Use of Cassia javahikai seed gum and gum-g-polyacrylamide as coagulant aid for the decolorization of textile dye solutions

Investigations were carried out for possible exploitation of Cassia javahikai seeds as potential source of commercial gum for the textile wastewater treatment. Graft copolymerization with acrylamide was done to modify the seed gum for the favorable properties. C javahikai seed gum, and its copolymer grafted with acrylamide were synthesized in the presence of oxygen using potassium persulphate/ascorbic acid redox system. Both C javahikai seed gum (CJ) and its grafted-polyacrylamide (CJG), were found to be good working substitutes as coagulant aids in conjunction with PAC, for the decolorization of all the dyes in varying ratios. CJ and CJG alone could effectively decolorize direct dyes (DBR and DO) and in conjunction with a very low dose of PAC could decolorize all the dyes (DBR, DO, ASR, and PBB) to more than 70%. Grafting also increased the decolorizing ability of CJ gum. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.