Enhanced carbamazepine removal by OMS-2@ACF during the activated sludge treatment

The use of nanomaterials to enhance bioprocessing for the removal of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) has received increasing attention. Facing the increasing ecotoxicity effects of pharmaceuticals, carbamazepine was classified as medium to high-risk pollutants in wastewater treatment plant effluents and surface waters. However, the interactions between nanomaterials and microbial communities are unclear. This study reveals the potential and mechanism of synthesized octahedral molecular sieve and activated carbon fiber (OMS-2@ACF) composites in enhancing the aerobic microbial capacity of sequencing batch reactor (SBR) for the treatment of carbamazepine. In an SBR, a series doses of OMS-2@ACF at 0, 0.05, 0.25, and 1 g/L were introduced to the reactor to investigate their impact on the treatment of carbamazepine by activated sludge and recorded as S1, S2, S3, and S4, respectively. Furthermore, OMS-2@ACF demonstrated an enhancing effect on the carbamazepine removal performance, as the S4 reactor exhibited the most effective removal efficiencies between 67.8 % and 76.4 % of carbamazepine. Illumina high-throughput sequencing revealed that OMS-2@ACF material altered the composition of the microbial community in the SBR, identifying the Comamonas as the key genus contributing most significantly to the community response. Analysis indicated that the presence of OMS-2@ACF material increased metabolic pathways associated with contaminant degradation, resulting in improved treatment performance of the SBR. This study provides a promising method for the combination of nano-molecular sieve and activated carbon fiber during the pharmaceutical wastewater biotreatment process.