Microbial synthesis of antimony sulfide to prepare catechol and hydroquinone electrochemical sensor by pyrolysis and carbonization.

The application of antimony sulfide sensors, characterized by their exceptional stability and selectivity, is of emerging interest in detection research, and the integration of graphitized carbon materials is expected to further enhance their electrochemical performance. This study represents a pioneering effort in the synthesis of carbon-doped antimony sulfide materials through the pyrolysis of the mixture of microorganisms and their synthetic antimony sulfide. The prepared materials are subsequently applied to electrochemical sensors for monitoring the highly toxic compounds catechol (CC) and hydroquinone (HQ) in the environment. Via cyclic voltammetry (CV) and impedance testing, we concluded that the pyrolytic product at 700 °C (Sb-700) demonstrated the best electrochemical properties. Differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) revealed impressive separation when utilizing Sb-700/GCE for simultaneous detection of CC and HQ, exhibiting good linearity within the concentration range of 0.1-140 µM. The achieved sensitivities of 24.62 µA µM-1 cm-2 and 22.10 µA µM-1 cm-2 surpassed those of most CC and HQ electrochemical sensors. Meanwhile, the detection limits for CC and HQ were as low as 0.18 µM and 0.16 µM (S/N = 3), respectively. Additional tests confirmed the good selectivity, reproducibility, and long-term stability of Sb-700/GCE, which was effective in detecting CC and HQ in tap water and river water, with recovery rates of 100.7%-104.5% and 96.5%-101.4%, respectively. It provides a method that combines green microbial synthesis and simple pyrolysis for the preparation of electrode materials in CC and HQ electrochemical sensors, and also offers a new perspective for the application of microbial synthesized materials.

Exoskeleton rehabilitation robot training for balance and lower limb function in sub-acute stroke patients: a pilot, randomized controlled trial.

PURPOSE: This pilot study aimed to investigate the effects of REX exoskeleton rehabilitation robot training on the balance and lower limb function in patients with sub-acute stroke. METHODS: This was a pilot, single-blind, randomized controlled trial. Twenty-four patients with sub-acute stroke (with the course of disease ranging from 3 weeks to 3 months) were randomized into two groups, including a robot group and a control group. Patients in control group received upright bed rehabilitation (n = 12) and those in robot group received exoskeleton rehabilitation robot training (n = 12). The frequency of training in both groups was once a day (60 min each) for 5 days a week for a total of 4 weeks. Besides, the two groups were evaluated before, 2 weeks after and 4 weeks after the intervention, respectively. The primary assessment index was the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), whereas the secondary assessment indexes included the Fugl-Meyer Lower Extremity Motor Function Scale (FMA-LE), the Posture Assessment Scale for Stroke Patients (PASS), the Activities of Daily Living Scale (Modified Barthel Index, MBI), the Tecnobody Balance Tester, and lower extremity muscle surface electromyography (sEMG). RESULTS: The robot group showed significant improvements (P < 0.05) in the primary efficacy index BBS, as well as the secondary efficacy indexes PASS, FMA-LE, MBI, Tecnobody Balance Tester, and sEMG of the lower limb muscles. Besides, there were a significant differences in BBS, PASS, static eye-opening area or dynamic stability limit evaluation indexes between the robotic and control groups (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to investigate the effectiveness of the REX exoskeleton rehabilitation robot in the rehabilitation of patients with stroke. According to our results, the REX exoskeleton rehabilitation robot demonstrated superior potential efficacy in promoting the early recovery of balance and motor functions in patients with sub-acute stroke. Future large-scale randomized controlled studies and follow-up assessments are needed to validate the current findings. CLINICAL TRIALS REGISTRATION: URL: https://www.chictr.org.cn/index.html.Unique identifier: ChiCTR2300068398.

Biomineralization behavior and mechanism of microbial-mediated removal of arsenate from water.

The microbial-mediated removal of arsenate by biomineralization received much attention, but the molecular mechanism of Arsenic (As) removal by mixed microbial populations remains to be elucidated. In this study, a process for the arsenate treatment using sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) containing sludge was constructed, and the performance of As removal was investigated at different molar ratios of AsO43- to SO42-. It was found that biomineralization mediated by SRB could achieve the simultaneous removal of arsenate and sulfate from wastewater but only occurred when microbial metabolic processes were involved. The reducing ability of the microorganisms for the sulfate and arsenate was equivalent, so the precipitates produced at the molar ratio of AsO43- to SO42-of 2:3 were most significant. X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectroscopy was the first time used to determine the molecular structure of the precipitates which were confirmed to be orpiment (As2S3). Combined with the metagenomics analysis, the microbial metabolism mechanism of simultaneous removal of sulfate and arsenate by the mixed microbial population containing SRB was revealed, that is, the sulfate and As(V) were reduced by microbial enzymes to produce S2- and As(III) to further form As2S3 precipitates. This research provided a reference and theoretical foundation for the simultaneous removal of sulfate and arsenic mediated by SRB-containing sludge in wastewater treatment.

Recovery of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) polymers from a mixed microbial culture through combined ultrasonic disruption and alkaline digestion.

PHAs are a form of cellular storage polymers with diverse structural and material properties, and their biodegradable and renewable nature makes them a potential green alternative to fossil fuel-based plastics. PHAs are obtained through extraction via various mechanical, physical and chemical processes after their intracellular synthesis. Most studies have until now focused on pure cultures, while information on mixed microbial cultures (MMC) remains limited. In this study, ultrasonic (US) disruption and alkaline digestion by NaOH were applied individually and in combination to obtain PHAs products from an acclimated MMC using phenol as the carbon source. Various parameters were tested, including ultrasonic sound energy density, NaOH concentration, treatment time and temperature, and biomass density. US alone caused limited cell lysis and resulted in high energy consumption and low efficiency. NaOH of 0.05-0.2 M was more efficient in cell disruption, but led to PHAs degradation under elevated temperature and prolonged treatment. Combining US and NaOH significantly improved the overall process efficiency, which could reduce energy consumption by 2/3rds with only minimal PHAs degradation. The most significant factor was identified to be NaOH dosage and treatment time, with US sound energy density playing a minor role. Under the semi-optimized condition (0.2 M NaOH, 1300 W L-1, 10 min), over 70% recovery and 80% purity were achieved from a 3 g L-1 MMC slurry of approximately 50% PHAs fraction. The material and thermal properties of the products were analyzed, and the polymers obtained from US + NaOH treatments showed comparable or higher molecular weight to previously reported results. The products also exhibited good thermal stability and rheological properties, compared to the commercial standard. In conclusion, the combined US and NaOH method has the potential in real application as an efficient process to obtain high quality PHAs from MMC, and cost-effectiveness can be further optimized.

Electrochemical Sensor for Directional Recognition and Measurement of Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Water.

The establishment of rapid targeted identification and analysis of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) is very important. In this study, an electrochemical sensor, which can detect ARGs was obtained by modifying the sulfhydryl single-stranded DNA probe onto the thin-film gold electrode through self-assembly. The sensor can perform a hybridization reaction with a target sequence to obtain an electrochemical impedance spectroscopy signal. The results showed that when the concentration of the probe used to modify thin-film gold electrodes during preparation was 1 µM, the hybridization time was 1 h, and the hybridization temperature was 35 °C, the self-assembled sensor showed good detection performance for the ARGs encoding ß-lactam hydrolase. The measurement ARG concentration linear range is 6.3-900.0 ng/mL, and the R2 is 0.9992. The sensor shows good specific recognition ability for single-base, double-base, and three-base mismatch DNA. In addition, after 30 days of storage at 4 °C, the accurate identification and analysis of ARGs can still be maintained.

The physiological and ecological properties of bacterial persisters discovered from municipal sewage sludge and the potential risk.

Bacterial persisters are a special microbial population and are considered to be the bacterial reservoir of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. They can survive antibiotic treatment even in high concentrations of antibiotics and revive in the appropriate conditions. However, the characteristics of bacterial persisters in the municipal sewage sludge and their potential environmental risks have not yet been paid much attention to. In this study, bacterial persisters were discovered from the sludge of wastewater treatment plants in four different regions (Jilin, Lhasa, Shenzhen, and Yili), and the metagenomic analysis confirmed that bacterial persisters were ubiquitous in all four municipal sewage sludge and positively related to the protobacterium populations. At the taxonomic genus level, a total of 57 genera of bacterial persisters were shared by the four sewage sludge, and the genera with abundance exceeding 2% were Acinetobacter, Lysinibacillus, Aeromonas, Brevundimonas, Pseudomonas, and Alcaligenes, among which Acinetobacter accounted for 57.24%. Genus Lysinibacillus and Aeromonas were significant in Jilin and Lhasa, respectively. The persistence mechanism of bacterial persisters derived from sludge was also clarified, among which, Aeromonas, Brevundimonas, and Alcaligenes rely on the hipBA toxin-antitoxin system, while Acinetobacter enters the persistence state mainly through the stringent response system based on (p)ppGpp. Moreover, it was found that a typical bacterial persister originated from Acinetobacter, named T9-9, could tolerate a variety of antibiotics, such as 1000 µg/mL of kanamycin, 160 µg/mL of tetracycline, and 30 µg/mL of ciprofloxacin. Even if the ultraviolet intensity was 6-36 times the usual dosage of ultraviolet disinfection in wastewater treatment plants, it could not completely kill T9-9, but the killing efficiency by chlorine disinfection technology could reach 100%. This study pointed out an environmental risk of bacterial persisters that existed in sewage sludge that had been neglected and strongly recommended to improve the disinfection process in the wastewater treatment plant.

Aggregation performance and adhesion behavior of microbes in response to feast/famine condition: Rapid granulation of aerobic granular sludge.

Periodic starvation was a common strategy for the rapid start-up of aerobic granular sludge (AGS), and investigating the behavior of microbes that originated from inner or outer layer in response to feast/famine condition could provide more details for the development or stability of AGS. In this work, the microbes of the AGS were isolated by layers, the aggregation of microbes, the adhesion behavior of microbes, and viscoelasticity of the layer formed by microbes, at feast/famine conditions, were investigated for the in-depth understanding of the start-up and stability of AGS. The famine condition reduced the negative charge and deprotonated carboxyl groups of the surface thereby boosting the aggregation and adhesion of microbes. The feast condition was more beneficial for the stability of the layer as it caused a denser layer of microbes. The inner core microbes (IC) presented a higher aggregation rate than the outer layer microbes (OL) at feast/famine conditions. Also, the IC presented the highest aggregation rate, adhesion rate, and adhesion mass at famine conditions, which was most in favor of the start-up stage of the aerobic granulation. Since the denser layer was formed by IC, IC had better advantages over OL at the famine stage in the formation of a more stable layer. This study affirmed the role of microbes in the inner layer of the granule during the start-up phase and provided a theoretical basis for understanding the significance of the famine period for rapid granulation.

Characterization of electrodes modified with sludge-derived biochar and its performance of electrocatalytic oxidation of azo dyes.

Pyrolysis of waste sludge in sewage treatment can achieve a substantial reduction in solid waste and obtain sludge-based biochars with multiple functions. However, the electrochemical properties of sludge-derived biochar as electrode modification material and the electrocatalytic ability of biochar-modified electrodes are still unclear. In this study, sludge-based biochars were prepared at various pyrolysis temperatures (400 °C, 500 °C, 600 °C, 700 °C, and 800 °C) and then were cast on glassy carbon electrodes to fabricate composite biochar-electrodes (GC400, GC500, GC600, GC700, and GC800). The results of elemental analysis and Raman spectra showed that sludge-based biochar prepared at higher temperatures exhibited higher aromaticity and degree of defect structures. And the results of cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectra confirmed that biochar-modified electrodes prepared at higher temperatures (>600 °C) possessed better electrocatalytic activity and electrochemical stability, and their higher oxygen evolution potential than control test could improve the electrocatalytic efficiency. In the electrocatalytic oxidation of methyl orange, the removal rate with GC800 was the highest, reaching 94.49% within 240 min, and the removal rates with other composite electrodes were 90.61% (GC700) > 86.96% (GC600) > 80.32% (GC). The free radical quenching experiment revealed that the electrocatalytic degradation of methyl orange mainly depended on the indirect oxidation of hydroxyl radicals generated by electrocatalysis, accounting for 81.3% of the removal rate. The biochar-modified electrode not only greatly improved the electrocatalytic ability of the electrode for the degradation of azo dyes, but also achieved the recycling application of products after pyrolysis of sludge waste.

Formation, application, and storage-reactivation of aerobic granular sludge: A review.

It was an important discovery in wastewater treatment that the microorganisms in the traditional activated sludge can form aerobic granular sludge (AGS) by self-aggregation under appropriate water quality and operation conditions. With a typical three-dimensional spherical structure, AGS has high sludge-water separation efficiency, great treatment capacity, and strong tolerance to toxic and harmful substances, so it has been considered to be one of the most promising wastewater treatment technologies. This paper comprehensively reviewed AGS from multiple perspectives over the past two decades, including the culture conditions, granulation mechanisms, metabolic and structural stability, storage, and its diverse applications. Some important issues, such as the reproducibility of culture conditions and the structural and functional stability during application and storage, were also summarized, and the research prospects were put forward. The aggregation behavior of microorganisms in AGS was explained from the perspectives of physiology and ecology of complex populations. The storage of AGS is considered to have large commercial potential value with the increase of large-scale applications. The purpose of this paper is to provide a reference for the systematic and in-depth study on the sludge aerobic granulation process.

Understanding the dependence of start-up and stability of aerobic granule on pH from the perspective of adhesion behavior and properties of extracellular polymeric substances.

The start-up and stability of aerobic granular sludge (AGS) could be greatly influenced by pH variation. The inner core in the aerobic granules provided adhesion sites for microbes by extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) adhesion, the adhesion behavior of EPS and the properties of adhesion layer formed by EPS with pH changes might directly affect the start-up efficiency and stability of AGS. In this study, the adhesion behavior of EPS at an inorganic surface and the viscoelasticity of the EPS adhesion layer with pH variation was investigated by quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring, and the response of functional groups and intermolecular interactions to pH changes was explored. Based on the interaction energy calculation, it was found that the charge repulsion between substances dominated the interactions between EPS components and between EPS and the surface by regulating protonation and deprotonation of the functional groups of EPS with pH variation. A lower energy barrier between EPS and the surface at a lower pH value could facilitate the adhesion of EPS at the surface, which favored the rapid start-up of AGS. Moreover, the high ratio of both α-helix and intermolecular hydrogen bond at an acid condition could enhance the gel-strength of EPS, which provide AGS the resistance ability against external disturbance. This study revealed the mechanism of the interactions in EPS adhesion process with the variation of pH and provided useful information for a better understanding of the stability of the AGS.

Mechanism of removal and degradation characteristics of dicamba by biochar prepared from Fe-modified sludge.

The pyrolysis of excess sludge derived from wastewater treatment plants to prepare biochar can achieve the mass-reduction and harmlessness of solid waste, but it is also necessary to further explore the application prospect of these biochars as a resource for wastewater treatment. In this study, Fe-modified biochar (BC-Fe) was prepared by pyrolysis of excess sludge modified by FeCl3 solution. The molecular structure, elemental valence state, and composition of biochars were comprehensively investigated. The results showed that, compared with the biochar prepared from sludge without modification (BC-blank), the O/C ratio of BC-Fe increased from 0.07 to 0.12, and the (N + O)/C ratio increased from 0.21 to 0.27, indicating increased polarity and weakened aromaticity. The ratio of integrated intensity of the D band and G band in the Raman spectrum increased from 1.34 to 2.40, showing the increased defect structure of the biochar obtained by Fe modification. In the reaction between BC-Fe and dicamba, the removal rate of dicamba reached 92.1% within 180 min, which was far higher than the 17.8% of BC-blank. It was confirmed the adsorption removal dominated and accounted for 70.6% of the dicamba removal by BC-Fe, and the adsorption capacity of biochar could be significantly enhanced by Fe-modification by 5.3 times. Moreover, the persistent free radicals (PFRs) on the surface of biochar was detected by an electron paramagnetic resonance analyzer, and the decline of PFRs signals after the reaction revealed that PFRs participated in the degradation process of dicamba. Through Q-TOF analysis, it could be concluded that dicamba was first converted to 3,6-dichlorosalicylic acid (DCSA) by PFRs reduction and then further transformed to 3,6-dichlorogentisic acid (DCGA). This study provided a reference for the understanding of the removal mechanism of dicamba by Fe-modified biochar and offered an application potential of biochar derived from Fe-containing sludge for the pollution control of dicamba pesticide pollutants.

Metal-modified sludge-based biochar enhance catalytic capacity: Characteristics and mechanism.

The improvement of the catalytic performance of sludge-based biochar plays an important role in the catalytic application of biochar. This work aimed to use transition metals and rare earth elements (Fe, Ce, La, Al, Ti) to modify sludge and prepare modified biochar with better catalytic performance through pyrolysis. Through the Fourier transform infrared spectrometer, Raman spectrometer, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, the effects of different metal modifications on the surface morphology, molecular structure, element compositions, and valence of elements of biochar were comprehensively investigated. The results showed that metal elements were successfully modified onto the surface of biochar as metal oxides. Although the highest intensity of persistent free radicals was detected in blank-biochar by electron spin resonance, the intensities of hydroxyl radicals catalyzed by modified biochars in H2O2 system were higher than that catalyzed by blank-biochar, indicating that the catalytic performance of modified biochar was mainly related to the metal oxide loaded and the defect structure on the surface of metal-modified biochar. Furthermore, in the H2O2 system, the degradation efficiencies of tetracycline catalyzed by the biochars within 4 h were 51.7% (blank-biochar), 90.7% (Fe-biochar), 69.0% (Ce-biochar), 59.9% (La-biochar), 58.0% (Al-biochar), 58.0% (Ti-biochar), respectively, suggesting that Fe-biochar not only possessed the best catalytic performance but also shortened the reaction time. This research not only provided the possibility for recycling the waste activated sludge, but also proposed a modification method to improve the catalytic performance of biochar.

Alternating nitrogen feeding strategy induced aerobic granulation: Influencing conditions and mechanism.

Effective cultivation of stable aerobic granular sludge (AGS) is a crucial step in the successful application of this technology, and the formation of AGS could be facilitated by some environmental stress conditions. Four identical sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) were established to investigate the aerobic granulation process under the same alternating ammonia nitrogen feeding strategy superimposed with different environmental conditions (inorganic carbon source, temperature, N/COD). Although various superimposed conditions induced a significant difference in the size, settling velocity, mechanic strength of AGS, mature aerobic granules could be successfully obtained in all four reactors after 70 days' operation, indicating the alternating ammonia nitrogen feeding strategy was the most critical factor for AGS formation. Based on the results of redundancy analysis, the presence of an inorganic carbon source could facilitate the cultivation of AGS with nitrification function, while the moderate temperature and fluctuant N/COD might benefit the cultivation of more stable AGS. In addition, superimposed stress conditions could result in the difference in the microbial population between four reactors, but the population diversity and abundance of microorganisms were not the determinants of AGS formation. This study provided an effective method for the cultivation of AGS by using alternating ammonia nitrogen feeding strategy.

Biochar derived from pyrolysis of oily sludge waste: Structural characteristics and electrochemical properties.

Oily sludge is the main hazardous waste produced by the petroleum industry, and its harmless disposal and recycling have become urgent problems. In this study, the pyrolysis technique was used to prepare oily sludge biochar at different temperatures (400 °C, 500 °C, 600 °C, and 700 °C). The characteristics of the biochar, including weight reduction, elemental composition, and molecular structure, were comprehensively investigated. From the perspective of the electrochemical properties of biochar, the relationship between the structure of the biochar and the redox capacity was discussed, and the feasibility of biochar as a battery cathode material was explored. The results suggested that the improper pyrolysis temperature could reduce the content of the quinone structure which was related to the redox capacity, the biochar prepared at 600 °C should have the strongest electron transfer capability. Moreover, the highest degree of condensation and aromaticity of pyrolysis products could be obtained at a higher pyrolysis temperature (700 °C), which might result in the relatively high discharge-charge capacity and good cycle performance of biochar which was used as an electrode material of a battery. This study explored the feasibility of pyrolysis as a disposal route for oily sludge waste and provided a reference for the electrochemical application of biochar prepared from oil sludge waste.

Anaerobic co-digestion of food waste/excess sludge: substrates - products transformation and role of NADH as an indicator.

The process of anaerobic co-digestion is vital importance to resource recovery from organic solid wastes such as food waste and municipal sludge. However, its application is hindered by the limited understanding on the complex substrates-products transformation reactions and mechanisms therein. In this study, food waste (FW) and excess sludge (ES) from municipal wastewater treatment were mixed at various ratios (ES/FW 5:0, 4:1, 2:1, 1:1, 1:2, 1:4, w/w), and the co-digestion process was studied in a batch test. The consumption of substrates including soluble proteins and carbohydrates, the variation in the intermediates such as various volatile fatty acids, and the production of hydrogen and methane gases were monitored. The results suggested that 4:1 was likely the optimal ratio where substrates were consumed and biogas generated efficiently, whereas 1:2 and 1:4 caused severe inhibition. Fermentation of ES alone produced mainly acetic and propionic acid, while the addition of FW led to butyric acid type fermentation. Intermediates in the fermentation liquid were tentatively identified, and the levels of NADH quantified using 3D-excitation/emission fluorescence spectrometry. One class of the intermediates, tryptophan-like proteins were correlated to the butyric acid accumulation in ES/FW mixtures, and NADH level was proposed as an indicator of VFAs production activities.

In situ construction of low permeable barrier in soil to prevent pollutant migration by applying weak electric field.

In order to prevent vertical migration of pollutant in soil matrix, this study firstly proposed to construct an in situ low permeable barrier (LPB) through synchronously transporting calcium and carbonate. After LPB construction, the soil permeability was declined tenfold. Exchangeable calcium (37.3%) and calcium bonding to carbonate (41.7%) respectively alleviated flocculation of microaggregates and cementation of marcoaggregates. Accordingly, smaller particles (<1 mm) aggregated into bigger ones (>2 mm) after electrokinetic remediation. The other soil characters like pH, moisture, and bacterial communities were well preserved after remediation. In addition, the pollutant prevention was divided into two phases as unsaturated phase and saturated phase. In unsaturated phase, phenol, F-, Cd2+, and Ni2+ in filtrate were all lower than 0.1 mg, and Cr2O42--Cr discharged from LPB was 1/5.1 than that from initial soil. In saturated phase, LPB prevented 4.3-12.1 fold pollutant than initial soil. Taken together, proposed method could effectively prevent vertical migration of pollutants, indicating significant values for saving soil remediation cost or avoiding contamination of underground water.

Volatile Fatty Acids Production from Codigestion of Food Waste and Sewage Sludge Based on ß-Cyclodextrins and Alkaline Treatments.

Volatile fatty acids (VFAs) are preferred valuable resources, which can be produced from anaerobic digestion process. This study presents a novel technology using ß-cyclodextrins (ß-CD) pretreatment integrated alkaline method to enhance VFAs production from codigestion of food waste and sewage sludge. Experiment results showed that optimized ratio of food waste to sewage sludge was 3 : 2 because it provided adequate organic substance and seed microorganisms. Based on this optimized ratio, the integrated treatment of alkaline pH 10 and ß-CD addition (0.2 g/g TS) performed the best enhancement on VFAs production, and the maximum VFAs production was 8631.7 mg/L which was 6.13, 1.38, and 1.57 times higher than that of control, initial pH 10, and 0.2 g ß-CD/g TS treatment, respectively. Furthermore, the hydrolysis rate of protein and polysaccharides was greatly improved in integration treatment, which was 1.18-3.45 times higher than that of other tests. Though the VFAs production and hydrolysis of polymeric organics were highly enhanced, the primary bacterial communities with different treatments did not show substantial differences.

Understanding of aerobic granulation enhanced by starvation in the perspective of quorum sensing.

Three sequencing batch reactors (M1, M2, and M3) were set up to investigate the influence of different lengths of starvation time (3, 5, and 7 h) on aerobic granulation in the perspective of quorum sensing (QS). Autoinducer-2 (AI-2) level was quantified to evaluate the QS ability of aerobic granules. The results indicated that AI-2 level increased steadily during a cycle of sequencing batch reactors, suggesting that starvation was closely related to AI-2 secretion. In the long-term operation, aerobic granules cultivated using a prolonged starvation period had a better integrity and a higher level of cell adhesiveness despite a slower formation speed. With the extension of the starvation period, the total amount of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) displayed an increasing tendency. EPS with large molecular weight (MW) also reached a higher level using a prolonged starvation period. However, a higher level of AI-2 and cell adhesiveness was observed in M2, which might be related to more stable granules. The results implied that the starvation period could trigger AI-2 secretion and promoted the production of large MW EPS, leading to cell adhesiveness enhancement and granule formation. Therefore, a combination of different starvation periods was proposed in this study in order to improve aerobic granulation.

Formation of filamentous aerobic granules: role of pH and mechanism.

Filamentous overgrowth in aerobic granular sludge processes can cause reactor failure. In this work, aerobic granules were cultivated in five identical sequencing batch reactors with acetate or glucose as the carbon source with various values of influent pH (4.5-8). Microscopic observations revealed that acidic pH, rather than the species of carbon source, epistatically controls the aerobic granules with filamentous structure. An acidic pH shifted the structure of the microbial community in the granules, such that the fungus Geotrichum fragrans was the predominant filamentous microorganism therein. The acidic pH reduced the intracellular cyclic diguanylate (c-di-GMP) content for increasing the motility of the bacteria to washout and increase the growth rate of G. fragrans on glucose or acetate, together causing overgrowth of the fungus. Maintaining the suspension under alkaline condition is proposed as an effective way to suppress filamentous overgrowth and maintain granule stability.

Influence of hydraulic retention time on partial nitrification of continuous-flow aerobic granular-sludge reactor.

This study investigated the effects of hydraulic retention time (HRT) at 12 h, 7.2 h and 2.4 h on partial nitrification efficiency of continuous-flow aerobic granular reactors (CFAGRs) with mature aerobic granules (500 +/- 20mg l-1). At HRT 12 h and 7.2h, the removal efficiency of both ammonia-nitrogen (NH4+ - N) and nitrite accumulation rate were exceeding 90%. At HRT 2.4 h, NH4+ - N removal efficiency was reduced but most of the conversion efficiency to nitrite was only slightly reduced. At HRT < 2.4 h, washout of aerobic granules occurred. In all tests conducted herein, the chemical oxygen demand removal efficiencies exceeded 90%. The clone library results noted the presence of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria belonged to beta-Proteobacteria subclass, including 94% of Nitrosomonas europaea and 6% of Nitrosomonas sp. The polymerase chain reaction and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis results suggested that Alpha proteobacterium, Pseudoxanthomonas mexicana strain, Sphaerotilus natans and Uncultured gamma proteobacterium were responsible for the aerobic granular stability and processing performance. The present CFAGR successfully implemented continuous partial nitrification using aerobic granules at low HRT.