Ma. Heitkamp et Wp. Stewart, A NOVEL POROUS NYLON BIOCARRIER FOR IMMOBILIZED BACTERIA, Applied and environmental microbiology, 62(12), 1996, pp. 4659-4662
A highly porous nylon biocarrier was developed to support immobilized
bacteria in bioreactors used to treat liquid wastes. Porosity analyses
and scanning electron microscopy showed microbial colonization of acc
essible pores typically in the range of 100 to 1,200 mu m, with some a
s large as 3.9 mm. A bench-scale packed-bed reactor achieved a p-nitro
phenol (PNP) removal rate of 5.95 kg of PNP m(-3) day(-1) for wastes c
ontaining 1,200 mg of PNP liter(-1). Complete mixing of the biocarrier
bed to remove excess surface biomass was routinely achieved with simp
le air injection. These porous polymer biocarriers are promising as mi
crobial supports in liquid-waste treatment and bioremediation applicat
ions.