{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]],"date-time":"2026-09-24T19:28:21Z","timestamp":1790278101807,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":29,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,4]],"date-time":"2025-02-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1738627200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR)","award":["PE00000005"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PE00000005"]}]},{"name":"National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR)","award":["2022AXYMKY"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2022AXYMKY"]}]},{"name":"Fund for the National Research Program and Projects of National Relevance (PRIN)","award":["PE00000005"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PE00000005"]}]},{"name":"Fund for the National Research Program and Projects of National Relevance (PRIN)","award":["2022AXYMKY"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2022AXYMKY"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Bioengineering"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Actions for improving water quality are critical and include the remediation of polluted groundwater. The effectiveness of the remediation strategy to remove contamination by chlorinated solvents may be increased by combining physicochemical treatments (i.e., adsorption) and biological degradation (i.e., biological reductive dechlorination (BRD)). Recent studies have shown the potentialities of bio-based materials for bioremediation purposes, including polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), a biodegradable microbial polyester tested as a fermentable source of slow-release electron donors. Further, a low-cost biochar derived from the pyrolysis of pinewood waste (PWB), used as sorbent material, has recently been proposed to accelerate reductive microbial dehalogenation. Here, we propose a coupled adsorption and biodegradation (CAB) process for trichloroethylene (TCE) removal in a mini pilot-scale reactor composed of two reactive zones, the first one filled with PHB and the second one with PWB. This work aimed to evaluate the performance of the CAB process with particular regard to the effectiveness of the PWB in sustaining the biofilm, mostly enriched by Dehalococcoides mccartyi. The main results showed the CAB system treated around 1300 L of contaminated water, removing 102 mg TCE per day. Combining PHB and PWB had a positive effect on the growth of the dechlorinating community with a high abundance of Dhc cells.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/bioengineering12020148","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,4]],"date-time":"2025-02-04T05:55:22Z","timestamp":1738648522000},"page":"148","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":7,"title":["A Coupled Adsorption\u2013Biodegradation (CAB) Process Employing a Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB)\u2013Biochar Mini Pilot-Scale Reactor for Trichloroethylene-Contaminated Groundwater Remediation"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9638-4859","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Laura","family":"Lorini","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry, University of Rome, La Sapienza, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marta Maria","family":"Rossi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry, University of Rome, La Sapienza, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Maria Letizia","family":"Di Franca","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Water Research Institute, IRSA-CNR, Via Salaria km 29,300, 00015 Monterotondo, Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4517-1148","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marianna","family":"Villano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry, University of Rome, La Sapienza, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9250-5633","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bruna","family":"Matturro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Water Research Institute, IRSA-CNR, Via Salaria km 29,300, 00015 Monterotondo, Rome, Italy"},{"name":"New Biodiversity Future Center, NBFC, Piazza Marina, 61, 90133 Palermo, Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8698-675X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marco","family":"Petrangeli Papini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry, University of Rome, La Sapienza, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"USEPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) (2003). 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