Non-immersed zigzag microalgae biofilm overcoming high turbidity and ammonia of wastewater for muti-pollutants bio-purification.

Biological treatment that utilizes microalgae technology has demonstrated outstanding efficacy in the wastewater purification and nutrients recovery. However, the high turbidity of the digested piggery wastewater (DPW) leads to serious light attenuation and the culture mode of suspended microalgae results in a huge landing area. Thus, to overcome light attenuation in DPW, a non-immersed titled zigzag microalgae biofilm was constructed by attaching it onto a porous cotton cloth. As a result, the light could directly irradiate microalgae biofilm that attached on both sides of the cotton cloth, and the microalgal biofilm area was up to 6 m2 per bioreactor landing area. When the non-immersed zigzag microalgae biofilm bioreactor (N-Z-MBP) was used to treat wastewater with an ammonia nitrogen (NH4+-N) concentration of 362 mg L-1, the NH4+-N was completely removed in just 5 days and the maximum growth rate of microalgae biofilm reached 7.02 g m-2 d-1. After 21 days of long-term sequencing batch operation for the N-Z-MBP, the biomass density of the biofilm reached 52 g m-2 and remained at this high value for the next 14 days. Most importantly, during the 35 days' running, the NH4+ -N maximum removal rate of single batch reached up to 65 mg L-1 d-1 and its concentration in the effluent was always below the discharge standard value (80 mg L-1 form GB18596-2001 of China) and total phosphorus was completely removed in each batch. Furthermore, the biomass concentration of microalgae cells in the effluent of the N-Z-MBP was almost zero, indicating that the non-submerged biofilm achieved in situ separation of microalgae from the wastewater. This work suggests that the N-Z-MBP can effectively purify DPW over a long period, providing a possible strategy to treat wastewater with high ammonia nitrogen and high turbidity.

Insight into the comprehensive effect of carbon dioxide, light intensity and glucose on heterotrophic-assisted phototrophic microalgae biofilm growth: A multifactorial kinetic model.

Heterotrophic-assisted photoautotrophic microalgae biofilm cultivation was an alternative way to realize CO2 reduction and wastewater treatment. Growth kinetics supplied a channel to better understand how the cultivation conditions affect microalgal growth and CO2 reduction. However, the two growth modes (heterotroph and photoautotroph) have different needs for organic and inorganic nutrients. Thus, combining the threshold theory and multiplication theory, an integral multifactorial kinetic model that looking insight into the comprehensive effect of glucose, CO2, light intensity, and nitrate was developed for heterotrophic-assisted photoautotrophic microalgae biofilm growth in this study. R2 between model and experiment was 0.99. It predicted the maximum specific growth rate and maximum CO2 consumption rate of heterotrophic-assisted photoautotrophic microalgae biofilm was 1.868 h-1 and 1.02 h-1, respectively. This model fully explained the influence of the main factors on microalgae biofilm growth and reasonably predicted the growth rate of microalgae biofilm under different growth conditions.

Bifunctional lighting/supporting substrate for microalgal photosynthetic biofilm to bio-remove ammonia nitrogen from high turbidity wastewater.

Treatment technologies based on microalgal biofilms have an enormous potential for dealing with water pollution because they can efficiently redirect nutrients from wastewater to renewable biomass feedstock. However, poor light transmittance is caused by the high turbidity of wastewater, which hinders the commercial application of microalgal biofilm-based wastewater treatment. Here, a bifunctional substrate with lighting and biofilm support functions was constructed using a light guide plate. In a biofilm photobioreactor (bPBR) with a bifunctional lighting/supporting substrate (BL/S substrate), light can directly irradiate the biofilm to avoid attenuation by the turbid wastewater. Direct irradiation of light onto the biofilm led to a 93.0% enhancement of microalgal photoconversion efficiency when compared to that of a supporting substrate without lighting (SO substrate). Meanwhile, the maximum growth rate of the microalgal biofilm on the BL/S substrate was 8.7 g m-2 d-1, which was increased by 60.3%. The removal rate of ammonia nitrogen (NH4+-N) from the digested wastewater contributed by the microalgal biofilm reached 22.6 mg L-1 d-1, which was higher than the previously reported that of NH4+-N from turbid digested wastewater by the biofilms. Furthermore, the BL/S substrate can facilitate the secretion of abundant extracellular polymeric substrates, which results in the stable adhesion of the biofilm onto the BL/S substrate. The optical density of the microalgae cells at the outlet of the bPBR with BL/S substrate was below 0.1, which was 94% lower than that of the bPBR with the SO substrate. The results indicated the BL/S substrate may avoid the loss of microalgal biomass, and almost all biomass could be easily harvested from the biofilm for algae-based biomass resources. Consequently, this study can offer a promising alternative with efficient treatment technologies for wastewater with high turbidity.

How Interfacial Properties Affect Adhesion: An Analysis from the Interactions between Microalgal Cells and Solid Substrates.

Microalgal biofilm, a stable community of many algal cells attached to a solid substrate, plays a significant role in the efficient accumulation of renewable energy feedstocks, wastewater treatment, and carbon reduction. The adhesion tendency of microalgal cells on solid substrates is the basis for controlling the formation and development of microalgal biofilm. To promote the adhesion of microalgal cells on solid substrates, it is necessary to clarify which surface properties have to be changed in the most critical factors affecting the adhesion. However, there have been few systematic discussions on what surface properties influence the adhesion tendency of algal cells on solid substrates. In this study, the essential principle of microalgal cell adhesion onto solid substrates was explored from the perspective of the interaction energy between microalgal cells and solid substrates. The influence of surface properties between microalgal cells and solid substrates on interaction energies was discussed via extended Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (eDLVO) theory and a sensitivity analysis. The results showed that surface properties, including surface potential (ξ) and surface free energy components, significantly affect the adhesion tendency of microalgal cells on different solid substrates. When the solid surface possesses positive charges (ξ > 0), reducing ξ or the electron donor components of the solid substrate (γs-) is an effective measure to promote microalgal cell adhesion onto the solid substrate. When the solid surface possesses negative charges (ξ < 0), an increase in either γs- or the absolute value of ξ should be avoided in the process of microalgae adhesion. Overall, this research provides a direction for the selection of solid substrates and a direction for surface modification to facilitate the adhesion tendency of microalgal cells on solid substrates under different scenarios.

Revealing the synergistic effects of cells, pigments, and light spectra on light transfer during microalgae growth: A comprehensive light attenuation model.

As the sole energy for photosynthesis, light decrease rapidly with path due to absorption by pigments and scattering by cells in microalgal suspensions. By comprehensively considering cell concentrations, pigment components, and light spectra, a modified Cornet model for light transmission in microalgal suspensions is established. The developed model better fits experimental data with a higher adjusted R2, which is 5% higher than the model that is based only on cell concentration. The attenuation of blue light is the most severe, followed by red and green light. Among the three main pigments, total carotenoids contribute the most to the absorption of blue and green light (with contribution coefficients of 89.26 ± 4.53% and 46.04 ± 3.77%, respectively), and chlorophyll a contributes the most to the absorption of red light (with a contribution coefficient of 75.33 ± 5.08%). This study provides a better understanding and prediction of light transmission during microalgal cultivation.

Thermoresponsive Surfaces Grafted by Shrinkable Hydrogel Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) for Controlling Microalgae Cells Adhesion during Biofilm Cultivation.

Microalgae is a promising candidate for reducing greenhouse gas and producing renewable biofuels. For microalgae biofilm cultivation, a strong adhesion ability of microalgae cells onto the surface is a prerequisite to resist the fluid shear stress, while strong adhesion is not of benefit to the biofilm harvesting process. To solve this dilemma, a thermoresponsive surface (TMRS) with lower critical solution temperature of 33 °C was made by grafting N-isopropylacrylamide onto a silicate glass slide. The wettability of the TMRS changed from hydrophilic (contact angle of 59.4°) to hydrophobic (contact angle of 91.6°) when the temperature rose from 15 to 35 °C, resulting in the increase of adhesion energy of the TMRS to Chlorella vulgaris cells by 135.6%. The experiments showed that the cells were more likely to attach onto the TMRS at the higher temperature of 35 °C owing to the surface microstructures generated by the hydrogel layer shrinkage, which is similar in size to the microalgae cells. And the cell coverage rate on TMRS increased by 32% compared to the original glass surface. Conversely, the cells separate easily from the TMRS at a lower temperature of 15 °C, and the cell adhesion density was reduced by 19% due to hydrogel layer swelling to a relatively flat surface.

Pathotypes of Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. dieffenbachiae Isolated from Anthurium andraeanum in China.

Anthurium blight, caused by Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. dieffenbachiae (Xad), is one of the most serious diseases of Anthurium andraeanum. However, little is known about variations in virulence between Xad pathotypes. Here, we examined the virulence of 68 Xad strains isolated from 30 anthurium plants from five regions of China against five different anthurium cultivars. Seven bacterial pathotypes were identified based on disease index and incidence analyses following foliar spray or leaf-clip inoculation. The resulting disease susceptibility patterns for pathotypes I⁻VII were RRRSS, RRSRS, RSRSR, RRSSS, RSSRS, RSSSS, and SSSSS, respectively. Overall, 72% of tested strains belonged to pathotypes VI or VII and were highly virulent. A further 22.1% of strains showed medium-level virulence and were classed as pathotype III, IV, or V, while the remaining 5.9% of strains were pathotype I or II, showing low virulence. Further analysis revealed differences in the virulence of Xad strains from the same anthurium cultivar, with variation also observed in pathovars associated with the same cultivar from different areas. Our results reveal the diversity and complexity of the Xad population structure in China and suggest that investigation of Xad pathotypes provides useful information to guide the identification and use of resistant varieties of A. andraeanum.

Optimizing culture conditions for heterotrophic-assisted photoautotrophic biofilm growth of Chlorella vulgaris to simultaneously improve microalgae biomass and lipid productivity.

In order to solve the technical bottleneck that the biomass yield and lipid accumulation cannot be increased simultaneously during microalgae growth, a heterotrophic-assisted photoautotrophic biofilm (HAPB) growth mode of Chlorella vulgaris was constructed. The light penetration capability of the microalgae biofilm formed through heterotrophic-assisted photoautotrophic growth was 64% stronger than that formed by photoautotrophic growth. Due to the different demands of autotrophic and heterotrophic growth of microalgae, the nutrient environment and growth conditions were optimized to fully utilize the advantages and potentials of the HAPB culture model. An optimized molar ratio of total inorganic carbon (CO2) to total organic carbon (glucose) (20:1) and a molar ratio of total carbon to total nitrogen (72:1) were obtained. The maximum specific growth rate of Chlorella vulgaris increased by 78% compared to that before optimization. Meanwhile, the lipid content and yield increased by 120% and 147%, respectively, up to 47.53% and 41.95 g m-2.