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Updated: Jul 24, 2026
Waste Water Derived Electroactive Microbial Biofilms: Growth, Maintenance, and Basic Characterization
Published on: December 29, 2013
Effects of electroconductive materials on treatment performance and microbial community structure in biofilter
Jingjing Du1, Yulong Niu2, Haiming Wu3
1School of Materials and Chemical Engineering, Zhengzhou University of Light Industry, Zhengzhou, China; Department of Biology, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; Collaborative Innovation Center of Environmental Pollution Control and Ecological Restoration, Henan Province, China.
Abstract:
Biofilter systems coupling with microbial electrochemical technology can enhance the removal performance of pollutants. In this study, two types of coke (PK-A and PK-LSN) were used as electroconductive substrates in biofilter systems with silicone tubings. The results showed that the silicone tubings were beneficial for removing NH4+-N. The PK-A systems reached removal efficiencies up to 83.5-85.3% for NH4+-N without aeration. Compared to gravel systems, significantly higher removal efficiencies of NO3--N (84.8-95.4%) were obtained in coke systems, and better removal of PO43--P (91.9-95.7%) was also simultaneously achieved in PK-A systems. Redundancy analysis (RDA) indicated that the better performances of coke systems rely on the functions of both electroactive (Trichococcus and Sulfurovum) and non-electroactive bacteria (Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1, Propionicicella, and Acinetobacter). These findings highlight the important contribution of silicone tubings to oxygen supply and provide useful guidance for the application of coke in composite matrix systems.
