DECOMPOSITION OF PHENOL BY Pseudomonas aeruginosa IMMOBILIZED ON

ANGÉLICA PUERTO-TELLO, JUAN C. MORENO-PIRAJÁN, ANA M. GUZMÁN, MARÍA E. ESCUDERO, LIDIA VELÁZQUEZ, LILIANA GIRALDO, KARIM SAPAG,

ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT JOURNAL

GH ASACHI TECHNICAL UNIV IASI

Año: 2009 vol. 19 p. 73 - 78

1582-9596

In the present study, Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853) was gradually adapted to increasing phenol concentrations and immobilized on two activated carbons obtained from different precursors. The strain could be acclimatized to the final concentration of 1 g L-1 over a period of two weeks. Phenol decomposition was assessed measuring the concentration after 12, 24, 36, 48, 60 and 72 h using bacteria attached onto activated carbons as well as carbon and bacteria independently. The activated carbons were characterized by N2 adsorption-desorption at 77 K determining their surface area and pore size distribution before being used as the support material. Liquid-solid phase adsorption experiments were carried out for 120 h in order to plot the corresponding isotherms. The biodegradation and adsorption by activated carbons as integrated processes showed to be viable and inexpensive to deal with water pollution.