Simultaneous action of surfactant modified sugarcane bagasse: Adsorbent and antibacterial agent

Simultaneous action of surfactant modified sugarcane bagasse (SBH) for dye adsorption and antibacterial activity were investigated. SBH was subjected for adsorption of cationic dye, methylene blue (MB) and anionic dye, methyl orange (MO). Antibacterial activity of SBH was tested against gram negative bacterium ( Escherichia coli ATCC11229) and gram positive bacteria ( Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212 and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC6538). SBH was prepared by reacting sugarcane bagasse (SB) with different concentrations of cationic surfactant, hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide HDTMA-Br) (0.1, 1.0 and 4.0 mM). The adsorbed amount of HDTMA-Br onto SBH was determined after modification process. SB and SBH were structurally characterized by FTIR spectroscopy. Results from simultaneous action study demonstrated that SB showed adsorption affinity towards MB and MO while the antibacterial activity of SB increased after the surfactant modification reaction. SB modified with 4.0 mM of HDTMA-Br (SBH4.0) exhibited the highest adsorption capacity and antibacterial activity. SBH demonstrated excellent antibacterial activity against gram negative in comparison to gram positive bacteria. In conclusion, the modification of SB with high concentration of HDTMA-Br enhanced the simultaneous action of cationic and anionic dye adsorption and the antibacterial activity against gram negative bacteria.