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Alginate-aided encapsulation: A novel and facile approach to strengthen the resilience of aerobic granular sludge under ethylene glycol-induced C/N stress
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DOI：10.1016/j.watcyc.2026.02.006.png)
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Abstract
En 中文
C/N imbalanced and toxic wastewaters destabilize biological treatment processes by disrupting microbial structure and function. Ethylene glycol (EG), commonly encountered in de-icing-related effluents, represents a relevant model stressor for examining such instability. This study redefines aerobic granular sludge (AGS) recovery pathways under EG-induced C/N imbalance through alginate-aided microbial encapsulation. Under progressively increasing EG concentrations (120-2000 mg/L), AGS maintained COD removal exceeding 90 % and nearly complete simultaneous nitrification-denitrification (SND) at concentrations up to 800 mg/L, but granule destabilization and biomass washout occurred beyond 1200 mg/L. Alginate-aided encapsulation actively confined microbial fragments within a transient protective hydrogel scaffold, transforming spontaneous fragmentation into a guided reaggregation process that restored structural cohesion and metabolic stability. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging confirmed structural restabilization, consistent with restored secretion of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), whereas microsensor-based oxygen profiling revealed improved diffusivity within encapsulated biomass. Although conventional nitrifiers, Nitrosomonas and Nitrospira, became undetectable post-encapsulation, stress-tolerant genera, including Comamonas and Pseudomonas, sustained nitrogen transformation with >85% total nitrogen removal, while Pedobacter potentially facilitated EPS-mediated reassembly. Together, this work establishes alginate-aided encapsulation as a facile, retrofittable intervention that converts passive AGS recovery into a controllable bioprocess, strengthening structural resilience and treatment stability under organic loading stress.
Keywords:
Biodegradation
Organic loading stress
Feast/famine conditions
Granule integrity
Alginate encapsulation
Microbial reaggregation
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