Institut für Ecopreneurship

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Assessing the biodegradation of btex and stress response in a bio-permeable reactive barrier using compound-specific isotope analysis
(MDPI, 20.07.2022) Chen, Tianyu; Wu, Yan; Wang, Jinnan; Corvini, Philippe [in: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health]
By using compound-specific isotope analysis (CSIA) in combination with high-throughput sequencing analysis (HTS), we successfully evaluated the benzene and toluene biodegradation in a bio-permeable reactive barrier (bio-PRB) and the stress response of the microbial community. Under stress conditions, a greater decline in the biodegradation rate of BTEX was observed compared with the apparent removal rate. Both an increase in the influent concentration and the addition of trichloroethylene (TCE) inhibited benzene biodegradation, while toluene biodegradation was inhibited by TCE. Regarding the stress response, the relative abundance of the dominant bacterial community responsible for the biodegradation of BTEX increased with the influent concentration. However, the dominant bacterial community did not change, and its relative abundance was restored after the influent concentration decreased. On the contrary, the addition of TCE significantly changed the bacterial community, with Aminicenantes becoming the dominant phyla for co-metabolizing TCE and BTEX. Thus, TCE had a more significant influence on the bio-PRB than an increasing influent concentration, although these two stress conditions showed a similar degree of influence on the apparent removal rate of benzene and toluene. The present work not only provides a new method for accurately evaluating the biodegradation performance and microbial community in a bio-PRB, but also expands the application of compound-specific isotope analysis in the biological treatment of wastewater.
01A - Beitrag in wissenschaftlicher Zeitschrift
Engineering efficient hole transport layer Ferrihydrite-MXene on BiVO4 photoanodes for photoelectrochemical water splitting: Work function and conductivity regulated
(Elsevier, 2022) Bai, Weihao; Zhou, Ye; Peng, Gang; Wang, Jinnan; Li, Aimin; Corvini, Philippe [in: Applied Catalysis B: Environmental]
Although great interest is focused on development of semiconductor photoanodes for efficient photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting, the pressing bottleneck to address the intrinsic charge transport for enhancement of PEC performance still remains to be resolved. Herein, hole transport layer (Fh-MXene) constructed by doping of MXene (Ti3C2) in Ferrihydrite (Fh) is loaded on BiVO4 photoanode. This novel BiVO4@Fh-MXene photoanode achieves high current density of 4.55 mA cm−2 at 1.23 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (vs. RHE), exhibiting excellent photostability. From electrochemical analysis and density functional theory calculations, high PEC performance is ascribed to incorporation of Fh-MXene as hole transport layer, enhancing conductivity and water oxidation reaction. Notably, MXene can improve band alignment of BiVO4/Fh-MXene interface by tuning work function, which strengthens the built-in electric field for more efficient hole extraction. This work provides a simple method to design photoanodes with efficient charge transport layers for feasible PEC water splitting application.
01A - Beitrag in wissenschaftlicher Zeitschrift
Evaluation of the performance and quality of wastewater treated by M’zar Plant in Agadir, Morocco
(MDPI, 31.03.2021) Mansir, Imane; Oertlé, Emmanuel; Choukr-Allah, Redouane [in: Water]
The aim of our study is based on the characterization of the effluents treated by the M’zar plant, the monitoring of its purification performance after each treatment stage and the benefits of treated wastewater reuse in Souss-Massa region. Physico-chemical and bacteriological analyses were performed monthly from May 2019 to September 2020 on four types of water: Raw Water (RW), Settled Water (SW), Filtered Water (FW) and Purified Water treated by ultraviolet radiation (PWUV). After treatment, the pH values were close to neutrality and the concentrations of COD, BOD5, SM and bacteriological parameters were below the limits recommended by Moroccan standards, with a satisfactory abatement rate (between 97.5% and 100%), with the exception of electrical conductivity, which recorded very high values (3.7 dS/cm in PWUV) due to the salt discharged by the fish industries. In fact, the treated wastewater is rich in nitrates (289.24 mg/L in PWUV) and their reuse in agriculture can therefore contribute to making significant savings in terms of fertilization (2.08 t/day of nitrogen with a daily flow of 30,000 m3/day). Furthermore, a daily quantity of 2 to 5 tons of sludge is discharged, containing 40% to 60% of dry volatile matter, which results in the biogas production of 1275 m3/day/decanter.
01A - Beitrag in wissenschaftlicher Zeitschrift
Immobilized Biocatalysts for Bioremediation of Groundwater and Wastewater
(International Water Association Publications (IWA), 2015) Hochstrat, Rita; Wintgens, Thomas; Corvini, Philippe
The book summarises the findings of the EU funded research project MINOTAURUS (FP7 funded, GA no. 265946). It presents bioremediation approaches for contaminated groundwater and wastewater. The focus is on the application of immobilized enzymes and microorganisms in adopted bioreactors.
03 - Sammelband
Magnesium sensing via LFA-1 regulates CD8+ T cell effector function
(Cell Press, 2022) Lötscher, Jonas; Martí i Líndez, Adrià-Arnau; Kirchhammer, Nicole; Cribioli, Elisabetta; Giordano Attianese, Greta Maria Paola; Trefny, Marcel P.; Rothschild, Sacha I.; Strati, Paolo; Künzli, Marco; Lotter, Claudia; Schenk, Susanne H.; Dehio, Philippe; Löliger, Jordan; Litzler, Ludivine; Schreiner, David; Koch, Victoria; Page, Nicolas; Lee, Dahye; Grählert, Jasmin; Kuzmin, Dmitry; Burgener, Anne-Valérie; Merkler, Doron; Pless, Miklos; Balmer, Maria L.; Reith, Walter; Huwyler, Jörg; Irving, Melita; King, Carolyn G.; Zippelius, Alfred; Hess, Christoph; Lenz, Markus [in: Cell]
The relevance of extracellular magnesium in cellular immunity remains largely unknown. Here, we show that the co-stimulatory cell-surface molecule LFA-1 requires magnesium to adopt its active conformation on CD8+ T cells, thereby augmenting calcium flux, signal transduction, metabolic reprogramming, immune synapse formation, and, as a consequence, specific cytotoxicity. Accordingly, magnesium-sufficiency sensed via LFA-1 translated to the superior performance of pathogen- and tumor-specific T cells, enhanced effectiveness of bi-specific T cell engaging antibodies, and improved CAR T cell function. Clinically, low serum magnesium levels were associated with more rapid disease progression and shorter overall survival in CAR T cell and immune checkpoint antibody-treated patients. LFA-1 thus directly incorporates information on the composition of the microenvironment as a determinant of outside-in signaling activity. These findings conceptually link co-stimulation and nutrient sensing and point to the magnesium-LFA-1 axis as a therapeutically amenable biologic system.
01A - Beitrag in wissenschaftlicher Zeitschrift
Measures to control invasive crayfish species in Switzerland: A success story?
(Frontiers, 09.12.2020) Krieg, Raphael; King, Alex; Zenker, Armin [in: Frontiers in Environmental Science]
01A - Beitrag in wissenschaftlicher Zeitschrift
Nanofiltration-enhanced solvent extraction of scandium from TiO acid waste
(American Chemical Society, 27.04.2022) Yagmurlu, Bengi; Huang, Danyu; von Arx, Oliver; Dittrich, Carsten; Constable, Edwin; Friedrich, Bernd; Hedwig, Sebastian; Lenz, Markus [in: ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering]
Scandium is a critical raw material with a technological potential to reduce transportation costs and CO2 emissions. However, global supply and market adoption are crucially impaired by the lack of high-grade Sc ores and recovery strategies. A tandem nanofiltration solvent extraction route is demonstrated to enable effective Sc recovery from real-world acid waste from the chloride TiO2 production route. The process involving several filtration stages, solvent extraction, and precipitation was optimized, ultimately producing >97% pure (NH4)3ScF6.
01A - Beitrag in wissenschaftlicher Zeitschrift
Production of superparamagnetic nanobiocatalysts for green chemistry applications
(Springer, 23.04.2016) Gasser, Christoph; Ammann, Erik; Schäffer, Andreas; Shahgaldian, Patrick; Corvini, Philippe [in: Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology]
Immobilization of enzymes on solid supports is a convenient method for increasing enzymatic stability and enabling enzyme reuse. In the present work, a sorption-assisted surface conjugation method was developed and optimized to immobilize enzymes on the surface of superparamagnetic nanoparticles. An oxidative enzyme, i.e., laccase from Trametes versicolor was used as model enzyme. The immobilization method consists of the production of superparamagnetic nanoparticles by co-precipitation of FeCl2 and FeCl3. Subsequently, the particle surface is modified with an organosilane containing an amino group. Next, the enzymes are adsorbed on the particle surface before a cross-linking agent, i.e., glutaraldehyde is added which links the amino groups on the particle surface with the amino groups of the enzymes and leads to internal cross-linking of the enzymes as well. The method was optimized using response surface methodology regarding optimal enzyme and glutaraldehyde amounts, pH, and reaction times. Results allowed formulation of biocatalysts having high specific enzymatic activity and improved stability. The biocatalysts showed considerably higher stability compared with the dissolved enzymes over a pH range from 3 to 9 and in the presence of several chemical denaturants. To demonstrate the reusability of the immobilized enzymes, they were applied as catalysts for the production of a phenoxazinone dye. Virtually, 100 % of the precursor was transformed to the dye in each of the ten conducted reaction cycles while on average 84.5 % of the enzymatic activity present at the beginning of a reaction cycle was retained after each cycle highlighting the considerable potential of superparamagnetic biocatalysts for application in industrial processes.
01A - Beitrag in wissenschaftlicher Zeitschrift
Rapid sequestration of perovskite solar cell-derived lead in soil
(Elsevier, 08/2022) Schmidt, Felix; Ledermann, Luca; Schäffer, Andreas; Snaith, Henry J.; Lenz, Markus [in: Journal of Hazardous Materials]
Efficient and stable perovskite solar cells rely on the use of Pb species potentially challenging the technologies’ commercialisation. In this study, the fate of Pb derived from two common perovskite precursors is compared to cationic lead in soil-water microcosm experiments under various biogeochemical conditions. The rapid and efficient removal of Pb from the aqueous phase is demonstrated by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Sequential soil extraction results reveal that a substantial amount of Pb is associated with immobile fractions, whereas a minor proportion of Pb may become available again in the long term, when oxygen is depleted (e.g. during water logging). X-ray absorption spectroscopy results reveal that the sorption of Pb on mineral phases represents the most likely sequestration mechanism. The obtained results suggest that the availability of leached Pb from perovskite solar cells is naturally limited in soils and that its adverse effects on soil biota are possibly negligible in oxic soils. All three Pb sources used behaved very similar in the experiments, wherefore we conclude that perovskite derived Pb will have a similar fate compared to cationic Pb, so that established risk assessment considerations for Pb remain legitimate.
01A - Beitrag in wissenschaftlicher Zeitschrift
Recovery of scandium from acidic waste solutions by means of polymer inclusion membranes
(Elsevier, 2022) Hedwig, Sebastian; Kraus, Manuel; Amrein, Meret; Stiehm, Johannes; Constable, Edwin C.; Lenz, Markus [in: Hydrometallurgy]
Scandium is a raw material with properties that promise considerable potential for application in alloys to enable aviation fuel savings and as dopants for use in sustainable energy production using solid oxide fuel cells. Despite these attractive properties, scandium is rarely used due to its scarcity and unreliable supply. Therefore, new strategies for scandium recovery are of economic priority. In this study, polymer inclusion membranes (PIMs) consisting of PVDF-HFP, 2-NPOE and DEHPA, were optimised for selective scandium separation from real TiO2 production waste. With the optimised system, >60% of the scandium was recovered with high selectivity, resulting in scandium mole fraction at more than two orders of magnitude higher in the receiving phase than in the original waste. This suggests PIMs may be an effective way to recover scandium from bulk waste, thus easing the scarcity and insecurity that currently limit its bulk application.
01A - Beitrag in wissenschaftlicher Zeitschrift
Soil microbiomes divergently respond to heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in contaminated industrial sites
(Elsevier, 2022) Yang, Zhen-Ni; Liu, Ze-Shen; Wang, Ke-Huan; Liang, Zong-Lin; Abdugheni, Rashidin; Huang, Ye; Wang, Run-Hua; Ma, Hong-Lin; Wang, Xiao-Kang; Yang, Mei-Ling; Zhang, Bing-Ge; Li, De-Feng; Jiang, Cheng-Ying; Liu, Shuang-Jiang; Corvini, Philippe [in: Environmental Science & Ecotechnology]
Contaminated sites from electronic waste (e-waste) dismantling and coking plants feature high concentrations of heavy metals (HMs) and/or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in soil. Mixed contamination (HMs + PAHs) hinders land reclamation and affects the microbial diversity and function of soil microbiomes. In this study, we analyzed HM and PAH contamination from an e-waste dismantling plant and a coking plant and evaluated the influences of HM and PAH contamination on soil microbiomes. It was noticed that HMs and PAHs were found in all sites, although the major contaminants of the e-waste dismantling plant site were HMs (such as Cu at 5,947.58 ± 433.44 mg kg−1, Zn at 4,961.38 ± 436.51 mg kg−1, and Mn at 2,379.07 ± 227.46 mg kg−1), and the major contaminants of the coking plant site were PAHs (such as fluorene at 11,740.06 ± 620.1 mg kg−1, acenaphthylene at 211.69 ± 7.04 mg kg−1, and pyrene at 183.14 ± 18.89 mg kg−1). The microbiomes (diversity and abundance) of all sites were determined via high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA genes, and redundancy analysis was conducted to investigate the relations between soil microbiomes and contaminants. The results showed that the microbiomes of the contaminated sites divergently responded to HMs and PAHs. The abundances of the bacterial genera Sulfuritalea, Pseudomonas, and Sphingobium were positively related to PAHs, while the abundances of the bacterial genera Bryobacter, Nitrospira, and Steroidobacter were positively related to HMs. This study promotes an understanding of how soil microbiomes respond to single and mixed contamination with HMs and PAHs.
01A - Beitrag in wissenschaftlicher Zeitschrift
Tradeoff between micropollutant abatement and bromate formation during ozonation of concentrates from nanofiltration and reverse osmosis processes
(Elsevier, 2022) Wünsch, Robin; Hettich, Timm; Prahtel, Marlies; Thomann, Michael; Wintgens, Thomas; Von Gunten, Urs [in: Water Research]
Water treatment with nanofiltration (NF) or reverse osmosis (RO) membranes results in a purified permeate and a retentate, where solutes are concentrated and have to be properly managed and discharged. To date, little is known on how the selection of a semi-permeable dense membrane impacts the dissolved organic matter in the concentrate and what the consequences are for micropollutant (MP) abatement and bromate formation during concentrate treatment with ozone. Laboratory ozonation experiments were performed with standardized concentrates produced by three membranes (two NFs and one low-pressure reverse osmosis (LPRO) membrane) from three water sources (two river waters and one lake water). The concentrates were standardized by adjustment of pH and concentrations of dissolved organic carbon, total inorganic carbon, selected micropollutants (MP) with a low to high ozone reactivity and bromide to exclude factors which are known to impact ozonation. NF membranes had a lower retention of bromide and MPs than the LPRO membrane, and if the permeate quality of the NF membrane meets the requirements, the selection of this membrane type is beneficial due to the lower bromate formation risks upon concentrate ozonation. The bromate formation was typically higher in standardized concentrates of LPRO than of NF membranes, but the tradeoff between MP abatement and bromate formation upon ozonation of the standardized concentrates was not affected by the membrane type. Furthermore, there was no difference for the different source waters. Overall, ozonation of concentrates is only feasible for abatement of MPs with a high to moderate ozone reactivity with limited bromate formation. Differences in the DOM composition between NF and LPRO membrane concentrates are less relevant than retention of MPs and bromide by the membrane and the required ozone dose to meet a treatment target.
01A - Beitrag in wissenschaftlicher Zeitschrift
Using eDNA to simultaneously detect the distribution of native and invasive crayfish within an entire country
(Elsevier, 2022) Krieg, Raphael; Weston, Anna; Zenker, Armin; King, Alex [in: Journal of Environmental Management]
The introduction of invasive crayfish has led to a decline of many European native species of crayfish across their range. In this study, novel duplex assays for all crayfish occurring in Switzerland were developed. We aimed to identify the distribution of the seven species using a traditional trap surveillance method as well by collecting water samples to detect eDNA by species-specific quantitative real-time PCR. We reveal our overall experience in finding optimal field and laboratory techniques to discover the distribution and abundance of native and invasive species in order to enhance knowledge of early invasive species invasion and highlight important pockets of populations where native species remain, for implementation of conservation strategies. Using eDNA, important populations of native noble and white-clawed crayfish were revealed in multiple waters across various cantons. The successful identification of native and invasive crayfish species in Switzerland using eDNA can be applied to future nationwide projects. This method which has the ability to detect all species simultaneously across an entire country, will allow an improvement in freshwater crayfish conservation management.
01A - Beitrag in wissenschaftlicher Zeitschrift

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