Synergistic strategies of Salinivibrio kushneri immobilization on biochar alginate microspheres for the removal of phenol from aqueous solution modeling approaches

Abstract

Abstract Phenolic pollution poses a significant environmental issue due to its toxicity and persistence in aquatic ecosystems. This study investigates an innovative approach utilizing immobilized Salinivibrio kushneri within alginate and water hyacinth-derived biochar microspheres for the removal of phenol from aqueous solutions. Bacterial strains with high phenol-degrading capacity were isolated, and the best-performing strain was identified by 16 S rDNA sequencing (GenBank accession no. PQ836117). Two biosorbents were evaluated: Bacteria-Alginate Microspheres (BAMs) and Bacteria-Loaded Biochar-Alginate Microspheres (BLBAMs). The BLBAMs outperformed BAMs, achieving phenol removal rates over 87%. This maximum efficiency was achieved under optimal conditions of pH 7, 30 h contact time, and a phenol concentration of 51.76 mg/L. Kinetic and isotherm modeling indicated that the adsorption process was driven by chemisorption and followed the Langmuir model, with a monolayer adsorption capacity of 53.19 mg/g. The pseudo-second-order model (R 2 = 0.999) provided the best fit to the data. The study demonstrates that integrating microbial activity with water hyacinth-derived biochar provides a sustainable and cost-effective method for phenol removal, supporting scalable bioremediation strategies for wastewater treatment.