Dance Your PhD 2015 - Dissolution and biodegradation of phenanthrene

• published: 26 Oct 2015
• views: 67

This Ph.D. thesis is about bacterial degradation of phenanthrene, a persistent organic pollutant, in aqueous media. As this pollutant has low solubility, its bioavailability is also very low, so the aim of this study was to increase the solubility of phenanthrene in order to have better biodegradation. Three dancing couples in the video and the way they interact under different conditions (if they do) symbolize possible interactions between phenanthrene represented by female dancers and bacteria played by male dancers. When phenanthrene-degrading bacteria are injected in an aqueous medium containing phenanthrene, they are able to consume only a small soluble portion of it without any additional treatment of the medium. That is why only one couple dances at the beginning of the video. When micellized, i.e. incorporated in self-assembled structures or micelles of surfactants (compounds that are often used to solubilize a variety of chemical substances), more phenanthrene is biodegraded. This phenomenon is represented by the second couple of dancers that was formed after micellization of phenanthrene. But what made the third couple react? It was a special high temperature treatment of the medium in the presence of surfactants. The rhythm of the music was changed, so-called supermicelles were formed, and they maximized phenanthrene biodegradation efficiency. Indeed, every phenanthrene particle reacted with bacteria in such conditions. These were the core results of my Ph.D. thesis. More detailed information on this topic can be found in my manuscripts and in other related scientific literature. Thank you for watching!