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  • Cryo bacteria reactor

Cryo bacteria reactor

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), Polychlorinated phenols (PCPs) phenols and their derivatives are a group of chemicals now considered among the most hazardous pollutants in the world. The presence of these extremely stable compounds in trace concentrations in water have been linked to an increased risk in frequency of cancer. PCBs were used for production of various industrial capacitors, pesticides and herbicides over a number of years. PCPs and chlorophenols are used as precursor in the production of preservative and dyestuffs, additionally  phenol and its derivatives are still produced as a side product of oil refinery and chlorination of water, therefore these toxic compounds are present and still appear in ground and water.

Existing multistep water purification processes for PCBs, PCPs and other chlorinated contaminants are expensive, mostly due to usage of different chemicals. Bioremediation processes utilising bacteria represents an alternative to existing chemical methods. Immobilisation of bacteria on a substrate has a number of benefits over free bacteria suspension, such as higher biomass content, even distribution in volume, high metabolic activity and resistance to toxic chemicals, which results in a continuous process operating and avoiding the biomass-liquid separation restrictions. The immobilised bacteria can be reused several times opening opportunities for developing cost-effective processes for wastewater treatment. In this project, we apply a cutting-edge technology; he developed the direct cross-linking of the bacteria cells into a 3D-structured macroporous, highly permeable system. This system is used for selective and efficient purification of contaminated water from phenols, cresols and its chloro derivatives (chlorophenols etc.).

Advantages of the novel system are:

  • one step immobilisation and high density of immobilised cells
  • no diffusion restriction of contaminant to the cells and the possibility of exploiting the system as a flow through bioreactor.

This is an inter- and intra-disciplinary project involving the combination of knowledge and expertise in microbiology, cryotechnology, organic, polymer, physical, analytical, environmental and surface chemistry. The project intends to solve sophisticated problems of environmental remediation through the combination of microbiology and polymer chemistry.

Cyro-bacteria-reactor

Illustration of microporous structure of the 3D-cryo bacteria reactor composed of cross-linked bacteria and its possibility to consume toxic and mutagenic contaminants (phenols, cresols, mono & polychlorophenols) from water as a source of energy.

Project timeframe and funding

The research project commenced in 2016 and will end in 2018.

This project has received funding of EUR 183,455 from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme through the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions initiative. Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) provide grants for all stages of researchers' careers and encourages transnational, intersectoral and interdisciplinary mobility. The MSCA enable research-focused organisations to host talented foreign researchers and to create strategic partnerships with leading institutions worldwide. Dr Dmitriy Berillo is supported as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow to complete this project.

EU-logo

This project has received funding from the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Individual Fellows (IF) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement number 701289.

Project aims

The project aims to develop and apply a new technology, for the direct cross-linking of the bacteria cells into a 3D structured macroporous, highly permeable system that will be used for selective and effective purification of contaminated water from organic compounds.

The performance of developed materials will be assessed on the real systems under the guidance of the ENVIROCENTRUM, Slovakian SME specialising in bioremediation.

Project findings and impact

The chemical cross-linking of bacteria under cryoconditions into a 3D structured bacterial cells structure is a highly novel process. The development of 3D structured bacterial cells systems gives new possibilities for easy immobilisation of the bacteria cells and developing novel methods to deal with complex contaminants, which are difficult to remove from the environment. It is expected that the proposed bioreactor will provide direct flow through of the contaminated water, which opens opportunities to design novel systems and approaches in the treatment of water.

The outcome of this project will build strong foundations for the creation of immobilised alive bacteria cells bioreactor that could also usefully utilised in other areas of chemistry and biotechnology. The understanding of formation mechanism of 3D structured bacterial cells in cryoconditions may lead to better understanding of cryopreservation process of cells and tissue and probably discovery of new cryoprotectors.

Research team

Irina Savina, lead supervisor

Jonathan Caplin, supervisor in relation to environmental microbiology

Dmitriy Berillo, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Individual Fellow

Professor Andrew Cundy

Output

Al-Jwaid AK, Berillo, D, Savina, IN, Cundy, AB and Caplin, JL (2018) One-step formation of three-dimensional macroporous bacterial sponges as a novel approach for the preparation of bioreactors for bioremediation and green treatment of water
RSC Advances 8 (54), 30813-30824

Biocompatible scaffolds based on natural polymers for regenerative medicine, International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 22 March 2018

3D-macroporous chitosan-based scaffolds with in situ formed Pd and Pt nanoparticles for nitrophenol reduction, Carbohydrate Polymers, 15 March 2018

Partners

Peter Sekula, Envirocentrum lead supervisor

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