Effects of photocatalysis on biological decolorization reactor and biological activity of isolated photosynthetic bacteria

In the treatment of synthetic dye wastewater by photosynthetic bacteria under optical irradiation, excessive algal growth and adhesion on the wall of the reactor has been a severe problem. A laboratory scale flow-through model reactor with thin film photocatalysis for improving the efficiency of optical irradiation and controlling algal adhesion is presented. The system showed the efficiency of continuous biodegradation of dye was improved significantly by thin film photocatalysis. Moreover, the effects of photocatalysis on the color removal activity and the growth of isolated photosynthetic bacteria were investigated in batch experiment. Although photocatalytic reactions of TiO2 could inhibit the growth of isolated photosynthetic bacteria, the negative effects of photocatalysis on photosynthetic bacterial growth and decolorant activity were negligible under UV+FL irradiation. These results implicate the possibility of using thin film photocatalysis for controlling algal adhesion and enhancing the decolorant efficiency of photosynthetic bacteria.