Published in PLOS One on 2025-11-06, this study is presented as an attributed evidence briefing. The excerpts below are the original researchers’ words, reproduced under their Creative Commons Attribution licence. Health Signal has selected the abstract and, where needed, opening background paragraphs; the complete methods, results, limitations and references remain in the linked paper.
Original study title: Poly[hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate] and cellulose biocomposite membrane derived from sugarcane bagasse for Congo red dye and vegetable oil removal in water remediation
Original authors: Aophat Choonut, Alissara Reungsang
Source: PLOS One • DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0336293
Read the complete primary study ↗ · Creative Commons Attribution licence
From the researchers
Abstract
Environmental contamination from textile dyes and oil residues poses a critical environmental and public health concern, highlighting the need for sustainable wastewater treatment strategies. A biocomposite membrane (BM) for the removal of Congo Red (CR) dye and vegetable oil (VO) from aqueous solutions was developed and evaluated separately for each pollutant in this study. Through a solvent casting technique, cellulose fibers (CF) from sugarcane bagasse (SCB) were successfully incorporated into a poly[hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate] (PHBV) matrix, as confirmed by FT-IR and SEM analyses. Exceptional adsorption efficiency was demonstrated by the BM, with 83.79% of CR dye (10 mg/L, pH 6.7) removed within 28,800 s and 95.15% of VO removed within 3,600 s, corresponding to a maximum oil adsorption capacity of 3.11 g-oil/g-sorbent, i.e., more than three times its own VO adsorption on the BM weight. The membrane exhibited good reusability, maintaining over 40% adsorption efficiency for CR dye after three cycles and over 50% efficiency for VO after five cycles. CR adsorption was found to follow the Langmuir model (R² = 0.9869) in isotherm studies, while VO adsorption aligned with the Freundlich model (R² = 0.9784). In kinetic analyses, CR adsorption was best described by the intra-particle diffusion model (R² = 0.9363), whereas VO adsorption followed the pseudo-second-order model (R² = 0.9999). The BM’s performance remained stable in the presence of ionic salts and synthetic wastewater. The significant potential of the BM as an environmentally friendly, cost-effective, and sustainable solution for long-term wastewater treatment applications through simultaneous dye and oil removal is highlighted by these findings.
Introduction
Water pollution remains a pressing global concern, with the textile industry identified as one of the primary contributors to wastewater contamination. The widespread use of synthetic dyes in textile production, particularly carcinogenic compounds like Congo Red (CR), presents significant environmental and health risks [1,2]. Approximately 40% of dyes used in the industry are toxic and can degrade into harmful byproducts that pose threats to aquatic life [3]. In addition to dye pollution, oil contamination from both petrochemical spills [4,5] and household vegetable oil (VO) waste [6] further exacerbates environmental degradation. These pollutants persist in water, obstructing light penetration, reducing photosynthetic activity, and disrupting biodiversity, thereby threatening ecosystems and human health [3,7]. As a result, there is an urgent need for effective wastewater treatment methods and rapid responses to oil spills to mitigate these detrimental effects.
To address these challenges, various wastewater treatment techniques have been explored, including adsorption, biological, membrane filtration, ion exchange, biodegradation, catalytic ozonation and electrochemical oxidation for dye removal [3]. For oil removal, strategies such as in-situ burning [8], mechanical separation [9], adsorption [4] and bioremediation [10] have been employed. Among these, adsorption has garnered significant attention due to its efficiency, simplicity, low cost, and environmentally friendly nature [2,11–14]. Unlike other methods that may produce toxic residues or incur high operational costs [4,11,15], adsorption provides a practical solution for removing both dyes [13,14] and oils [4,5].
Reading this evidence
Use the full paper to check the study design, participant selection, comparator and outcome definitions before drawing a practical conclusion. An association does not by itself show cause and effect. A reported performance measure needs its denominator and uncertainty. A finding from a particular facility, sample or time period should retain that scope when it is discussed elsewhere.
This briefing makes the source accessible within the wider financing & policy desk. It does not assess an individual patient or certify a product. When considering relevance to another health system, examine the original authors’ account of context and limitations, then seek local implementation evidence. The related reporting below provides other studies to read alongside this one; it is a topic connection, rather than a claim that their results are directly comparable.
© 2025 Aophat Choonut, Alissara Reungsang. Excerpts reproduced under CC BY. Selection, formatting and contextual notes by Health Signal. The researchers are the authors of the source study, not members of Health Signal’s staff.
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