Unique biofilm structure and mass transfer mechanisms in the foam aerated biofilm reactor (FABR)

Silva, Bruno Garcia; Perez-Calleja, Patricia; Foresti, Eugênio; Nerenberg, Robert

doi:10.1080/09593330.2022.2058422

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 33 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…From Figure 3(e) & 3(f) , AOM-coated membranes substantially improved cell attachment whereby the cells are having a better chance to grow within the matrix internal pores and protected from fluid shear forces while cells grown on a pristine surface was more susceptible to shear and detachment. Some might argued that thicker biofilm restricted mass transfer process, but resistance to the mass transfer would be highly depending on the development of biofilm structure, especially biofilm density and porosity [ 28 ]. The prediction of diffusivity coefficient within biofilm was further complicated with non-uniform coverage of the biofilm over membranes hence it is still necessary to investigate the governing factors influencing mass transfer and determine whether biofilm thickness could be used as a simplification to describe the advection or internal diffusion in the biofilm void space.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Uncovering the role of algal organic matter biocoating on Navicula incerta cell deposition and biofilm formation

Tong,

Lim,

Chua

et al. 2023

Bioengineered

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Spontaneous natural biofilm concentrates microalgal biomass on solid supports. However, the biofilm is frequently susceptible to exfoliation upon nutrient deficiency, particularly found in aged biofilm. Therefore, this study highlights a novel biofilm cultivation technique by pre-depositing the algal organic matters from marine diatom, Navicula incerta onto microporous polyvinylidene fluoride membrane to further strengthen the biofilm developed. Due to the improvement in membrane surface roughness and hydrophobicity, cells adhered most abundantly to soluble extrapolymeric substances-coated (sEPS) (76 10 6 16 10 6 cells m −2 ), followed by bounded EPS-coated (57.67 10 6 0.33 10 6 cells m −2 ), internally organic matter (IOM)-coated (39.00 10 6 5.19 10 6 cells m −2 ), and pristine control the least (6.22 10 6 0.77 10 6 cells m −2 ) at 24 th h. Surprisingly, only bEPS-coated membrane demonstrated an increase in cell adhesion toward the end of the experiment at 72 h. The application of the bio-coating has successfully increased the rate of cell attachment by at least 45.3% upon inoculation and achieved as high as 89.9% faster attachment at 72 hours compared to the pristine control group. Soluble polysaccharides and proteins might be carried along by the cells adhering onto membranes hence resulting in a built up of EPS hydrophobicity (>70% in average on bio-coated membranes) over time as compared with pristine (control) that only recorded an average of approximately 50% hydrophobicity. Interestingly, cells grown on bio-coated membranes accumulated more internally bounded polysaccharides, though bio-coating had no discernible impact on the production of both externally and internally bounded protein. The collective findings of this study reveal the physiological alterations of microalgal biofilms cultured on bio-coated membranes.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%