Benefited wastewater utilization via configurable, spatialized, and microorganisms-integrated biophotonic systems

Abstract

The development of engineering microbiology is widely expected to advance carbon neutrality and sustainability in the wastewater industry. Engineering microbiology can deliver desired functions without high treatment costs, complex processes, massive greenhouse gas emissions, and resource waste. Here, we propose a complementary strategy to realize benefited wastewater utilization by configurable spatialized microorganisms-integrated biophotonic systems (CSMBs). The configurable spatialized microorganisms enable enhanced microbial synergy and empower on-demand waste-to-bioenergy conversion through optofluidic-assisted design. The developed CSMBs improve the reaction between light and microorganisms (light harvesting and microorganisms’ photosynthesis) via enhanced natural light photon capture and adjustable optical wavelength. Thanks to these features, in prospective wastewater treatment, the CSMBs breakthrough achieve 89.89% and 91.8% degradation of total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) and 91.98% removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) within 72 h, respectively. The biomass (the absorbance of 680 nm), lipid content, and chlorophyll-a content of Chlorella in the CSMBs were increased by 56.95%, 62.91%, and 35.41%, respectively, compared to the growth of single Chlorella. The method possesses broad applicability and superior tunability, which can be extended to a wide variety of wastewater treatment and enable more ability in benefited waste utilization.