Novel porous polyethersulfone beads as matrix to immobilize Comamonas testosteroni sp. bdq06 in quinoline biodegradation

Novel matrix beads for the immobilization of strain Comamonas testosteroni sp. bdq06 to degrade quinoline were fabricated from polyethersulfone(PES). The beads have an average size of 3 mm and a surface dense layer of 20 microns. To help adhesion and proliferation of bacterial cells, the surfaces of the PES beads were etched, and numerous holes about 1.5 micrometers in diameter were generated as tunnels for cell colonizing in the larger internal cavities of about 5 micrometers in diameter. The quinoline degradation was remarkably enhanced by the cells immobilized in PES beads compared with that by the free cells at pH 5.0 or 10.0 and a temperature of 40 °C. The enhanced degradation of quinoline was contributed to the biofilm on the surface of PES beads, resulting in the significant reduction of retention time from 9 h to 2 h. Furthermore, the beads remain intact after the ultrasonic treatment of them for 30 min or recycling 50 times, indicating that they have excellent mechanical strength, flexibility and swelling capacity. Thus, PES beads have great potential to be matrix for the cell immobilization in bioaugmentation.