Advancement of membrane separation technology for organic pollutant removal.

In the face of growing global freshwater scarcity, the imperative to recycle and reuse water becomes increasingly apparent across industrial, agricultural, and domestic sectors. Eliminating a range of organic pollutants in wastewater, from pesticides to industrial byproducts, presents a formidable challenge. Among the potential solutions, membrane technologies emerge as promising contenders for treating diverse organic contaminants from industrial, agricultural, and household origins. This paper explores cutting-edge membrane-based approaches, including reverse osmosis, nanofiltration, ultrafiltration, microfiltration, gas separation membranes, and pervaporation. Each technology's efficacy in removing distinct organic pollutants while producing purified water is scrutinized. This review delves into membrane fouling, discussing its influencing factors and preventative strategies. It sheds light on the merits, limitations, and prospects of these various membrane techniques, contributing to the advancement of wastewater treatment. It advocates for future research in membrane technology with a focus on fouling control and the development of energy-efficient devices. Interdisciplinary collaboration among researchers, engineers, policymakers, and industry players is vital for shaping water purification innovation. Ongoing research and collaboration position us to fulfill the promise of accessible, clean water for all.

A holistic approach for process intensification of nicotinamide mononucleotide production via high cell density cultivation under exponential feeding strategy.

Nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) subsists in all living organisms and has drawn tremendous attention as a nutraceutical and pharmaceutical product for several diseases such as Alzheimer's, cancer, aging, and vascular dysfunction. Here, NMN was produced intracellularly in a high cell density bioreactor using an engineered Escherichiacoli strain via exponential feeding of co-substrates. Fed-batch culture via exponential feeding of co-substrate (glucose) and continuous feeding of substrate (nicotinamide) were performed using different cumulative nicotinamide concentrations. The highest concentration of 19.3 g/L NMN with a dry cell weight of 117 g/L was acquired from a cumulative nicotinamide concentration of 7.2 g/L with a conversion of 98 % from nicotinamide in 28 h. Further, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis validated the NMN production. This approach will be beneficial in achieving simultaneously low cost and ensuring high quality and quantity of NMN production.

One-pot treatment of Saccharophagus degradans for polyhydroxyalkanoate production from brown seaweed.

The conventional production of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) from waste biomass requires a pretreatment step (acid or alkali) for reducing sugar extraction, followed by bacterial fermentation. This study aims to find a greener approach for PHA production from brown seaweed. Saccharophagus degradans can be a promising bacterium for simultaneous reducing sugar and PHA production, bypassing the need for a pretreatment step. Cell retention cultures of S. degradans in membrane bioreactor resulted in approximately 4- and 3-fold higher PHA concentrations than batch cultures using glucose and seaweed as carbon sources, respectively. X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and nuclear magnetic resonance results revealed identical peaks for the resulting PHA and standard poly(3-hydroxybutyrate). The developed one step process using cell retention culture of S. degradans could be a beneficial process for scalable and sustainable PHA production.