IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i19p12191-d925534.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Review of the Role of Extracellular Polymeric Substances (EPS) in Wastewater Treatment Systems

Author

Listed:
  • Lei Huang

    (Key Laboratory of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region’s Eco-Environment (Ministry of Education), College of Resources and Environment, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
    Chongqing Key Laboratory of Agricultural Resources and Environment, Chongqing 400716, China)

  • Yinie Jin

    (Key Laboratory of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region’s Eco-Environment (Ministry of Education), College of Resources and Environment, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China)

  • Danheng Zhou

    (Key Laboratory of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region’s Eco-Environment (Ministry of Education), College of Resources and Environment, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China)

  • Linxin Liu

    (Key Laboratory of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region’s Eco-Environment (Ministry of Education), College of Resources and Environment, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China)

  • Shikun Huang

    (Key Laboratory of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region’s Eco-Environment (Ministry of Education), College of Resources and Environment, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China)

  • Yaqi Zhao

    (Key Laboratory of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region’s Eco-Environment (Ministry of Education), College of Resources and Environment, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China)

  • Yucheng Chen

    (Key Laboratory of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region’s Eco-Environment (Ministry of Education), College of Resources and Environment, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
    Chongqing Key Laboratory of Agricultural Resources and Environment, Chongqing 400716, China)

Abstract

A review of the characterization and functions of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) of microbial aggregates in biological wastewater treatment systems is presented in this paper. EPS represent the complex high-molecular-weight mixture of polymers excreted by microorganisms generated from cell lysis as well as adsorbed inorganic and organic matter from wastewater. EPS exhibit a three-dimensional, gel-like, highly hydrated matrix that facilitates microbial attachment, embedding, and immobilization. EPS play multiple roles in containments removal, and the main components of EPS crucially influence the properties of microbial aggregates, such as adsorption ability, stability, and formation capacity. Moreover, EPS are important to sludge bioflocculation, settleability, and dewatering properties and could be used as carbon and energy sources in wastewater treatment. However, due to the complex structure of EPS, related knowledge is incomplete, and further research is necessary to understand fully the precise roles in biological treatment processes.

Suggested Citation

  • Lei Huang & Yinie Jin & Danheng Zhou & Linxin Liu & Shikun Huang & Yaqi Zhao & Yucheng Chen, 2022. "A Review of the Role of Extracellular Polymeric Substances (EPS) in Wastewater Treatment Systems," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-14, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:19:p:12191-:d:925534
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/19/12191/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/19/12191/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ewa Wiśniowska & Mariusz Kowalczyk, 2022. "Recovery of Cellulose, Extracellular Polymeric Substances and Microplastics from Sewage Sludge: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(20), pages 1-11, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:19:p:12191-:d:925534. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.