Removal of Phenols from Synthetic Wastewater by Horseradish Peroxidase (HRP)

Abstract

Plant peroxidase has a solid potential to remove phenol from wastewater. However, large-scale use of these enzymes for phenol removal requires a source of cheap, abundant, and easily accessible peroxidase-containing material. In this study, the horseradish peroxidase (HRP) removes the phenolic compound from the phenolic environment. The enzymatic method was used to show a reduction of toxicity between the treated and untreated phenolic solution. The HRP, with the addition of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂)_, reacted with the phenolic compound and produced a treated solution containing about 20% of phenol compared to the initial acidic solution. The concentration of the treated solution was then determined using UV-Vis and FTIR spectroscopy. The effects of treating the acidic solution with HRP enzyme and H₂O₂ were studied. The HRP enzyme decreases the amount of phenol present in an acidic solution by 80 %. The most effective concentrations for treating the acidic solution were HRP at 1.0 M and 1.0 M of H₂O₂ at neutral pH.