Biodecolorization of Azo Dye Remazol Orange by Pseudomonas aeruginosa BCH and Toxicity (Oxidative Stress) Reduction in Allium cepa Root Cells

In this report a textile azo dye Remazol orange was degraded and detoxified by bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa BCH in plain distilled water. This bacterial decolorization performance was found to be pH and temperature dependent with maximum decolorization observed at pH 8 and temperature 30 °C. Bacterium tolerated higher dye concentrations up to 400 mg?l^?1. Effect of initial cell mass showed that higher cell mass concentration can accelerate decolorization process with maximum of 92 % decolorization observed at 2.5 g?l^?1 cell mass within 6.5 h. Effect of various metal ions showed Mn has inducing effect whereas Zn strongly inhibited the decolorization process at 5 mM concentration. Analysis of biodegradation products carried out with UV–vis spectroscopy, HPTLC and FTIR confirmed the decolorization and degradation of Remazol orange. Possible route for the degradation of dye was proposed based on GC-MS analysis. During toxicological scrutiny in Allium cepa root cells, induction in the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), guaiacol peroxidase (GPX) and inhibition of catalase (CAT) along with raised levels of lipid peroxidation and protein oxidation in dye treated samples were detected which conclusively indicated the generation of oxidative stress. Less toxic nature of the dye degraded products was observed after bacterial treatment.     

In Silico and in Vitro Physicochemical Screening of Rigidoporus sp. Crude Laccase-assisted Decolorization of Synthetic Dyes—Approaches for a Cost-effective Enzyme-based Remediation Methodology

The objective of this paper is to compare in silico data with wet lab physicochemical properties of crude laccase enzyme isolated from Rigidoporus sp. using wheat bran as solid substrate support towards dye decolorization. Molecular docking analysis of selected nine textile and non-textile dyes were performed using laccase from Rigidoporus lignosus as reference protein. Enzyme-based remediation methodology using crude enzyme enriched from solid state fermentation was applied to screen the effect of four influencing variables such as pH, temperature, dye concentration, and incubation time toward dye decolorization. The extracellular crude enzyme decolorized 69.8 % Acid Blue 113, 45.07 % Reactive Blue 19, 36.61 % Reactive Orange 122, 30.55 % Acid Red 88, 24.59 % Direct Blue 14, 18.48 % Reactive Black B, 16.49 % Reactive Blue RGB, and 11.66 % Acid Blue 9 at 100 mg/l dye concentration at their optimal pH at room temperature under static and dark conditions after 1 h of incubation without addition of any externally added mediators. Our wet lab studies approach, barring other factors, validate in silico for screening and ranking textile dyes based on their proximity to the T1 site. We are reporting for the first time a combinatorial approach involving in silico methods and wet lab-based crude laccase-mediated dye decolorization without any external mediators.     

Synthesis,Characterization, and Catalytic Activity of New Cu(II) Complexes of Schiff Base: Effective Catalysts for Decolorization of Acid Red 37 Dye Solution

In this paper, three new Cu(II) Schiff base complexes with three different anions (acetate, chloride, and nitrate) were successfully synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, mass spectra, molar conductance, FT‐IR, NMR,UV–vis spectroscopy, magnetic moment, ESR, and thermal analysis. The catalytic performances of these complexes in decolorization of azo dye, Acid Red 37, were evaluated. Copper(II) complexes were found to be an efficient catalyst for decolorization of Acid Red 37 in the presence of hydrogen peroxide. The catalytic investigation revealed that the Cu(II) complex with acetate anion (complex 1 ) performed the highest catalytic activity. The kinetics of the decolorization of AR37 with this catalyst was studied, and the observed rate constant was determined. The effects of different reaction parameters such as catalyst dosage, solution pH, initial concentration of H₂O₂, dye solution, and reaction temperature on the reaction rate constant were studied. The best reacting conditions should be catalyst dosage = 0.004 g, initial pH 4.0, [H₂O₂]₀ = 0.8 M, and [AR37]₀ = 1.16 M at temperature 25°C. Under these conditions, about 99% of AR37 was decolorized within 60 min. The results indicated that the Cu(II) complex with the acetate anion is a promising catalyst for wastewater treatment.     

Optimization of the oxalate catalyzed photoelectro-Fenton process under visible light for removal of Reactive Red 195 using a carbon paper cathode

The decolorization of Reactive Red 195 (RR195) by the oxalate catalyzed photoelectro-Fenton (PEF) process using carbon paper electrode as a cathode under visible light was studied. Comparison between electro-Fenton (EF), PEF, and PEF/oxalate processes for the removal of RR195 showed that color removal follows in decreasing order: PEF/oxalate > PEF > EF. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to determine the effects of the four main independent parameters (initial dye, oxalate and Fe³⁺ concentrations, and reaction time) on decolorization efficiency. A high coefficient of determination value (R ² = 0.963) has resulted from the analysis of variance (ANOVA). The optimum values of the initial Fe³⁺ concentration, the initial amount of oxalate, the initial dye concentration, and the reaction time were found to be 0.3 mM, 0.6 mM, 20 mg/L, and 120 min, respectively. A high decolorization efficiency (>93 %) was experimentally obtained for RR195 under the established optimum conditions. The response surface plots were employed to establish the effect of experimental parameters on the decolorization efficiency. These results clearly indicated the success of RSM as a suitable method for optimizing the operating conditions. The mineralization of the dye was investigated by total organic carbon (TOC) measurement. 96.2 % mineralization of 50 mg/L RR195 was observed at 9 h.     

Bacterial synthesis of magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles: Decolorization Acid Red 88 using FeNPs/Ca-Alg beads

The research studied the bacterial synthesis of magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (FeNPs), their biological activity, and the biodegradation efficiency of Acid Red 88. An iron-resistant bacterial strain S2 was isolated from Choghart iron mine soil and selected to synthesize FeNPs. The phylogenetic analysis depended on 16S rDNA sequence comparison resolution and showed that strain S2 was 99.68% similar to Bacillus zhangzhouensis. FeNPs were identified by UV–Vis, FTIR, and XRD spectroscopy. SEM-EDX conclusions corroborated the size of FeNPs in the range of 20–70 nm in the rhombus form. The finding indicated that FeNPs had antimicrobial activity on tested bacteria. According to the brine shrimp lethality (BSL) test, FeNPs showed great anticancer activity with LC₅₀ value of 0.5 μg/ml. The biodegradation of Acid Red 88 was investigated separately by FeNPs/Ca-Alg beads and FeNPs powder. FeNPs/Ca-Alg beads decolorized Acid Red 88 with 100% efficiency after 24 h, while FeNPs powder decolorized Acid Red 88 with 100% efficiency after 72 h. Moreover, Ca-Alg beads were applied as control and could not decolorize the dye. Decolorization of Acid Red 88 using FeNPs/Ca-Alg beads was investigated by GC/MS analysis. In this analysis, no mass was found related to the initial mass of Acid Red 88. According to these conclusions, it can be inferred that the dye is completely decomposed. The toxicity of Acid Red 88 dye, and the decolorization products, was assessed using BSL and phytotoxicity test. The conclusions determined that Acid Red 88 dye had toxicity effect. Further, the decolorization products could not kill half of the shrimp due to their low toxicity and did not inhibit the germination of radish seeds.     

Hydrothermal synthesis and characterization of Nd-doped ZnSe nanoparticles with enhanced visible light photocatalytic activity

In the present study, Nd³⁺-doped ZnSe nanoparticles with variable Nd contents were successfully synthesized via a hydrothermal process using Neodymium (III) chloride hexahydrate as the doping source. X-ray diffraction, UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy were used for characterization of the synthesized nanoparticles. It was confirmed by the DRS analysis that both of the undoped and Nd-doped ZnSe samples had significant optical absorption in the visible light range. The photocatalytic performance of as-synthesized nanoparticles was investigated towards the decolorization of C. I. Acid Orange 7 solution under visible light irradiation. Results indicated that the loading of Nd dopant into ZnSe nanoparticles significantly enhanced the photocatalytic activity of pure ZnSe with increasing Nd loading up to 6 mol% (color removal efficiency of 24.31 % for ZnSe and 84.20 % for Nd_0.06Zn_0.94Se after 120 min of treatment) and then the photocatalytic activity began to decrease.     

Thermokinetic Comparison of Trypan Blue Decolorization by Free Laccase and Fungal Biomass

Free laccase and fungal biomass from white-rot fungi were compared in the thermokinetics study of the laccase-catalyzed decolorization of an azo dye, i.e., Trypan Blue. The decolorization in both systems followed a first-order kinetics. The apparent first-order rate constant, k ₁′, value increases with temperature. Apparent activation energy of decolorization was similar for both systems at ～22 kJ mol^?1, while energy for laccase inactivation was 18 kJ mol^?1. Although both systems were endothermic, fungal biomass showed higher enthalpy, entropy, and Gibbs free energy changes for the decolorization compared to free laccase. On the other hand, free laccase showed reaction spontaneity over a wider range of temperature (ΔT?=?40 K) as opposed to fungal biomass (ΔT?=?15 K). Comparison of entropy change (ΔS) values indicated metabolism of the dye by the biomass.     

Application of Nanocrystalline Iranian Diatomite in Immobilized Form for Removal of a Textile Dye

The aim of the present investigation was to immobilize nanocrystalline diatomite within calcium alginate matrix for the adsorption of Direct Red23 (DR23) in aqueous media. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy were used to characterize the samples. As a result, the adsorption process obeyed pseudo-second-order kinetic model (R² = 0.9934) and Langmuir isotherm model (R² = 0.9732) with a maximum adsorption capacity of 24.10 mg/g. The value of mean free energy (15.81 kJ/mol) demonstrated that the process has been taken place chemically. As the adsorbent dosage increased from 0.5 to 3.0 g/L, the decolorization efficiency (%) increased from 26.0 to 75.5%, respectively. Inversely, the decolorization efficiency (%) decreased from 98.0 to 29.0% with increasing initial dye concentration from 5 to 160 mg/L, respectively. The negative values obtained for Gibbs free energy (ΔG°) and positive value of enthalpy change (ΔH°) indicated spontaneous and endothermic nature of the process.     

Mineralization and Kinetics of Reactive Brilliant Red X-3B by a Combined Anaerobic–Aerobic Bioprocess Inoculated with the Coculture of Fungus and Bacterium

Mineralization of Reactive Brilliant Red X-3B by a combined anaerobic–aerobic process which was inoculated with the co-culture of Penicillium sp. QQ and Exiguobacterium sp. TL was studied. The optimal conditions of decolorization were investigated by response surface methodology as follows: 132.67 g/L of strain QQ wet spores, 1.09 g/L of strain TL wet cells, 2.25 g/L of glucose, 2.10 g/L of yeast extract, the initial dye concentration of 235.14 mg/L, pH 6.5, and 33 °C. The maximal decolorization rate was about 96 % within 12 h under the above conditions. According to the Haldane kinetic equation, the maximal specific decolorization rate was 89.629 mg/g˙h. It was suggested that in the anaerobic–aerobic combined process, decolorization occurred in the anaerobic unit and chemical oxygen demand (COD) was mainly removed in the aerobic one. Inoculation of fungus QQ in the anaerobic unit was important for mineralization of X-3B. Besides, the divided anaerobic–aerobic process showed better performance of COD removal than the integrated one. It was suggested that the combined anaerobic–aerobic process which was inoculated with co-culture was potentially useful for the field application.     

Modeling and optimization of simultaneous photocatalysis of three dyes on ceramic-coated TiO2 nanoparticles using chemometrics methods: phytotoxicological assessment during degradation process

In this paper, ceramic plates were used as a support of TiO₂ nanoparticles for photocatalytic decolorization of a mixture of three dyes. The three textile dyes (C.I. Basic Red 46, C.I. Basic Blue 3 and Malachite Green) were quantified simultaneously during the photocatalytic degradation process. The partial least squares modeling was successfully applied for the multivariate calibration of the spectrophotometric data. Also, the central composite design has been applied to the optimization of photocatalytic decolorization of the dye solution containing three dyes using an immobilized UV/TiO₂ process. The optimum initial concentration of three dyes, reaction time, and UV light intensity were found to be 5 mg/L, 240 min, and 47.2 W/m², respectively. The chronic phytotoxicity of mixture of dyes was evaluated using aquatic species Spirodela polyrhiza (S. polyrhiza) prior to and after photocatalysis. The phytotoxicity results revealed that the photocatalysis process could effectively reduce the phytotoxicity of the dyes from their aqueous solutions.     

Electrochemical decolorization of C.I. Acid Orange 3 in the presence of sodium chloride at iridium oxide electrode

The electrocatalytic degradation of C.I. Acid Orange 3 from simulated wastewater by indirect electrochemical oxidation using an IrO_x electrode was investigated. The effects of different operating parameters on the rate of dye decolorization were studied. The influences of mixing, electrolyte concentration, applied current, and initial dye concentration were examined. The change in dye concentration was followed by ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy, while the formation of reaction intermediates was established using high-performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis. Ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy showed a decrease of the absorption peak at 374 nm during the electrolysis and the appearance of a new absorption maximum at 460 nm. The decolorization reaction can be followed only at 460 nm. Four intermediate products (two mono- and two dichlorinated) were detected. At the end of the study, a phytotoxicity assay was performed to determine the effectiveness of the applied method. The results showed that the applied electrochemical treatment of C.I. Acid Orange 3 leads to a decrease in phytotoxicity from 53 to 28%.     

Physical and photoelectrochemical characterizations of SrWO<Subscript>4</Subscript> prepared by thermal decomposition. Application to the photo electro-oxidation of ibuprofen

We have reported the semi conducting and photoelectrochemical properties of SrWO₄ prepared by chemical route. The phase purity is confirmed by X-ray diffraction and the oxide is characterized by scanning electron microscopy, diffuse reflectance, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. SrWO₄ crystallizes in the scheelite structure with an average crystallite size of 378 ± 6 nm. The Raman spectrum gives an intense peak at 920 cm^?1 assigned to A _g mode while the infrared analysis confirms the hexagonal coordination of tungsten. The UV-visible spectroscopy shows an indirect optical transition at 2.60 eV. SrWO₄ exhibits n-type conduction by oxygen deficiency, confirmed by the chrono-amperometry and the intensity potential J(E) curve shows a small hysteresis. The Mott-Schottky plot gives electrons density of 5.72 × 10¹⁸ cm^?3 and a flat band potential of 0.27 V_SCE, indicating that the conduction band derives mainly from W⁶⁺: 6s orbital. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), measured in the range (1–10⁵ Hz), shows the predominance of the bulk contribution with a dark impedance of 38 kΩ cm². As application, the ibuprofen is degraded by electrocatalysis on SrWO₄ with a conversion rate of 42%. An improvement up to 77% has been obtained by electrophotocatalysis under UV light; the conversion follows a first order kinetic with a rate constant of 2.32 × 10^?4 min^?1.     

Study on thermal activated sepiolite for enhancing decoloration of crude palm oil

Thermal activated sepiolite was prepared and used as an adsorbent for efficient decoloration of crude palm oil. The effects of activation temperature on the structure of sepiolite were investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy, Zeta potential and nitrogen adsorption–desorption isotherms techniques, and the decolorization efficiency for crude palm oil was systematically evaluated by Lovibond tone. The results indicate that the thermal activation of sepiolite affects its structure and decoloration efficiency. The Red value and content of phosphorus only reduced by 28.29 and 68.00 %, respectively, after decoloring with acid-treated sepiolite, but by 57.14 and 76.00 %, respectively, after thermal activation because that the thermal activation improved the porous structure and surface activity of sepiolite by releasing different kinds of waters and creating new adsorptive sites. In addition, the suitable activation temperature (400 °C) is significant to reach an optimal decoloring capacity.     

Development and Validation of a Stability Indicating LC Method for the Determination of Faropenem in Pharmaceutical Formulations

A simple, selective and sensitive stability indicating LC method has been developed and validated for the determination of faropenem in bulk drug and pharmaceutical formulations in the presence of degradation products. The separation was achieved by using an isocratic mobile phase mixture of acetate buffer of pH 3.5 and methanol (65:35, v/v) and 250 mm × 4.6 mm I.D., 5 μm particle size SGE make Wakosil C-18 AR column at flow rate of 1.0 mL min^?1 with detection at 305 nm. The retention time of faropenem is 6.63 min and was linear in the range of 5–75 μg mL^?1 (r = 0.9999). The drug was subjected to stress conditions of hydrolysis, oxidation, photolysis and thermal degradation and was found to be unstable in all the stress conditions. The proposed method was successfully employed for quantification of faropenem in bulk drug and its pharmaceutical formulations.     

Sol–gel preparation and characterization of Ag and Mg co-doped nano TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript>: efficient photocatalytic degradation of C.I. Acid Red 27

In this study, we successfully prepared pure, mono-doped, and Ag, Mg co-doped TiO₂ nanoparticles using the sol–gel method, with titanium tetraisopropoxide as the Ti source. The prepared samples were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), specific surface area and porosity (BET and BJH) measurement, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, photoluminescence, and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy techniques. The XRD data showed that the prepared nanoparticles had the same crystals structures as the pure TiO₂. Also, DRS results indicated that the band gap of co-doped photocatalyst was smaller than that of the monometallic and undoped TiO₂ and that there was a shift in the absorption band towards the visible light region. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activity of the prepared catalysts was evaluated by the degradation of C.I. Acid Red 27 in aqueous solution under visible light irradiation. The results showed that Ag (0.08 mol%), Mg (0.2 mol%) co-doped TiO₂ had the highest photoactivity among all samples under visible light. It was concluded that co-doping of the Ag and Mg can significantly improve the photocatalytic activity of the prepared photocatalysts, due to the efficient inhibition of the recombination of photogenerated electron–hole pairs. The optimum calcination temperature and time were 450 °C and 3 h, respectively.     

Highly sensitive simultaneous quantification of buprenorphine and norbuprenorphine in human plasma by magnetic solid-phase extraction based on P<Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>PDA/Fe<Subscript>3</Subscript>O<Subscript>4</Subscript> nanocomposite and high-performance liquid chromatography

A rapid and sensitive method based on magnetic solid-phase extraction coupled to high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection was developed for the simultaneous determination of buprenorphine (BPN) and its major metabolite, norbuprenorphine (N-BPN), in human plasma samples. Poly (para-phenylenediamine)-modified Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles (PpPDA/Fe₃O₄) were synthesized and used as a magnetic adsorbent for the extraction and preconcentration of BPN and N-BPN in biological samples. The synthesized nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and vibrating sample magnetometery. An isocratic separation was achieved on a Nova-Pak C18 reversed-phase column using a mobile phase consisting phosphate buffer (pH 3.4) and acetonitrile (50:50, v/v) at a flow rate of 1.0 mL min^?1. The detection was conducted at 280 nm. Under the optimum conditions, the calibration curves for BPN and N-BPN were linear in the ranges 3.0–150.0 and 1.0–120.0 ng mL^?1, respectively. The sensitivity was also high with limit of detection of 0.8 and 0.3 ng mL^?1 for BPN and N-BPN in plasma, respectively. The method was successfully applied to the extraction and determination of BPN and N-BPN in human plasma samples with an average recovery of 98.10 and 96.41%, respectively.     

Improved Biodegradation of Synthetic Azo Dye by Anionic Cross-Linking of Chloroperoxidase on ZnO/SiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> Nanocomposite Support

A novel ZnO nanowire/macroporous SiO₂ composite was used as a support to immobilize chloroperoxidase (CPO) by in situ cross-linking method. An anionic bi-epoxy compound was synthesized and used as a long-chained anionic cross-linker, and it was adsorbed on the surface of ZnO nanowires through static interaction before reaction with CPO, creating a new approach to change the structure, property, and catalytic performance of the produced cross-linking enzyme aggregates (CLEAs) of CPO. The immobilized CPO showed high activity in the decolorization of three azo dyes. The effect of various conditions such as the loading amount of CPO, solution pH, temperature, and dye concentration was optimized on the decolorization. Under optimized conditions, the decolorization percentage of Acid Blue 113, Direct Black 38, and Acid Black 10 BX reached as high as 95.4, 92.3, and 89.1%, respectively. The immobilized CPO exhibited much better thermostability and resistance to pH inactivation than free CPO. The storage stability and reusability were greatly improved through the immobilization. It was found from the decolorization of Acid Blue 113 that 83.6% of initial activity retained after incubation at 4 °C for 60 days and that 80.9% of decolorization efficiency retained after 12 cycles of reuses.     

Biodegradation of Bisphenol A and Decolorization of Synthetic Dyes by Laccase from White-Rot Fungus, Trametes polyzona

Purified laccase from Trametes polyzona WR710-1 was used as biocatalyst for bisphenol A biodegradation and decolorization of synthetic dyes. Degradation of bisphenol A by laccase with or without redox mediator, 1-hydroxybenzotriazole (HBT) was studied. The quantitative analysis by HPLC showed that bisphenol A rapidly oxidized by laccase with HBT. Bisphenol A was completely removed within 3 h and 4-isopropenylphenol was found as the oxidative degradation product from bisphenol A when identified by GC-MS. All synthetic dyes used in this experiment, Bromophenol Blue, Remazol Brilliant Blue R, Methyl Orange, Relative Black 5, Congo Red, and Acridine Orange were decolorized by Trametes laccase and the percentage of decolorization increased when 2 mM HBT was added in the reaction mixture. This is the first report showing that laccase from T. polyzona is an affective enzyme having high potential for environmental detoxification, bisphenol A degradation and synthetic dye decolorization.     

Effects of lutetium doping on the X-ray-excited luminescence properties of the tungstate Zn<Subscript>1−<Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>Lu<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>WO<Subscript>4</Subscript>

Polycrystalline samples in the lutetium-doped zinc tungstate system Zn_1?x Lu _x WO₄ with 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.08 were synthesized using the coprecipitation method followed by thermal treatment at 1000 °C during 4 h. The polycrystalline samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), infrared spectroscopy, and luminescence analysis under X-ray excitation. Rietveld analyses were performed. The variation of the wolframite structure cell parameters in the range 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.05 were congruent with substitution of Zn²⁺ by Lu³⁺. SEM micrographs of the obtained samples presented improved crystallization with morphology depending on the lutetium fraction. The luminescence spectra obtained under X-ray excitation (E < 40 keV) were in the blue–green region, and their intensity increased with x up to x = 0.05. The differences in the intensities of the X-ray luminescence spectra could be related to additional cation vacancies resulting from substitution of Zn²⁺ by Lu³⁺.     

Decolorization of Reactive Black 5 and Reactive Blue 4 Dyes in Microbial Fuel Cells

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have potential to treat industrial wastewater containing organic compounds and simultaneously generate power. Organic compounds include textile dyes with various chromophore groups, which can be decolorized reductively by microorganisms under anaerobic conditions. In the present study, we examined the decolorization of Reactive Black 5 (RB5) azo dye and Reactive Blue 4 (RBL4) anthraquinone dye under open circuit potential in MFCs with graphite plate and graphite felt electrodes and a microbial consortium originally derived from bovine rumen fluid. RB5 dye was more than 90% decolorized in 120, 165, and 225 min at 50, 100, and 200 mg L^?1 concentrations, respectively. RBL4 dye at 50 and 100 mg L^?1 took 225 and 300 min to decolorize, while 200 mg L^?1 RBL4 dye was not decolorized at all. Under closed circuit conditions, decolorization increased with decrease in external load, whereas current generation increased with external resistance. The results demonstrate that the reductive cleavage of the chromophore was more rapid with RB5 than with RBL4.