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Abstract This work compares three strategies for the in-situ remediation of oxyfluorfen polluted clay soil, based on the combination of biological processes and electrokinetics (EK): (i) EK-biostimulation, in which the action of microorganisms contained in soil is promoted without the use of biological permeable barriers, (ii) EK-bioaugmentation with fixed culture of microorganisms (BB1), which enhanced the natural bioremediation by including a microbial fixed biofilm reactor as permeable biobarrier, and (iii) EK-bioaugmentation with suspended culture of microorganisms (BB2), which improves the natural remediation by including a mixture of soil and a microbial suspension as permeable biobarrier. To do this, two-week batch electro-bioremediation tests were carried out using bench scale set-ups. In each case, a constant electric field (1 V cm−1) was applied, and electrode polarity was reversed periodically, every 12 h. In addition, a microbial consortium acclimated to oxyfluorfen biodegradation was used. The best oxyfluorfen removal efficiency (15%) was obtained using the option (i). Permeable biobarriers allowed the introduction of microorganism and nutrients into the soil, and the biological activity reached the whole soil positions. However, the insertion of these biobarriers caused an excessive decrease in the electro-osmotic flow (approximately 80%) which, in turn reduced the mobilization of the pollutants. Despite of that, results show that permeable reactive biobarriers may result in a successful alternative for in-situ EK-bioaugmentation, although higher retention times would be needed to obtain higher removal efficiencies. Graphical abstract Image 1 Highlights • Electrobioremediation of oxyfluorfen polluted soil was studied in laboratory tests. • The influence of using or not biological barriers was evaluated. • Bio-barriers successfully included microorganisms but decreased electroosmotic flow. • The best result, without bio-barriers, obtained 15% removal efficiency in 14 days. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Oxyfluorfen is a non-polar herbicide that may cause severe soil pollution. The present work studies the possible improvement due to surfactant addition in the efficiency of electro-bioremediation of a clay soil polluted which such a non-polar, low-mobility pollutant. Two-week-long batch electro-bioremediation experiments were performed in a bench-scale device. Oxyfluorfen-polluted soil (20 mg kg−1) was inoculated with an acclimated microbial culture, and several experiments were performed using different surfactant concentrations in the electrode wells (0.0, 2.5, 5.0, 10.0 and 20.0 g L−1 of SDS, sodium dodecyl sulphate). Experiments were performed under 1.0 V cm−1 and electrode polarity reversal. It was observed that the electro-osmotic flow (EOF) increased with SDS concentration and that SDS was successfully distributed across the soil, probably improving the oxyfluorfen mobility. Additionally, microbiological activity was fully maintained during the experiments. Electro-bioremediation without SDS removed 14% of the oxyfluorfen, while under 2.5 g L−1 SDS, the efficiency increased to 22% because of an expected improvement in the contact between the different species in the soil. However, higher SDS concentrations (between 10.0 and 20.0 g L−1) caused a decrease in the oxyfluorfen removal efficiency, as SDS is an easily biodegradable compound and was preferably used as substrate by the microbial culture instead of oxyfluorfen. Additionally, the use of high concentrations of SDS was clearly inefficient, as high amounts of the surfactant were lost through the EOF, and even low amounts of oxyfluorfen were removed to the electrode wells, which means that ex situ treatment of the polluted water would be needed. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • Oxyfluorfen polluted clay soil was treated through electro-bioremediation. • Surfactant (SDS) addition improved electro-osmotic flow and oxyfluorfen mobility. • Low SDS dosage increased oxyfluorfen removal efficiencies up to 22% in 2 weeks. • High SDS dosage washed out surfactant and pollutant and biodegradation rate decreased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work studies the feasibility of the periodic polarity reversal strategy (PRS) in a combined electrokinetic-biological process for the remediation of clayey soil polluted with a herbicide. Five two-weeks duration electrobioremediation batch experiments were performed in a bench scale set-up using spiked clay soil polluted with oxyfluorfen (20 mg kg −1 ) under potentiostatic conditions applying an electric field between the electrodes of 1.0 V cm −1 (20.0 V) and using PRS with five frequencies ( f ) ranging from 0 to 6 d −1 . Additionally, two complementary reference tests were done: single bioremediation and single electrokinetic. The microbial consortium used was obtained from an oil refinery wastewater treatment plant and acclimated to oxyfluorfen degradation. Main soil conditions (temperature, pH, moisture and conductivity) were correctly controlled using PRS. On the contrary, the electroosmotic flow clearly decreased as f increased. The uniform soil microbial distribution at the end of the experiments indicated that the microbial activity remained in every parts of the soil after two weeks when applying PRS. Despite the adapted microbial culture was capable of degrade 100% of oxyfluorfen in water, the remediation efficiency in soil in a reference test, without the application of electric current, was negligible. However, under the low voltage gradients and polarity reversal, removal efficiencies between 5% and 15% were obtained, and it suggested that oxyfluorfen had difficulties to interact with the microbial culture or nutrients and that PRS promoted transport of species, which caused a positive influence on remediation. An optimal f value was observed between 2 and 3 d −1 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work focusses on the improvement of the efficiency of Conductive Diamond Electrochemical Oxidation (CDEO) by coupling US and UV irradiation in the degradation of progesterone from wastewater. Results show that CDEO is a promising technology for the degradation of progesterone, just the opposite of that observed for single sonolysis and photolysis technologies, which only entail a slight removal of progesterone and nil mineralization. Coupling UV light and US irradiations with CDEO seems to have a very positive effect, improving results obtained by single CDEO very significantly. Conductive Diamond Sono Electrochemical Oxidation (CDSEO) mainly seems to improve the transfer of pollutants to the conductive-diamond surface, while Conductive Diamond Photo Electrochemical Oxidation (CDPEO) seems to promote the formation of radicals from oxidants produced electrochemically. Soft oxidation conditions are obtained with the single application of both irradiation technologies, whereas an efficient mineralization is attained with CDEO, CDSEO, CDPEO and Conductive Diamond Sono-Photo Electrochemical Oxidation (CDSPEO). However, the high energy demands of US irradiation technologies advices against the use of CDSEO and CDSPEO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]