Summary

Bioelectrochemical systems offer a promising technology to establish sustainable methods for degrading organic contaminants during water treatment. However, a lack of understanding of biofilm formation and optimization on electrodes currently prevents engineers from effectively using biofilm-electrodes to convert soluble organics into electricity and vice versa.

We will explore an integrated strategy for biofilm-based contaminant degradation in which biofilm engineering is combined with bioelectrochemical systems to establish long-term water treatment processes (Collaboration with Dr. Sanchez at U of Pittsburgh).