Research Interested

1. Bioremediation of organic pollutants in the environmental matrices.

Composting is very robust to degrade persistent organic pollutants (e.g., dioxins, PAH, and PCBs), and emerging pollutants (e.g., PFAS, microplastics, and plasticizers, with degradation efficiencies achieved up to 80-99% [3, 4]. Nevertheless, it still has drawbacks such as long-period treatment, and unpleasant by-products (e.g., Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), and odors). Therefore, advanced techniques such as adsorption (e.g., biochar and zeolite) and bioaugmentation (microbial inoculation) should be examined to address this issue and achieve success. Biochar with a large surface area and high porosity enhanced microbial activity during the composting process, whereas functional groups on the biochar surface might improve the adsorption capacity of organic contaminants via ion exchange, complexation, co-precipitation, and electrostatic interaction. Also, the addition of specific bacterial strains, especially PAE-degrading bacteria, (e.g., Gordonia sp., and Rhodococcus sp.) into the compost mixture accelerated the biodegradation rate, leading to reducing the incubation period. The metagenomic analysis will be used to elucidate the role of the microbial community and enzymes involved in organic degradation and metabolism processes. In addition, complex mechanisms during the integration of composting and advanced techniques should be clarified and the upscaling and economic feasibility of this idea should be further evaluated. On the other hand, reducing environmental issues during composting, such as VOCs and odor emissions, using specific microbial strains, absorbents, and additives and enhancing the compost quality for soil amendment should be addressed in further studies toward sustainable development goals. Notably, to gain a better benefit in the bioengineering scaling-up processes, computer-aided approaches such as deep learning and machine learning can be applied to monitor the fate and transport of organic contaminants in environmental matrices and optimize the operating parameters as well as to predict and evaluate the biodegradation efficiency at different scales.

2. Water-Food-Energy Nexus

Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactors (AnMBRs) are a promising environmental biotechnology for agricultural, industrial, and municipal waste treatment, offering energy-positive processing while recovering valuable water and nutrients. Concentrated waste streams such as animal wastes and food wastes should yield a greater value proposition through AnMBR operation due to the higher organic load. My research focuses on enhancing AnMBRs to achieve over 50% carbon sequestration as volatile fatty acids (VFAs) or methane from agricultural wastewater, while producing water that meets Biological Nutrient Removal (BNR) standards for indirect potable reuse when paired with constructed wetlands. By simultaneously sequestering ammonium-N and phosphorus-P as fertilizer products and efficiently separating organic acids from the AnMBR permeate, the process can generate valuable co-products, supported by detailed techno-economic and life cycle analyses. Furthermore, the biosolid byproduct from anaerobic digestion can be utilized as mature compost, serving as organic fertilizer and soil amendment. Notably, a lab-scale AnMBR integrated with a Microbial Electrolysis Cell (MEC) enhances VFA production by arresting methanogenesis. My research direction aligns with the goals of net-zero emissions and climate change mitigation, contributing to sustainable development (Figure 2).

3. Carbon sequestration

CO2 sequestration is a promising strategy to reduce global warming and optimize the production of chemical substances. Recently, my research focused on using organic waste-based biochar as additives, which was very promising to eliminate gas emissions, with the treatment efficiency reaching 80-90% [5]. CO2 sequestration using microorganisms as catalysts is an environmentally friendly alternative and a promising strategy to reduce global warming that can be conducted by both enhancing microbial CO2 fixation and reducing microbial CO2 release. Based on the environmental biotechnology fundamentals, my research will explore suitable ways to improve the efficiency of the CO2-fixing pathway by modifying the distribution of carbon flux to optimize the utilization of cell resources. Whereas microbial CO2 release may be reduced by rewiring metabolic pathways, improving redox balance, and decreasing respiratory ATP production. Notably, developing a novel approach to better understanding soil carbon dynamics by combining a microbial computer model with data assimilation and machine learning to analyze big data related to the carbon cycle will be considered in the future. Furthermore, metabolic pathways and energy metabolism can be rewired to reduce microbial CO2 emissions and increase the carbon yield of value-added products.