Enhanced biodegradation of n-hexane in a two-phase partitioning bioreactor inoculated with Pseudomonas mendocina NX-1 under chitosan stimulation

Dong-Zhi Chen; Hao-Yang Liu; Yang Yu; Ning-Ning Yu; Jie-Xu Ye; Zhuo-Wei Cheng; Shi-Han Zhang; Jian-Meng Chen

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.126330

Enhanced biodegradation of n-hexane in a two-phase partitioning bioreactor inoculated with Pseudomonas mendocina NX-1 under chitosan stimulation

J Hazard Mater. 2021 Oct 5:419:126330. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.126330. Epub 2021 Jun 9.

Authors

Dong-Zhi Chen¹, Hao-Yang Liu², Yang Yu³, Ning-Ning Yu⁴, Jie-Xu Ye⁴, Zhuo-Wei Cheng⁴, Shi-Han Zhang⁴, Jian-Meng Chen⁵

Affiliations

¹ School of Petrochemical Engineering and Environment, Zhejiang Ocean University, Zhoushan 316004, China; College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310032, China. Electronic address: cdz@zjut.edu.cn.
² School of Petrochemical Engineering and Environment, Zhejiang Ocean University, Zhoushan 316004, China; College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310032, China.
³ School of Petrochemical Engineering and Environment, Zhejiang Ocean University, Zhoushan 316004, China.
⁴ College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310032, China.
⁵ School of Petrochemical Engineering and Environment, Zhejiang Ocean University, Zhoushan 316004, China; College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310032, China. Electronic address: jchen@zjut.edu.cn.

PMID: 34171668
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.126330

Abstract

Two-phase partitioning bioreactors (TPPBs) have been extensively used for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) removal. To date, most studies have focused on improving the mass transfer of gas phases/non-aqueous phases (NAPs)/aqueous phases, whereas the NAP/biological phases and gas/biological phases transfer has been neglected. Herein, chitosan was introduced into a TPPB to increase cell surface hydrophobicity (CSH) and improve the n-hexane mass transfer. The performance and stability of the TPPB with chitosan for n-hexane biodegradation were investigated, and it was found out that the TPPB with chitosan achieved maximum removal efficiency and elimination capacity of 80.6% and 26.5 g m^-3 h^-1, thereby reaching much higher values than those obtained without chitosan (61.3% and 15.2 g m^-3 h^-1). Chitosan not only obvio usly increased cell surface hydrophobicity and cell dry biomass on the surface of silicone oil, but might also allow hydrophobic cells in aqueous phases to directly capture and biodegrade n-hexane, resulting in an obvious improvement of mass transfer from the gas phase to biomass. Stability enhancement was another attractive advantage from chitosan addition. This study might provide a new strategy for the development of TPPB in the hydrophobic VOCs treatment.

Keywords: Cell surface hydrophobicity; Chitosan; Silicone oil; Two-phase partitioning bioreactor; n-hexane.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Biodegradation, Environmental
Bioreactors
Chitosan*
Hexanes
Pseudomonas mendocina*

Substances

Hexanes
n-hexane
Chitosan