process of microfiltration wide
range of contaminants such as suspended particles, yeast cells, large pathogens, and
so forth can be separated. Microfiltration is usually performed prior to reverse
osmosis and nanofiltration (Buckley, 1992; Anis et al., 2019).
5. Chemical methods 9

4.2 Reverse osmosis


This method is effective in both wastewater and desalination treatments. It can also
remove various organic contaminants and harmful pathogens. RO is considered to
be a pressure driven process where a semipermeable membrane reject particles
based on size, charge, and interaction between the solute and solvent. RO membranes
have nearly 90% retention rate when it comes to ionic compounds. The osmotic pres-
sure involved in the process is directly proportional to the amount of salts dissolved
therefore to the energy required (Xu and Lebrun, 1999; Malaeb and Ayoub, 2011).

4.3 Nanofiltration
The process of nanofiltration also known as charged filtration is performed after
adsorption to minimize the polarization concentration happening during the filtra-
tion process. It has the advantage of both reverse osmosis and ultrafiltration (UF),
i.e., application of moderate pressure like UF and separations of solutions like
reverse osmosis. Commercially available nanofiltration membrane have been used
to treat cotton textile dye effluents (Buckley, 1992; Xu and Lebrun, 1999).

4.4 Ultrafiltration
UF can be considered as a one-step removal of secondary effluents. UF can be
considered as an RO pretreatment. In many cases UF membranes have been found
using hollow fiber geometry (Xu and Lebrun, 1999).
From the experiment conducted by Paz’dzior et al. for the removal of azo dye by
the amalgamation of nanofiltration with biological methods, it was concluded that
almost 90% color removal was evident and pure colorless filtrate was obtained hav-
ing adequate quantity of salt and alkali concentration. Due to the formation of cleav-
age of Reactive Red 120, orthanilic acid was released. In an aerobic reactor, this acid
was further degraded whereas in the sequencing batch reactor, the aromatic amine
was not degenerated using the microbial culture (Pazdzior et al., 2009).
_
Zy11a et al. performed an experiment with real wastewater collected from two
textile plants. On applying nanofiltration on these textile effluents it was found
that there was significant deterioration in the COD and textile colors. The further
concentrated product in the nanofiltration was made to undergo anoxic biological
treatment. It was observed that there was approximately 50% reduction in the
COD. It was also inferred that the filtrate received from nanofiltration could be
_
used as process water for the rest of the process (Zy11a et al., 2006).

5. Chemical methods
Chemical methods of dye removal can be defined as a collection of certain conven-
tional methods performed by utilizing chemical theories to remove textile dye
10 CHAPTER 1 A comparative study between physicochemical and biological

effluents. This method requires specific set of equipments and high electrical energy
to work efficiently. Usually chemical technologies have been proven to have success
rate of 88%e99% (Vanitha et al., 2018).

5.1 Fenton method


H2O2eFe (II) is known as Fenton’s reagent. It is very useful for the removal of toxic
effluents from wastewater which normally resists the biological or physical degrada-
tion due to their toxicity to living biomass. CI Reactive Yellow 15 has high COD and
resists degradation. But on reaction with Fenton’s reagent it was found to have
decolorization of 98% and approximately 93% removal of COD. Fenton’s reagent
in association with oxidation process was reported to be effective in degradation
of approximately 20 different classes of dyes namely acid, reactive, direct, cationic,
disperse, and vat in their aqueous solutions. Whereas color removal was found to be
around 80%e100% for acid, reactive, cationic dyes and for water insoluble dyes like
vat and disperse dye it was found to be as low as 30%e60%. Electro-Fenton process
can be defined as an indirect electrochemical treatment used to degenerate and
decolorize toxic textile effluents in this process, hydroxyl radical which is formed
by Fenton’s reagent is produced electrochemically in situ. Hydroxyl radical, being
excellent oxidizing agent can oxidize organic effluents until complete mineraliza-
tion (Robinson et al., 2001; Lahkimi et al., 2007; Singh and Arora, 2011).
Panizza et al. in his experiment studied the electrochemical treatment of
real wastewater containing naphthalene and anthroquinone-sulfonic acid. The pro-
cedure was tried by the electro coagulation of Fenton’s reagent using graphite cath-
odes. To find out the optimum operating conditions, he also analyzed, the effect of
cathode potential, Fe2þ concentration and cathode surface pretreatment (Panizza
and Cerisola, 2001).

5.2 Ozonation
This is one of the most effective chemical processes for nearly complete removal of
textile dye effluents from waste water. Ozone is an excellent oxidizing agent
compared to chlorine, hydrogen peroxide, and other oxidizing agents due to its
high instability. The proportion of ozone to be used in the process is directly propor-
tional to the amount of color and residual COD to be removed. The end product of
ozonation can be easily discharged in the water bodies easily due to the lesser
amount of color and COD present. Ozone can be applied in gaseous state thus vol-
ume of the sludge is not increased (Vanitha et al., 2018). In an experiment conducted
by Lin et al., three strengths of waste water effluent were collected low, medium and
high. The COD and color content of the effluents were observed to intensify from
low to high in the three containers. For low strength, it was inferred that only ozon-
ation was sufficient for decolorization and to remove turbidity. But for medium and
high strength, ozonation was found to be effective for the removal of color but not
5. Chemical methods 11

for turbidity reduction. Thus, coagulation with aluminum sulfate or PAC was neces-
sary. Even with the amalgamation of chemical coagulation with ozonation, approx-
imately 70% COD could be reduced (Lin and Lin., 1993).

5.3 Cucurbitiril
These are cyclic oligomer molecules made up of glycoluril and formaldehyde.
Glycoluril is formed from glyoxal and urea. The monomers are held together by
methylene bridges. The origin of the name cucurbitiril is from the Latin word
Cucurbita maxima which is the scientific name for pumpkin, for its pumpkin like
structure. The uril part of cucurbitiril emphasizes on the presence of urea. It was
inferred that cucurbitiril has extremely good sorption capacity for several textile
dyes. It also forms host-guest relation with aromatic compounds thus removing
the toxicity for adsorption. Another mechanism is based on formation of insoluble
cucurbitiril dye-cation aggregate as adsorption occurs at a faster rate (Robinson
et al., 2001; Nagy et al., 2009) (Fig. 1.1).

5.4 Sodium hypochlorite


The process of bleaching can be defined as a method to remove the colors from
textile materials by chemically destroying the chromophores present thus increasing

FIGURE 1.1
Structure of cucurbitiril (https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Cucurbit_8_uril).
12 CHAPTER 1 A comparative study between physicochemical and biological

the brightness of the product. The chloride molecule attacks the amino group of the
dye, thus accelerating an azo bonding cleavage. This method is not applied for azo
dyes. In an experiment conducted by Massoudinejad et al. it was concluded that
combining chemical oxidation method with sodium hypochlorite solution gives rele-
vant standard to biological method. It was also noticed that imported chorine was
about 3.65 times more efficient than Iranian native chlorine (Robinson et al.,
2001; Massoudinejad et al., 2015).

5.4.1 Ion exchange


This is not much widely used process due to the belief that ion exchangers fail to
accumulate huge amount of dye particles for removal. Advantage of this method
is the no loss of adsorbent molecules (Robinson et al., 2001). Wastewater containing
dyes are made to run over the ion-exchange resins until the favorable exchange sites
are obtained. One of the major disadvantages of this method is its cost. Organic sol-
vents are costly and disperse dyes cannot be removed using ion exchange method
(Anjaneyulu et al., 2005).

5.5 Recent biochemical trend


These physicochemical methods are highly applicable to the treatment of textile dye
effluents in waste water. But these treatments have certain drawbacks too. For
example, intoxicating sludge formation, inefficiency in large scale degradation,
too costly to be used for large scale. Thus few recent biochemical trends have
been discussed which were found to be effective.

5.5.1 Photocatalysis
Photo catalysis can be defined as a process by which a photo reaction is accelerated
in the presence of catalyst. This method degrades the dye molecule into water and
carbon dioxide by the action of UV rays in the presence of catalyst H2O2. Depending
on the product to be catalyzed and the length of the reaction, various byproducts are
formed. No sludge production is associated with the process. UV light on degrading
reaction with H2O2, forms two hydroxyl radicals which help in the further chemical
processes (Robinson et al., 2001).
Photo catalytic removals of organic pollutants have been found to be one of the
most effective ways. Ag/Cl can be considered as high performing photo catalysts
that can be used for degradation. Zhao et al. in his experiment successfully prepared
Ag/AgCl nanoparticles biochemically from the metabolin of living fungi. These
nanoparticles were found to be 3e5 nm in size, spherical in shape. On studying these
particles under microscope it was found that these particles show visible light driven
photo catalytic performance. This biochemical invention helped in the degradation
of a carcinogenic RhB (Zhao et al., 2015).
6. Advanced oxidation process 13

6. Advanced oxidation process


Oxidation can be defined as one of the efficient methods for the removal of effluents
chemically. Usually, in this process the oxidizing agents are activated by some
means. Hydrogen peroxide is the most widely used oxidizing agent in this case.
Advanced oxidation processes (AOP) can be defined as a set of emerging chem-
ical procedures which can remove soluble organic effluents from water and soil.
They use hydroxyl radicals which are powerful oxidants and are nonselective in
nature having the power to degrade complex toxic effluents. The complex molecules
are usually degraded completely into water and carbon dioxide. The biggest signif-
icance of AOP is the simplicity of its usage and production of lesser amount of
residuals. Fenton’s method, ozonation, photolysis can also be considered as types
of AOPs (Rauf and Ashraf, 2012).
As hydroxyl radicals are nonselective in nature thus EAOPs can be coupled with
biological processes in pretreatment as well as posttreatment way. Pretreatment is
considered when the effluent to be treated as BOD and COD ratio much lower
than 0.3 and contains toxic substance which can alter the microbial activities.
Thus EAOP is applied to decrease the toxicity level to such a point where biological
methods can be applied. Posttreatment is considered when the effluent is mostly
filled with biodegradable compounds except for some refractory pollutants. In those
cases, cost effective biological method is applied first followed by the application of
EAOP to remove the remaining minute toxicity (Ganzenko et al., 2014).
Azbar et al. performed a comparative experimental study on various oxidation
and chemical treatment methods for effluent and COD removal from polyester
and acetate fiber dyeing effluents. He inferred that AOPs have nearly 85% greater
success rate in comparison with any other chemical methods for the removal of
effluents derived while dyeing polyester and acetate. Among the different AOPs
for example O3, O3/UV, H2O2,/UV, the most efficient one is the combined result
of ozone, UV and peroxide having removed 99% of COD and 96% color (Azbar
et al., 2004).
In recent studies, coupling of AOPs has been considered. In simpler words,
coupling of AOP can be defined as a method of simultaneous application of more
than one AOP in a single step to increase the oxidative strength of the process.
Due to the wide number of oxidant production in a step, maximum number of times
the process has been considered useful. But there can be instances when due to the
excess production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), degradation rate might get
reduced (Dewil et al., 2017).
Recent trend has suggested that sulfate radical AOPs are gaining a lot of popu-
larity. This can be considered as an advanced alternative to OH- radical AOP. Sulfate
radicals have the redox potential from around 2.5e3.1 volt thus making it able to
oxidize a wider range of organics. They are pH independent thus organics of any
14 CHAPTER 1 A comparative study between physicochemical and biological

pH can be easily oxidized. It has been studied that sulfate radicals are selective in
nature thus can be used properly to oxidize specific functional groups responsible
for toxicity of wastewater (Lutze et al., 2015).

7. Biological methods
Various physicochemical methods such as oxidation, ozonation, membrane technol-
ogy, coagulation flocculation, and AOPs have been administered to reduce the COD
level and to remove the toxic effluents which are released from textile effluents in
various water bodies. But these processes have some limitations such as costing,
equipments and sludge formation in the end. Many of these processes even work
in situ for only small scale effluents. Thus biological methods have been used as
alternating techniques to remove large scale effluents using living microorganisms
in much cost-efficient and simpler way (Table 1.2).

Table 1.2 Factors affecting biological method of dye removal (Rauf and
Ashraf, 2012; Wesenberg et al., 2003).
Serial
no. Factor Affect
1 Oxygen Dye degradation can occur under aerobic and anaerobic
conditions. Under anaerobic condition, reductive enzyme
activity is higher. Under aerobic conditions, carbon sources
like glucose, starch, acetate affect the decolorization process.
2 Ph The enzymatic activity depends on the pH and on the acid-
base behavior of the substrate and amino acid side chain. The
optimum pH for color removal is often neural or slightly
alkaline. The rate of color removal decreases with acidic pH
values.
3 Temperature This is one of the most impactful parameters. With an increase
in temperature, the rate of color removal increases too. The
temperature required for maximum color removal is nearly
around 35 to 45 C, which is also optimum for cell growth.
4 Dye structure The more dye concentration, the more is the amount of
and toxicity. Dye structure varies in different dyes. Dyes with
concentration simple structure and low molecular weight give out higher rate
of color removal and the process is more difficult with dyes of
high molecular weight.
5 Redox Enzyme mediated degradation is a versatile process efficient
mediator process. The redox mediator is required to maintain the redox
equilibrium. The more redox potential, the faster the molecule
is reduced.
7. Biological methods 15

7.1 Degradation with bacteria


Aromatic compounds can be degraded biologically under both aerobic and anaer-
obic conditions. Under aerobic conditions, enzymes like monoazo oxygenase,
diazo oxygenase catalyzes the incorporation of oxygen into the aromatic amines
prior to ring fission. In maximum monoazo oxygenases, the electro donor is either
NADH or NADPH. In presence of azo reductases, few aerobic bacteria are able to
reduce azo compounds and produce aromatic amines. Certain aerobic azo
reductases, for example, K22 and KF46 strains of Pseudomonas species after
undergoing purification and characterization were found to be flavin-free. These
azoreductases could use both NADH and NADPH as their cofactors and cleave
not only the carboxylated substrate, but also the sulfonated structure (Dos et al.,
2007). Reductions of azo dye by bacterial species are usually no specific and
bacterial decolorization is a fast process. A wide range of aerobic and anaerobic
bacteria have been found beneficial for the degradation purpose, they are Bacillus
subtilis, Pseudomonas sp., Escherichia coli, Rhabdobacter sp., Enterococcus sp.,
Staphylococcus sp, Xenophilussp, Corneybateriumsp, Clostridium sp., Micrococ-
cusdermacoccussp, Acinetobacter sp, Geobacillus, Lactobacillus, Rhizobium,
Proteus sp, Morganella sp., Aeromonas sp, Alcaligenes sp., and Klebsiellla sp.
Some of the aerobic bacteria use azo dye as the sole source of carbon and nitrogen
and others only reduce the azo group by special oxygen-tolerant azo reductases. It
has been concluded by various researchers that the complete degradation of the dye
requires coupled aerobic-anaerobic degradation. In anaerobic conditions, the
azo bond experiences cleavage and aromatic amines are formed. In the aerobic
condition, mineralization by nonspecific enzymes through ring cleavage takes
place. Thus the coupled treatment can efficiently remove azo dye from wastewater.
Pseudomonas sp. can degrade a variety of azo dyes such as Red HE7B, Reactive
Blue172, Reactive Red 22, Reactive Red 2, orange I, and II; thus it is the most
widely used bacterial strain (Wesenberg et al., 2003).
Bacterial degradation can be classified broadly in two ways, using single bacte-
rial cell and using mixed bacterial culture. A strain of Pseudomonas entomophila
BS1 was isolated and was used to degrade Reactive Black 5, a kind of azo dye.
On 120 h incubation, 93% degradation was found. On making a consortium of P.
rettgeri strain HSL1 and Pseudomonas sp. SUK1 to treat certain varieties of azo
dye like Reactive Black 5, Reactive orange 16, Direct Red 81, and Disperse Red
78, complete color removal was noticed in microaerophilic, sequential aerobic/
microaerophilic, and microaerophilic/aerobic conditions with minute time differ-
ences (Wesenberg et al., 2003).

7.1.1 Immobilization of cells for the degradation of dyes


Number of times whole bacterial cells have been used to degrade synthetic dye
effluents. There are various bioreactors that have been used for effective continuous
treatment aerobic and anaerobic treatment, they are fixed film bioreactors, packed
bed bioreactors, aerobic suspended bed activated sludge reactor etc. immobilization
16 CHAPTER 1 A comparative study between physicochemical and biological

can be defined as a process which prevents cell washing outs and also allows higher
cell density to be maintained in the continuous reactor. Immobilization upgrades the
catalytic stability thus increasing the concentration of degradation of textile dyes. It
has been studied that immobilization results in increased uptake of nutrients due to
the availability of nutrients at the solid-liquid interface. On comparing the immobi-
lized cells of Pseudomonas putinda P8 to the free cells P. putinda, the immobilized
cells have been found to be more efficient in degrading catechol. Immobilization
method using biomass has been found to be really beneficial. It is performed under
aseptic conditions within the bioreactors (Puvaneswari et al., 2006).

7.2 Degradation with algal culture


There hasn’t been much advancement in detecting algae for the degradation of
textile effluents. Azo reductases can degrade azo dye. Few species of Oscillatoria
and Chlorella were able to degrade the azo dye to simpler amines (Banat et al.,
1996; Joshi et al., 2004).

7.3 Degradation with yeast


Degradation of textile dye effluents by biosorption has been much facilitated by
yeast. Yeast has a lot of advantages over bacteria and filamentous fungi. Like bac-
teria, they can grow fast and also like filamentous fungi they have the ability to resist
unfavorable environment. Few yeast species have shown promising result in
dye degrading they are Galacto mycesgeotrichum, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and
Trichosporonbeigelii, etc. NCIM-3326 could decolorize various azo dyes such as
Navy blue HER (100%), Red HE7B (85%), Golden yellow 4BD (60%), Green
HE4BD (70%), and Orange HE2R (50%), among which the decolorization rates
of some dyes were not desirable (Khan et al., 2013).

7.4 Degradation with fungi


Ability to reduce azo dyes by fungi is corelated with the formation of exoenzymes
such as peroxidizes and phenoloxidases. Peroxidizes are a kind of hemoproteins
catalyzing reacting in presence of hydrogen peroxide. Strains like Bjerkanderaa-
dusta, Trametes versicolor and Phanerochaetechrysosporium were proved to
degrade all kinds of azo dyes. Lignin peroxidases were found to oxidize both
phenolic and nonphenolic compounds. But, in order to oxidize phenolic compounds,
manganese peroxidases have to convert Mn2þ to Mn3þ. Phenol oxidases can cata-
lyze the oxidation of phenolic and nonphenolic aromatic compounds without
the help of cofactors. Phenol oxidases are of two types, tyrosinases and laccases
(Dos et al., 2007; Imran et al., 2015).

7.5 Degradation with white-rot fungi


White-rot fungi are a group of fungi that are capable of degrading lignin biologically.
The name white-rot is derived from the white appearance of the wood attacked by
7. Biological methods 17

WRF, removal of lignin giving it a bleached appearance. Based on taxonomical clas-


sification, white-rot fungi are mostly basidiomycete. Exceptionally, few ascomy-
cetes are also capable of white-rot decay. WRF are capable of withstanding a
wide range of pH thus being widely capable of degrading toxic pollutants (Asgher
et al., 2008). WRF are capable of degrading xenobiotics, lignin and other dye stuffs
with their extracellular ligninolytic enzyme system. Few of the extracellular
enzymes which helps predominately in biodegradation of dye stuffs are lignin perox-
idase (Lip), Mn peroxidase (MnP) and H2O2 dependent peroxidases. Some of the
major white-rot fungi strains which are capable of delignification and decolorization
are Phanerochaetechrysosporium, Trametes versicolor, and Coriolusversi color. The
ligninolytic enzymes are substrate nonspecific in nature, thus can degrade a huge
variety of toxic effluents including the complex aromatic pollutants (Kapdan
et al., 2000). Initially, to assay the lignolytic activity of WRF, sulfonated polymeric
dyes were used. Eventually, a number of WRF strains were used to decolorize
distinctive synthetic dyes. In comparison with prokaryotes, WRF are superior dye
decolorizers. Even, in comparison with P. chrysosporium, the lignin transforming
actinomycete Streptomyces chromofuscus is a weak decolorizing microbial strain
(Wesenberg et al., 2003).

7.6 Enzyme system of white-rot fungi


Lignin metabolizing enzymes (LMEs) are essential for lignin degradation. Few of
the major LMEs which are involved in the degradation of lignin and xenobiotics
are lignin peroxidase, Manganese peroxidase, laccase and versatile peroxidase.
Other than these, there are few accessory enzymes which are isolated from certain
WRF strains, they are H2O2-forming glyoxal oxidase, aryl alcohol oxidase, oxalate
producing oxalate decarboxylase (ODC), NAD-dependent formate dehydrogenase
(FDH) and P450 monooxygenase. WRF produces LMEs during secondary meta-
bolism as lignin oxidation yields no net energy to the fungus (Wesenberg et al.,
2003; Asgher et al., 2008).

7.6.1 Lignin peroxidase (LiPs)


These are capable of mineralizing a wide range of aromatic compounds. The molec-
ular mass of various white-rot fungi strain varies from 37 to 50 kDa. It has been
noticed that immobilizing Lip has significantly increased its optimum temperature,
thermo stability as well as catalytic properties. Oxidation by Lip depends on the op-
timum molar ratio of H2O2 to pollutant. At lower concentration, H2O2 acts as an acti-
vator of Phanerochaete chrysosporium LiP and at higher concentration it acts as an
inhibitor rapidly deactivating the enzyme (Asgher et al., 2008).

7.6.2 Manganese peroxidase (MnPs)


This is one of the most common peroxidase produced by almost all white-rot fungi
and few litter decomposing fungi. They are extra cellular glycoprotein having iron
protoporphyrin IX prosthetic group with a molecular weight of around 32 and
18 CHAPTER 1 A comparative study between physicochemical and biological

62.5 kDa. They are secreted in multiple isoforms. MnPs generally oxidize Mn2þ to
Mn3þ which then is stabilized by chelating compound such as oxalic acid which is
also secreted by the fungi itself. The chelated Mn3þ thus formed is highly reactive
and acts as a diffusible redox mediator. Thus, MnPs oxidizes and depolymerizes
lignin and also xenobiotics like nitroaminotoluenes and toxic textile dyes. The
stability of MnP can be enhanced by immobilizing with sodium alginate, gelatin
or chitosan as carriers and glutaraldehyde as cross-linking (Wesenberg et al.,
2003; Asgher et al., 2008).

7.6.3 Laccases
These are N-glycosylated extracellular blue multicopper oxidases having molecular
mass around 58e90 kDa. The optimum pH and temperature vary from around 2 to
10 and 40e65 C respectively. Two strains of laccase isoenzymes LacI and LacII
have been found in Physisporinus rivulosus T241i, Trametestrogii, Cerrena unicolor
137 and Panustigrinus. Laccases along with oxidizing aphenolic and methoxyphe-
nolic acids, it also decarboxylizes them and attacks their methoxy groups (Asgher
et al., 2008).
Small molecule mediators are low molecular weight highly diffusible redox sub-
stances which help in the interaction between lignin and LME. Due to the random
polymer nature of lignin and bulk of LME, the interaction becomes highly problem-
atic thus these mediators come in action. A few examples of native mediators are P.
chrysosporium, Armillaria mellea, and so forth (Wesenberg et al., 2003).
Most of the dye stuffs that are used in the industries are extensively harmful to
any living being. These dye effluents are highly carcinogenic in nature. White-rot
fungi are used for the purpose of degradation of these harmful dye effluents.
White-rot fungi are preferred over prokaryotic cells due to the presence of LME
system which is nonspecific in nature, thus can degrade a wide range of dyes. P.
chrysosporium and Trametes versicolor are the most used ones. There are other use-
ful WRF too, they are Phellinus gilvus. DIchomitussqualens. Irpex flavus, Gano-
derma sp., etc. The degrading mechanism of dyes varies from the structure and
reactivity of different dyes. For instance, the decolorization of Reactive Blue 15
by chrysosporium follows first order kinetics with respect to initial dye concentra-
tion. Here, MnP plays a major role in decolorization (Asgher et al., 2008).
In an experiment conducted by Kapdan et al. he prepared four separate white-rot
fungi cultures to decolorize five kinds of textile dyes. The strains of white-rot fungi
taken were P. chrysosporium MUCL, P. chrysosporium 671.71, Coriolus versicolor
MUCL, and C. versicolor. The dye stuffs taken were Everzol Yellow 4 GL (Reactive-
monoazo), Everzol Red RBN (Reactive-monoazo), Drimaren Orange K-GL
(Reactive-disazo), Everdirect Supra Yellow PG (Direct-disazo) and Everzol
Turquoise Blue G (Reactive-phtalocyanin). He concluded that the culture of P.
chrysosporium or C. versicolor were highly effective in total removal of dye color
effluents. But, the high incubation temperature around 37 C was marked to be disad-
vantage for the process. Because of lower incubation temperature around 28 C
requirement for C. versicolor cultures, C. versicolor MUCL culture seems to be
more suitable than P. chrysosporium culture for practical applications (Kapdan
et al., 2000).
References 19

8. Conclusion
Different textile industries generate different forms of textile dyes. In this research
article, various physicochemical methods, their advantages and limitations, and
various biological processes with their advantages, have been discussed (Bhatia
et al., 2017). The various physicochemical methods were found to be costly and
reactive only when the effluent volume was less. Many of these processes produced
large volumes of sludge in the end thus not being effective in removal of toxicity
(Ramachandran et al., 2013). Due to the ineffectiveness of the conventional
physicochemical processes, biological processes have been discussed which were
considered to be more ecofriendly and effective for the removal of textile dyes
(Ramachandran et al., 2013). Bioremediation methods use naturally occurring
microbes which are economically friendly and even cost-efficient. Processes like
biosorption is an amalgamation of physical and biological method has been
discussed as an emerging technique which can be used to degrade textile effluent
(Bhatia et al., 2017).

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Con queste spedizioni Augusto compieva nelle Alpi un’opera, le cui
conseguenze durano ancora: apriva quella famosa catena di
montagne alla civiltà. L’opera era grande: ma nel pensiero di
Augusto doveva servire di preparazione ad un’opera ancora più
vasta, destinata ad avere le conseguenze più grandi nella storia
della civiltà. Gli anni che seguono il 16 a. C., e nei quali Augusto, per
le necessità della guerra, visse in Gallia o vicino alla Gallia, sono
anni decisivi nella storia del mondo antico; perchè in questi anni
Augusto e il governo romano si accorsero definitivamente che la
Gallia, la barbara, fredda e povera Gallia della tradizione, era una
provincia ricchissima, il vero Egitto dell’Occidente, che Roma aveva
interesse a difendere quanto le più ricche provincie dell’Oriente. Le
conseguenze di questa scoperta dovevano essere immense; poichè,
se fino ad allora Roma aveva guardato quasi soltanto all’Oriente,
come alla sede della ricchezza e della cultura, ed era stata sempre
in pericolo di inorientarsi, mutandosi in un impero asiatico, da questi
anni essa diventa potenza mezzo asiatica e mezzo europea, nel cui
impero la Gallia fa contrappeso all’Egitto o alla Siria, e l’Italia si trova
ben posta in mezzo, per essere l’arbitra e la dominatrice dell’Oriente
e dell’Occidente. A partire da questo momento, in cui la civiltà greco-
latina valica le Alpi e si addentra nel continente europeo, incomincia
la vera storia dell’Europa, che sino allora, fuorchè nelle sue coste
meridionali, era stata barbara; e l’impero romano diventa un impero
misto, orientale e occidentale, sotto l’egemonia dell’Italia. Senza la
Gallia, Roma non avrebbe potuto a lungo essere la capitale di un
impero, le cui province più importanti e i maggiori interessi erano in
Asia ed in Africa, e l’Italia sarebbe stata presto o tardi assorbita dalle
sue conquiste asiatiche ed africane. Insomma l’unità dell’impero
mediterraneo di Roma e la egemonia dell’Italia in quello
dipendevano dal possesso e dallo sviluppo della Gallia. Senonchè,
se queste dovevano essere le conseguenze lontane della conquista
di Cesare, l’arricchimento della Gallia generava un altro effetto
immediato; ed era quello di obbligare Roma a difenderla contro i
Germani, sempre inquieti, sempre bellicosi e più pronti ad assaltar la
Gallia ora che non la difendeva più la sua vecchia aristocrazia
militare. Perciò il pericolo germanico non minacciava più, come ai
tempi di Cesare, la Gallia sola, ma l’impero romano tutto quanto. Ma
che altro mezzo c’era di assicurare la Gallia contro le invasioni dei
Germani, se non conquistare la Germania? Anche questa era una
catena. Dal commovimento delle province d’Occidente, dalla
crescente prosperità della Gallia, Augusto fu tratto in questi anni a
sostituire alla conquista della Persia, vecchio sogno romano, la
conquista della Germania, a cui nessuno aveva ancora pensato sul
serio. Roma diventava potenza occidentale ed europea.
Prima però di accingersi a tanto passo, Augusto volle toglier via dalla
Gallia qualsiasi possibilità di agitazione antiromana. Vi sussistevano
ancora le divisioni territoriali, che Cesare avea trovate e conservate.
I popoli più potenti, come gli Edui e gli Arverni, conservavano
ancora, quali alleati di Roma, la loro clientela di piccole civitates che
essi governavano direttamente. Ma ora che la Gallia era divenuta un
paese industrioso e pacifico, queste clientele, fuorchè a conservare
privilegi invecchiati e a giustificare pretese di egemonie fittizie, non
potevano servire che come strumenti di nuove coalizioni nazionali:
erano dunque o inutili o pericolose.
Augusto sottomise tutte queste civitates di clienti e di popoli alleati,
direttamente, all’autorità di Roma; inoltre, fondandosi sui resultati del
censimento, distribuì tutta la Gallia in 60 civitates, all’incirca eguali di
grandezza e pari in diritto tra loro. Ma crescendo così il compito e la
responsabilità del governatore romano in Gallia, tripartì il paese in
Aquitania, Lugdunensis e Belgica (le Tres Galliae), di cui ciascuna
avrebbe avuto a capo un luogotenente del governatore generale
della provincia. Senonchè in questa ripartizione Augusto non tenne
più conto delle diversità o affinità etniche e delle secolari unioni
storiche del paese, se non per mescolare in ciascuna delle tre gli
elementi diversi — celtici, iberici, celto-germanici — di cui la Gallia si
componeva; per spegnere in quelle mescolanze il vecchio spirito
nazionale e tradizionale; per intralciare gli accordi fra tribù affini; e
per piegare il paese denazionalizzato verso gli scopi della politica
romana.
Augusto inoltre volle, prima di incominciare la sua grande impresa,
riordinare, come faceva mestieri, l’esercito, regolando con una legge
le più importanti condizioni del servizio, fin ad allora regolate da
consuetudini poco certe. La ferma durerebbe 16 anni per i legionari;
12 anni per la guardia dell’imperator, i pretoriani. Fu stabilito inoltre
che, finito il servizio gli uni e gli altri sarebbero ricompensati, non con
terre, ma con una somma di danaro, di cui ci è ignoto l’ammontare.
Ciò fatto, preparativi adeguati all’impresa furono incominciati; e fu
elaborato un piano di invasione molto ingegnoso, nel quale è
verosimile riconoscere la mano di Agrippa. Si tenterebbe di invadere
l’impervia Germania dal mare del Nord per le due grandi linee fluviali
dell’Ems e del Weser; due eserciti entrerebbero per questi fiumi nel
cuore della Germania, costruirebbero sull’uno e sull’altro dei grandi
campi trincerati, destinati a servire come basi di operazione, per
condurre a termine la conquista dell’interno; nel tempo stesso un
altro esercito, varcato il Reno, avanzerebbe alla volta dell’Ems;
l’esercito sbarcato sull’Ems, avanzando lentamente, cercherebbe di
dar la mano a quello che verrebbe dal Reno, come a quello che
verrebbe dal Weser: e così mediante larghe vie, fiancheggiate da
fortificazioni, si sarebbero collegati insieme il Reno all’Ems, l’Ems al
Weser e forse anche all’Elba. Ottimo piano, che proteggeva da molti
e grandi rischi gli eserciti invasori. Ma poichè in tal guisa le flottiglie
fluviali romane sarebbero esposte troppo tempo al tempestoso mare
del Nord, Augusto volle aprire un canale tra il Reno e l’Yssel, di
guisa che la flotta romana sarebbe potuta penetrare sicuramente
nello Zuidereee (lago Flevo) e di là nel mare del Nord.
Ma al momento di porre mano a questa spedizione, preparata con
tanta cura, un gran lutto colpì l’impero. Augusto aveva senza
difficoltà ottenuto dal senato il prolungamento per altri cinque anni
dei poteri suoi e di Agrippa, scadenti alla fin dell’anno 13; continuava
alacremente i preparativi per la guerra di Germania, quando al
principio dell’anno 12, nel mese di marzo, pochi giorni dopo che
Augusto era stato eletto anche pontifex maximus in sostituzione di
Lepido morto, e proprio quando la invasione della Germania stava
per cominciare, Agrippa moriva in Campania. La perdita era funesta:
sia perchè Augusto, che aveva voluto spartire con lui il carico e la
responsabilità del potere fu costretto ad assumere di nuovo da solo il
governo della repubblica; sia perchè spariva, proprio al momento in
cui Roma stava per intraprendere una spedizione di capitale
importanza, l’uomo di guerra più sperimentato su cui fare
assegnamento. La morte di Agrippa sembrò infatti indurre Augusto a
rinviare l’impresa germanica. Lì per lì Augusto si restrinse a spedir
Tiberio nella Pannonia, che si era ribellata, e soltanto nella seconda
metà dell’anno si risolvè a riprendere il disegno della guerra in
Germania, incaricandone Druso, che era allora un giovane
propretore di 26 anni. Eseguendo il piano lungamente preparato da
Agrippa, Druso, con una parte delle truppe, discese il corso del
Reno, entrò nello Zuidersee, penetrando così nel cuore del paese
dei Frisoni (la moderna Olanda): di lì uscì con la flotta nel Mare del
Nord ed imboccò l’Ems, sbarcando, a un certo punto del corso del
fiume, una parte delle sue forze. Quindi ridiscendeva il fiume, e
tentava, come sembra, di ripetere sul Weser l’operazione già
compiuta sull’Ems, ma senza riuscirvi, questa volta; anzi scampando
a stento a un naufragio. Alla fine dell’anno 12, egli era di ritorno in
Gallia.
Queste operazioni non erano che il prologo della vera campagna,
che doveva incominciare l’anno seguente e che doveva consistere,
secondo il piano di Augusto, in una lenta, metodica e graduale
invasione. Nella primavera dell’11, Druso doveva con un esercito
risalire la valle della Lippe sulla riva destra, mirando a ricongiungersi
nell’alta valle con le altre forze romane sbarcate sulle rive dell’Ems,
che a loro volta risalirebbero la valle di questo fiume. Alla confluenza
della Lippe con un fiume, che gli storici antichi chiamano Aliso,
doveva fondare una grande fortezza e collegarla al Reno con una
strada e una catena di fortezze minori. Era questo il compito
tracciato a Druso per quell’anno. Druso risalì vittoriosamente la valle
della Lippe e si ricongiunse felicemente con l’esercito che aveva
risalito l’Ems: ma appena operata la congiunzione, osò fare uno
strappo al prudente piano di Augusto e di Agrippa. Le popolazioni
germaniche essendo in guerra tra loro, egli giudicò che l’ardimento
poteva fruttar questa volta assai più che un lungo e prudente
guerreggiare. Raccolse in fretta dei viveri, attraversò il paese dei
Sicambri che era deserto perchè i maschi adulti si erano gettati sul
paese dei Catti; invase il territorio dei Tencteri che si sottomisero;
indi, come attingendo nuovo coraggio dalla propria audacia, avanzò
nel paese dei Catti e costrinse questi e i Sicambri con cui essi
combattevano, a riconoscere la signoria romana. Ma la mancanza di
vettovaglie e la sterilità del paese lo costrinsero presto a ritirarsi
verso la Lippe. Senonchè nel ritorno cadde in un’imboscata, e per
poco non fu annientato insieme col suo esercito. Sfuggito per
miracolo a tanto rischio, e giunto di nuovo alla Lippe, riprese il piano
di Augusto; e ordinò la costruzione del castellum, al quale si sarebbe
dato il nome di Aliso; quindi, tornato in Gallia, decise di erigere un
altro castellum sul Reno, probabilmente quello che doveva un giorno
essere Coblenza.
Il terzo anno della guerra — l’anno 10 a. C. — sembra essere
passato abbastanza tranquillo, senza grandi eventi. È probabile i
Germani non si mossero, e che i Romani continuarono alacremente
a costruire i due castelli, incominciati l’anno prima. Certo è che
Druso potè in quell’anno venire a Roma; e a Roma brigare e
ottenere il consolato per l’anno 9. Ma prima della fine dell’anno, e
senza aver avuto il tempo di prendere possesso dell’altissima carica,
Druso fu costretto a lasciar Roma e a tornare frettolosamente in
Germania, ove Sicambri, Svevi e Cherusci tentavano di collegarsi
per fare guerra insieme alla Gallia. E l’anno seguente, il 9, la guerra
mutò carattere. Sia che Druso avesse convinto Augusto della
necessità di atterrire con un grande colpo i Germani; sia che di
questa necessità l’avessero convinto gli ambiziosi progetti dei
Sicambri, degli Svevi e dei Cherusci, in quell’anno la Germania fu
invasa davvero e a fondo. Druso si spinse, combattendo, non
sappiamo per quali vie e con quante forze, prima fino al Weser, e poi
fino all’Elba. L’ardita mossa riuscì, perchè i Germani non osarono
attaccarlo in massa. Druso potè scorrazzar da padrone nella
Germania, sino ai primi di agosto, quando, la stagione incalzando, si
volse al ritorno. Ma nel ritorno cadde da cavallo, si ruppe una
gamba; e dopo pochi giorni moriva, in seguito a questa ferita.
La morte di Druso era una disgrazia per la repubblica. Augusto
perdeva, dopo Agrippa, un altro collaboratore fidato, mentre nel
senato e nella aristocrazia cresceva la riluttanza ad assumere le
grandi cariche, e diminuiva il numero degli uomini capaci. I giovani
soprattutto erano restii ad uscir di Roma, a passare lunghi anni nelle
province, ad imparare il duro mestiere della milizia e del comando.
Pare che di nuovo Augusto pensasse di ritirarsi a vita privata sul
finire dell’anno 8, quando i suoi poteri quinquennali scadrebbero.
Erano 20 anni ormai, dalla restaurazione della repubblica, che egli
governava Roma come princeps e avrebbe avuto diritto di riposarsi.
Ma chi poteva occupare il suo posto? Non si sarebbe tutta
l’amministrazione dell’Impero sfasciata, se fosse sparito l’uomo, il
quale pensava a tutto ciò, cui il senato e i magistrati repubblicani non
provvedevano? Il potere personale di Augusto era la necessaria
correzione della decadenza dell’aristocrazia. Gli fu forza quindi,
volente o nolente, di accettare un nuovo prolungamento del suo
potere per 10 anni, e per provvedere alla Germania richiamò l’altro
suo figliastro, Tiberio, che da tre anni combatteva nella Pannonia e
nella Dalmazia; e gli diede l’incarico di terminare la conquista della
Germania. Tiberio era diventato suo genero; poichè nell’11 era stato
costretto da Augusto a ripudiare la moglie, che era figlia di Agrippa,
e a sposare la vedova di Agrippa, che era sua figlia Giulia. Ma
Tiberio non ebbe, l’anno 8, che a passare il Reno alla testa di un
esercito; e tutta la Germania, si arrese. La marcia di Druso dava i
suoi frutti. In soli quattro anni, la Germania era, o almeno pareva,
conquistata dal Reno all’Elba, e la grande impresa, tentata per la
prima volta da Cesare, condotta a compimento dal figlio suo.
Note al Capitolo Ottavo.

37. Cfr. Sen., Qu. nat., 5, 18, 4.

38. Le linee generali di questa ricostruzione dell’opera politica di Augusto,


che rovescia interamente l’incoerente dottrina della diarchia sostenuta
dal Mommsen, sono state lungamente svolte da G. Ferrero,
Grandezza e Decadenza di Roma, voll. IV e V. L’idea capitale di questa
ricostruzione era già stata accennata da E. Meyer, in un breve studio,
Kaiser Augustus, pubblicato in Kleine Schriften, Halle, 1910, p. 441 sg.;
ed è stata da lui ripresa in Caesars Monarchie und das Principat des
Pompeius, Stuttgart, 1918. L’aveva anche presentata il Fustel de
Coulange, La Gaule romaine, Paris, 1901, p. 147 sgg.

39. Su questo punto, importante perchè da esso si deduce il carattere


repubblicano delle rapide carriere di Druso, di Tiberio e degli altri
membri della famiglia di Augusto, cfr. le spiegazioni e le prove più
minute che si trovano in G. Ferrero, Grandezza e Decadenza di
Roma, IV, p. 55.

40. Svet. Aug., 101.

41. Su questi tributi — e i testi che ci si riferiscono — cfr. G. Ferrero,


Grandezza e Decadenza di Roma, IV, p. 127.

42. Sul vero carattere di questa riforma costituzionale, cfr. G. Ferrero,


Grandezza e Decadenza di Roma, IV, p. 177 sg.

43. Si legge nella lex de imperio Vespasiani (C. I. L. VI, 930, 17-19): utique
quaecunque ex usu reipubblicae majestate divinarum huma[na]rum
publicarum privatarumque rerum esse censebit, ei agere facere jus
potestasque sit ita uti divo Augusto.... Le ragioni per cui crediamo
doversi riportare a questo momento il conferimento di questa autorità
quasi illimitata, si trovano esposte in G. Ferrero, Grandezza e
Decadenza di Roma, IV, p. 188.

44. Dion. Cass., 54, 12. Ferrero, Grandezza e Decadenza di Roma, IV, p.
293.
CAPITOLO NONO
LA SUCCESSIONE DI AUGUSTO

50. Il ritiro di Tiberio a Rodi (6 a. C.). — Ma a questo punto


incomincia nella repubblica, una terribile difficoltà, che durerà, si può
dire, sino alla morte di Nerone. Augusto governava la repubblica
come princeps da venti anni. Non si può negare che il concetto così
chiaro e così preciso della restaurazione del 27 a. C. si fosse in quei
venti anni assai intorbidato. L’autorità del princeps che, nella
primitiva riforma, doveva essere temporanea e soltanto sorvegliare e
correggere le istituzioni secolari della repubblica, era ormai diventata
vitalizia, e si era mutata in una alta e universale direzione dello
Stato, che sostituiva il senato invecchiante e decadente. Ma
nessuno se ne lagnava. Augusto si era condotto in quei venti anni
con tanto tatto; aveva reso tali e tanti servizi allo Stato; era ormai
diventato così necessario, aveva acquistato un tale prestigio ridando
la pace all’impero, che nessuno lamentava il suo potere. Ma Augusto
non sarebbe eterno; e già si avvicinava alla sessantina: che cosa
accadrebbe alla sua morte? La gente incominciava a pensarci. C’era
chi sognava che si sarebbe allora, finalmente e per davvero,
restaurata tal quale la antica repubblica senza princeps, ma questi
erano pochi. La gente sperimentata e di senno capiva che, senza un
princeps capace ed energico, il senato e la repubblica non
operavano più. Ma chi poteva essere il secondo princeps? Se si
voleva scegliere l’uomo più attivo, più capace, più sperimentato della
repubblica, non c’era, dopo la morte di Agrippa e di Druso, da
esitare: Tiberio. Ma Tiberio aveva molti nemici. Non era solo un
Claudio orgoglioso, ostinato e severo; ma era anche un
tradizionalista intransigente, un uomo del vecchio stampo, che
voleva Roma governata da una aristocrazia parsimoniosa, austera,
attiva, autoritaria e zelante come quella del terzo secolo a. C. Nella,
nuova generazione cresceva invece il lusso, la ricchezza, il gusto dei
piaceri, l’inclinazione alle raffinatezze e ai vizi dell’Oriente,
l’indifferenza per le faccende politiche e l’avversione per la milizia.
C’era dunque a Roma, nella nobiltà, un partito ostile a Tiberio; e
quanti non avrebbero voluto che la carica suprema di princeps
diventasse proprietà di una famiglia — anche questi non erano pochi
— rinforzavano l’opposizione.
Si aggiunga il matrimonio con Giulia, a cui Augusto aveva costretto
Tiberio dopo la morte di Agrippa. Questo matrimonio fu uno dei
grandi errori di Augusto. Giulia, e Tiberio non andavano e non
potevano andar d’accordo: Giulia, elegante, mondana, amante del
fasto, dei corteggiamenti, della vita libera, rappresentava la nuova
generazione; Tiberio, rigido, intransigente, implacabile contro tutte le
debolezze della jeunesse dorée, rappresentava la generazione
antica. Il dissidio tra i due sposi non tardò a scoppiare, e si intrecciò
con la lotta tra il partito della giovane nobiltà e il vecchio partito
tradizionalista, che incominciava a farsi seria. Pare che Giulia alla
fine tradisse il marito; e si mettesse alla testa di una vera côterie di
giovani nobili, che complottavano per escludere Tiberio dalla
successione eventuale di Augusto con tutti i mezzi, calunniandolo
presso Augusto e fra il popolo, alienando da lui gli amici, e infine
cercando di opporgli dei rivali potenti. Da Agrippa e da Giulia erano
nati parecchi figli, di cui il maggiore aveva allora 14 anni. Essendo
stato adottato da Augusto, si chiamava Caio Cesare. Il partito
nemico di Tiberio pose gli occhi su questo giovinetto, per farne il
rivale di Tiberio; e, dopo aver cercato di aizzarlo contro costui, fece
da parecchi suoi membri proporre ai comizi una legge, per cui Caio
Cesare potesse assumere il consolato, allorchè avrebbe toccato i
venti anni. Il giovinetto, come figlio di Agrippa e figlio adottivo di
Augusto, era molto amato dalla plebe, che ormai si era avvezzata a
queste rapide carriere dei membri della famiglia del princeps. I
nemici di Tiberio contavano su questo sentimento, per fare riuscire la
loro proposta: ma Augusto da principio si oppose con tutta la sua
autorità, comprendendo il pericolo insito in quella mossa dei nemici
di Tiberio. Purtroppo fu facile riscaldare in favore di Caio il popolo,
che amava poco i Claudî, molto i Giulî; Giulia a sua volta non stette
inoperosa; e alla fine Augusto cedè; lasciò che Caio Cesare fosse
nominato console con cinque anni di anticipo. Si affrettò però a dare
a Tiberio un compenso, un grande compenso, facendogli attribuire
per cinque anni la potestà tribunicia, ossia lo fece suo collega, come
era stato Agrippa. Ma Tiberio era un Claudio, un aristocratico, un
uomo tutto di un pezzo, e non tollerò l’affronto per il compenso:
rifiutò l’onore, chiese ad Augusto il permesso di ritirarsi a vita privata
e si recò in volontario esilio nella minuscola isola di Rodi (6 a. C.).
Invano Augusto lo supplicò di restare.

51. La lotta tra i Giulî e i Claudî. — La partenza di Tiberio fu una


grande disgrazia per la repubblica. Augusto rimase solo alla testa
della repubblica, senza disporre più di un collega capace e sicuro; e
l’amministrazione ricadde rapidamente nella confusione e nella
negligenza di un tempo. Quel po’ di ordine che era stato ottenuto
con tanta fatica, in venti anni, viene meno. Le finanze si dissestano
di nuovo, sino al punto che l’erario non può più mantenere gli
impegni presi con l’esercito, alla vigilia della grande spedizione
germanica. Ma Augusto non si risolve nè a studiare, nè a far studiare
una riforma delle imposte, e preferisce, stanco e sfiduciato, vivere
alla giornata, addossando alla propria fortuna personale buona parte
del carico delle pubbliche spese, o trascurando i servizi pubblici. Le
leggi sociali sono ogni giorno meno osservate, e gli esuli, colpiti dalla
legge de adulteriis, abbandonano i luoghi di relegazione, e si
spargono nel festoso Oriente o nell’Occidente, vivendo ovunque
allegramente. La legge de maritandis ordinibus, che colpiva con
tanta durezza i celibatari impenitenti, è elusa facilmente da un
grande numero di matrimoni senza figliuoli, che la legge non
contemplava. Anche l’esercito, non più comandato da un imperator,
che sia tale non soltanto di nome, pericola; le reclute scarseggiano
in Italia; è necessario accrescere continuamente il numero dei corpi
ausiliari, reclutando un numero sempre maggiore di provinciali —
galli, germani, siriaci; la disciplina si allenta, l’istruzione decade.
Ma la maggior pietà dello Stato in rovina era il senato. A quanti
espedienti aveva ricorso Augusto per farlo almeno rivivere alla
meglio! Ora egli l’aveva rinsanguato con elementi nuovi, tratti
dall’ordine dei cavalieri, minacciando di escluder questi dall’ordine
equestre, se non volessero entrare in senato; ora aveva colpito di
crescenti ammende i senatori che non frequentavano le sedute; ora
aveva pensato di ridurre il numero delle sedute obbligatorie, e
rimpicciolito, per quelle che cadevano nei mesi della villeggiatura o
della vendemmia, il numero di senatori che avrebbero dovuto essere
presenti. Aveva infine creato nel senato una più ristretta
Commissione di senatori, estratti a sorte ad assistere, essi soli, nelle
deliberazioni correnti, il presidente, salva poi la ratifica del senato
convocato in adunanza plenaria. Ciò non ostante, i senatori non
venivano, e di ogni affare grave si scaricavano sulle ormai deboli
spalle del principe, stanco ed invecchiato.
Alle difficoltà interne si aggiungono le esterne. La Germania era
abbandonata a sè stessa; nessuno pensava seriamente a darle leggi
e ordinamenti durevoli. In Oriente, l’ordine ristabilito con tanta fatica
nei primi anni del principato, vacillava di nuovo: in Giudea, dopo la
morte del re Erode, avvenuta nel 4 a C., il partito nazionalista aveva
ripreso ad agitarsi, e il governatore della Siria, Quintilio Varo, aveva
dovuto accorrere con grandi forze; nell’impero dei Parti, a Fraate,
morto nel 3 a. C., era successo Fraatace, il quale, all’opposto del
padre, era ostile a Roma, aveva occupato l’Armenia e scacciato il re
riconosciuto e protetto dalla repubblica.
È probabile che Tiberio avesse fatto assegnamento su tutte queste
difficoltà, le quali costringerebbero un giorno o l’altro Augusto a
richiamarlo a Roma. Ma Augusto, che sembra aver sempre stimato
più che amato Tiberio, era stato molto irritato dal suo ritiro; e, dopo la
sua partenza, si era accostato al partito della giovine nobiltà,
avverso a Tiberio e ai tradizionalisti, cercando di governar l’impero
con questo. Aveva fatto ricoprire di onori Caio Cesare, ne aveva
accelerata la carriera, aveva fatto concedere gli stessi onori e
privilegi al fratello suo Lucio; aveva mostrato di voler considerare
questi due giovani come i due soli aiuti e collaboratori, sui quali
ormai facesse assegnamento. A sua volta il partito tradizionalista, di
cui Livia, la madre di Tiberio, sembra essere stato l’anima, cercava
di combattere la potenza crescente del partito avverso, e di far
richiamare Tiberio. Di qui intrighi, lotte, cabale, scandali. Uno di
questi scandali travolse, nel 2 a. C., Giulia. Pare che il partito
tradizionalista, avendo capito che Tiberio non ritornerebbe a Roma
finchè Giulia non ne fosse scacciata, sia riuscito a procurarsi le
prove del suo adulterio e che uno dei suoi membri l’abbia denunciato
in base alla lex de adulteriis, fatta approvare da Augusto nell’anno
18. Secondo questa legge, quando il marito non voleva o non
poteva, il padre doveva punire la adultera. Il marito, Tiberio, non era
a Roma. Augusto dovè, in forza della sua stessa legge, colpire la
figlia; e la esiliò a Pandataria. Ma non per questo si riconciliò con
Tiberio: e quando finalmente nell’anno 1 dell’era volgare si risolse a
mandare un esercito in Oriente, per cercar di venire ad un accordo
con i Parti, ne diede il comando a Caio Cesare, che era un giovinetto
inesperto, e lo fece accompagnare, perchè gli fossero guide e
maestri, da acerbi nemici di Tiberio.
Così la fortuna di Tiberio pareva essere stata spezzata per sempre
dall’errore commesso nell’anno 6, uscendo di Roma. Il partito
avverso, avendo per sè Augusto, era così potente quanto
implacabile. Solo nell’anno 2 dell’êra volgare, per l’intercessione di
Livia, egli potè ottenere di ritornare a Roma, a condizione però di
restare in disparte e di vivere come un privato. Ma a questo punto la
fortuna, che lo aveva per otto anni perseguitato, si volse di nuovo in
suo favore. In quello stesso anno Lucio Cesare moriva di malattia; e
sedici mesi più tardi, al principio dell’anno 4, moriva in Oriente, in
seguito a una ferita, il fratello suo Caio. Queste morti precoci erano
troppo utili alla causa di Tiberio, perchè la gente non dovesse
sospettare la mano di Livia: ma senza nessuna seria ragione. Le
grandi famiglie non furono mai esenti dal pagare anch’esse con
morti precoci il tributo alla natura. Ad ogni modo, dopo l’esilio di
Giulia, il partito avverso a Tiberio perdeva i due uomini
rappresentativi su cui faceva assegnamento; Augusto restava di
nuovo solo, senza collaboratori validi; la situazione in Oriente si
aggravava di nuovo, e, quel che è peggio, delle rivolte
incominciavano in Germania. Il partito di Tiberio rialzò la testa;
domandò ad alta voce che si richiamasse agli affari quello che era il
miglior generale, e, dopo Augusto, il politico più sperimentato del suo
tempo. Ma Augusto resistè ancora. Finalmente, quando la rivolta
parve divampare più minacciosa che mai in Germania, il partito di
Tiberio perdè la pazienza; e sembra avere addirittura tramato una
congiura, per vincere le ostinate riluttanze del vecchio Augusto, i cui
poteri presidenziali erano stati frattanto prolungati, l’anno prima, per
dieci anni. È la famosa congiura, che ebbe a capo un nipote di
Pompeo, Cornelio Cinna. Quale ne fosse il vero scopo, non
sappiamo; sappiamo solo che, scoperta la congiura, Augusto si
affrettò a perdonare ai congiurati e a richiamare Tiberio al governo. Il
26 giugno del 4 dell’êra volgare egli lo adottava come figlio, e gli
faceva, dai comizi, conferire la potestà tribunicia per dieci anni.
Nuovamente, dunque, la repubblica aveva due capi, come allorchè
Agrippa viveva; e di essi l’uno, il più attivo, il più giovane, era un
Claudio, il più puro rappresentante del partito tradizionalista e
conservatore.

52. Il governo di Augusto e di Tiberio (5-14 d. C.). — Da questo


momento, e non dalla morte di Augusto, comincia il governo,
destinato a diventare tristamente famoso, di Tiberio. N’è prova chiara
e precisa il contrasto fra il periodo che si chiude e quello che ora
comincia. Il decennio seguente è una grandiosa illustrazione della
dottrina, che Tiberio professava sul governo della repubblica.
Con grande risolutezza, Tiberio dà subito mano a due imprese: la
riforma dell’esercito e la repressione della rivolta germanica. L’una
era legata all’altra. Ma la riforma militare necessitava una riforma
delle finanze, poichè sarebbe costata molto danaro. D’onde trarre il
danaro occorrente? I due presidenti pensano di dare un nuovo giro
al torchio delle leggi sociali e di ritogliere all’Italia il vecchio privilegio
dell’immunità tributaria. Con una lex Julia caducaria, i coniugati
senza figli — gli orbi — sono ora assimilati ai celibatarî, e incorrono
nella stessa inferiorità legale. Inoltre le eredità lasciate loro contro la
legge vanno devolute, non più agli altri eredi, ma al pubblico
erario [45]. Infine con l’indizione di un censimento di tutti i cittadini che
possedessero più di 200.000 sesterzi, si comincia a preparare l’Italia
ad una nuova imposta.
Ma contemporaneamente l’esercito è rinforzato di due nuove
legioni [46], e la vecchia e decadente legge militare di Augusto,
riformata. Il servizio è di nuovo prolungato a venti anni per i legionari,
e a quattordici per i pretoriani, come in antico. Alla fine del servizio
gli uni e gli altri avrebbero ricevuto un premio in danaro ed una
pensione, per provvedere alla quale si sarebbe organizzata una
cassa particolare (5 d. C.).
Dopo di ciò Tiberio, che già aveva fatta una prima corsa in
Germania, ci tornava, per ripetere la grande spedizione di Druso, sul
vecchio piano di Agrippa. La flotta discese per il Reno e, per il
canale di Druso, nel Mar del nord, costeggiò la importuosa penisola
del Jutland, l’antico paese dei Cimbri; imboccò l’Elba, e rimontò il
corso del fiume. Nel tempo stesso l’esercito di terra marciò dal Reno
all’Elba per circa 400 miglia, ora ricevendo gli omaggi dei popoli, che
attraversava, ora combattendo e domando i più restii, come avvenne
dei Longobardi. Alla fine, flotta ed esercito si incontrarono, e i
barbari, che si affollavano minacciosi sulla riva destra del fiume,
preferirono, dinanzi a tanto spettacolo di forza, scendere a patti con
gl’invasori.
Tiberio poteva tornare a Roma a cercare, con nuove imposte, il
denaro, necessario per applicare la nuova legge militare. Al suo
arrivo i due presidenti, dopo aver versato del proprio, nel nuovo
tesoro, 170 milioni di sesterzi, riuscirono a far approvare una legge
che imponeva una tassa del 5% a favore della cassa per le pensioni
militari sulle eredità dei cittadini romani. La legge, che risparmiava le
piccole eredità o i legati destinati ai poveri, era savia. Ma il
malcontento che suscitò tra le classi ricche fu grande; e si sfogò
contro Tiberio, che si sapeva essere l’autore vero della legge.
Tiberio, come al solito, poco curò questi mormorii; e al principio del 6
tornava in Germania per compiere l’ultima parte del suo piano.
Parecchi anni prima, fuggendo l’invasione di Druso, i Marcomanni
avevano emigrato nella moderna Boemia, e qui, sotto il re Marbod,
avevano creato uno Stato potente, che ancora non aveva
riconosciuto il dominio romano, e che in ogni modo poteva diventare
un forte appoggio per la Germania in rivolta. Tiberio voleva
sottometterlo o ridurlo sotto il protettorato romano, minacciando
d’invadere il regno da due lati: da occidente, attraverso il paese dei
Catti, e da mezzogiorno, attraverso la Pannonia. Ma l’impresa era
appena avviata, che Pannoni e Dalmati si sollevavano ancora una
volta, e trucidavano i piccoli presidî romani, insieme con gli stranieri,
che già, per ragioni di commercio, avevano da tempo cominciato a
penetrarvi.

53. La catastrofe di Varo in Germania (9 d. C.). — L’insurrezione


pannonica e dalmatica era dunque cosa grave, ma a Roma essa
parve un pericolo tremendo, giacchè Pannonia e Dalmazia erano
alle spalle dell’Italia. Si temè perfino una nuova irruzione di Cimbri e
Teutoni nella penisola, mentre s’era detto che i veri Cimbri erano
stati assoggettati da Tiberio!
Ma Tiberio non era uomo dai perdere facilmente la testa, e, senza
lasciare a mezzo l’impresa incominciata, rinunziò solo all’idea di una
conquista, si contentò di conchiudere un accordo con Marbod; indi
tornò verso la Pannonia. Non però con l’intenzione di sterminare con
un colpo solo, come in Roma gli strateghi del Foro reclamavano a
gran voce, l’insurrezione; sibbene, come la natura delle milizie, di cui
egli disponeva, e quella del nemico e del paese consigliavano, per
opporre alla guerriglia degli indigeni, la guerriglia dei legionari
romani, alimentata dall’esterno.
Alla fine dell’8, la Pannonia era pacificata. Ma lo sforzo era stato
grande. Roma aveva dovuto arruolare veterani, liberti, stranieri,
perfino schiavi tolti ai privati. Con questa moltitudine raccogliticcia
Tiberio aveva dovuto soffocare nel suo stesso focolare
l’insurrezione. Non è quindi da stupire che gli sia stato necessario un
certo tempo. Ma la notizia della vittoria era appena giunta in Roma, e
già si cominciavano a decretare gli onori del trionfo al generale,
quando una notizia terribile sopravveniva dalle rive del Reno: la
Germania, sollevatasi, aveva sorpreso e trucidato le forze romane
stanziate sul suo territorio; lo stesso luogotenente di Augusto,
Quintilio Varo, s’era dato la morte piuttosto che cader vivo nelle mani
del nemico. La ferma volontà di romanizzare la Germania, che
Tiberio, ritornando al governo, aveva manifestata, insieme con le
notizie, che giungevano dalla Pannonia, avevano ridesto il paese. La
Germania aveva avuto il suo Vercingetorige — Arminio — anche egli
amico di Varo e cittadino romano, per giunta. Con abile mossa, i
Germani avevano indotto il generale ad avanzare nel cuore del
paese, e qui, nella misteriosa foresta di Teutoburgo, tra la Lippe e il
Weser, ove oggi un colossale ma bruttissimo monumento si leva in
onore, più che di Arminio, del germanesimo, Varo era stato sorpreso,
e le sue legioni — il fiore dell’esercito romano — distrutte (settembre
od ottobre 9 d. C.) [47].

54. La morte di Augusto (14 d. C.). — La rotta di Varo non era


calamità irreparabile. Un così grande impero poteva perdere alcune
legioni senza vacillare sulle sue fondamenta. Tiberio, infatti, accorse
sul Reno, potè subito mostrare agli elementi inquieti della Gallia che,
se i Germani erano in grado di distruggere per sorpresa le
guarnigioni romane, non potevano presumere di varcare il Reno e di
attaccare le province più floride dell’Impero. Ma la rotta di Varo, se
non distrusse, infiacchì molto nel governo romano la volontà di
estendere il dominio romano oltre il Reno e il Danubio. Non solo
Augusto, ma anche Tiberio si persuase, dopo quella sventura,
essere più saggio, per Roma, non varcare i due fiumi: onde per molti
anni la politica germanica di Roma sarà consigliata da una
prudenza, che traccerà definitivamente al Reno e al Danubio i confini
dell’impero in Europa. E non avendo Roma avuto la forza di varcare
il Reno e il Danubio per sottomettere i Germani, verrà il giorno in cui
i Germani varcheranno il Reno e il Danubio per distruggere l’Impero!
Ma nè Angusto nè Tiberio potevano vedere così lontano
nell’avvenire; essi dovevano giudicare alla stregua delle necessità
del tempo, e alla stregua di queste necessità, appariva prudente non
richiedere all’Italia uno sforzo troppo grande. Comunque sia, la
disfatta di Varo fu l’ultimo grande dolore della lunga vita di Augusto,
che ormai volgeva alla fine. Nell’anno 13 i poteri quinquennali di
Augusto e di Tiberio venendo a finire, furono ancora rinnovati, ma
per l’ultima volta: l’anno dopo, il 14, vecchio di 77 anni, Augusto
moriva, il 19 agosto, a Nola.
Quale giudizio si deve dare dell’opera sua? Certo il suo disegno di
restaurare la repubblica aristocratica, dopo averla tanto guasta e
malconcia con il triumvirato, fallì. La repubblica, nella quale egli
voleva infondere una nuova vita, si mummificò sotto le sue mani, in
un governo equivoco, contraddittorio, debole e rigido nel tempo
stesso, in cui la sua persona e il suo prestigio furono il massimo
sostegno dell’autorità. Le istituzioni della repubblica, dal senato ai
comizi, non erano ormai più quasi, alla fine della sua vita, che una
finzione. Basti dire che, l’anno precedente alla sua morte, il senato
aveva deliberato che ogni anno si sceglierebbero venti senatori, e
che tutte le deliberazioni prese da Augusto, d’accordo con questi
venti senatori, con Tiberio, con i consoli designati, con i suoi figli
adottivi e tutti i cittadini, che Augusto giudicherebbe utile di
consultare, avrebbero valore di senatus consulto! Il senato abdicava!
Si deve dunque conchiudere, che l’opera di Augusto sia stata sterile
e vana? No. Egli ebbe due grandi meriti. Se non riuscì a rianimarli,
riuscì a salvare dalla distruzione il principio aristocratico e
repubblicano secondo il quale l’impero non era, come nelle
monarchie, la proprietà di una dinastia, ma la proprietà unica e
indivisibile del popolo romano, che una aristocrazia di grandi
famiglie, educate secondo l’antica tradizione, aveva sola il diritto di
amministrare. Salvati da Augusto, il principio, la repubblica, il senato,
la aristocrazia risusciteranno tra un secolo, in maniera inaspettata e
singolare, compiendo nel vasto impero la fusione dell’ellenismo e del
romanismo. Il secondo merito di Augusto sta nell’aver fatto
fruttificare la conquista della Gallia compiuta dai Cesare e nell’aver
divinato che l’avvenire dell’impero era più in Occidente che in
Oriente. Fino a Cesare, Roma aveva guardato dalla parte d’Oriente,
sognato di rifare l’impero di Alessandro. In questo sogno Antonio si
era perduto. Augusto abbandona le grandi ambizioni orientali, e,
dopo alcune esitazioni, volge risolutamente i suoi sforzi verso il Reno
e il Danubio. Egli tenta anzi addirittura la conquista della Germania;
e in questa impresa fallisce; ma in compenso conquista le Alpi,
stabilisce solidamente il confine dell’Impero a quei due grandi fiumi,
e promuove alacremente la romanizzazione e lo sviluppo della Gallia
e della Spagna. Gli effetti di questa politica durano oggi ancora;
perchè, se ci fu una politica che avesse in sè una grandezza
mondiale, fu proprio quella. Per quella politica, anche l’Europa entra
nella storia della civiltà, che sino ad allora era quasi tutta e soltanto
stata occupata dall’Oriente o dalle piccole nazioni fiorite sulle
estreme propaggini meridionali del continente europeo. Per quella
politica, tra la civiltà decrepita dell’Oriente e la civiltà nascente
dell’Occidente, l’Italia e Roma potranno conservare ancora per tre
secoli la corona conquistata con tante guerre. Chè senza il vigoroso
sviluppo delle province occidentali, il centro dell’Impero si sarebbe
spostato verso l’Oriente. Roma e l’Italia, poste ai confini della
barbarie, non avrebbero potuto per secoli essere, l’una la capitale,
l’altra la nazione predominante di un impero, le cui più ricche,
popolose e floride province erano in Asia ed in Africa.
Note al Capitolo Nono.

45. Su questa legge, cfr. Ferrero, Grandezza e Decadenza di Roma, V, p.


320.

46. Cfr. Pfitzner, Geschichte der römischen Kaiserlegionen von Augustus


bis Hadrianus, Leipzig, 1881.

47. Sulla catastrofe di Varo le opere più recenti sono Gailly de Taurines,
Les legions de Varus, Paris, 1911; e W. A. Oldfather and H. Vernon
Canter, The defeat of Varus and the German frontier Policy of
Augustus, in University of Illinois Studies, 1915.
CAPITOLO DECIMO
TIBERIO [48]

(14-37 d. C.)

55. Tiberio imperatore: per quali motivi fu eletto (14 d. C.). —


Morto Augusto, a capo dello Stato restava provvisoriamente il figlio
adottivo e collega nell’impero, Tiberio. Provvisoriamente, ossia
sinchè il senato non avesse deliberato; perchè la suprema autorità
della repubblica non era punto un bene ereditario della famiglia. Se
molti pensavano e reputavano necessario che Tiberio succedesse
ad Augusto, altri avevano in mente nomi più graditi; altri, se non
sapevano chi indicare in sua vece, avevano paura di Tiberio
imperatore, ed egli stesso conosceva troppo bene sè stesso e i
tempi suoi, da desiderare alla leggiera il carico dell’impero. Gli amici
di Giulia, tutto il partito, che gli aveva opposto Cajo Cesare, quanti
erano stati lesi dalle ultime leggi sociali e finanziarie, temevano la
sua rigidezza, non lo volevano imperatore. Il governare con questa
opposizione, nascosta ma tenace, non era cosa facile. Non è quindi
difficile spiegare come Tiberio stesso esitasse.
Senonchè le difficoltà in cui si trovava impegnato l’impero oltre i
confini dovevano sospingere il senato verso Tiberio, e Tiberio verso
quello che egli chiamava il «mostro» indomabile dell’impero. La
Germania, la Pannonia e l’Illiria minacciavano — o parevano ancora
minacciare — di ignoti pericoli l’Italia. In Oriente, da parecchi anni la
potenza romana declinava in Armenia; i re amici di Roma erano

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