The Effect of PH on the Phytoremediation of Malachite Green and Cadmium Using Duckweed

Gae, Wei Chyn (2022) The Effect of PH on the Phytoremediation of Malachite Green and Cadmium Using Duckweed. Final Year Project (Bachelor), Tunku Abdul Rahman University College.

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Abstract

Phytoremediation is an effective method to remove contamination such as dyes, heavy metals from the wastewater by using plants. Duckweed is a free–floating aquatic plant that can be used in phytoremediation due to its potential to accumulate waste contaminants, easy to grow and can grow rapidly in a short time. This project aims to study the potential of duckweed to remove malachite green and cadmium. The effect of the dye and cadmium on growth rate was also examined. The collected duckweed with a mass of 0.5g was added into each 10 mg/L malachite green solution and each 10 mg/L cadmium solution at pH 5, 6, 7, 8. The absorbance and concentration of both media were measured and the growth rate of duckweed in both media was observed and calculated after 12 days in malachite green and after 3 days in cadmium. The removal efficiency of duckweed in 10 mg/L malachite green at pH 6 and 8 showed a significant difference between them. The 10 mg/L malachite green at pH 8 had the highest removal percentage of 94.14% ± 0.56 (p < 0.05). The growth rate of duckweed in pH 5, 6, 7, 8 showed a decline in 10 mg/L malachite green with p > 0.05 which indicated that the malachite green solutions at pH 5, 6, 7, 8 were toxic to the duckweed. The removal efficiency of duckweed in 10 mg/L cadmium at pH 5 and 6 showed a significant difference between them. The 10 mg/L cadmium with pH 6 had a removal percentage of 41.26% ± 0.634 (p < 0.05), which was the highest. The results show cadmium was toxic and it had a negative effect