Three-dimensional (3D) N-doped open-porous carbon foam was fabricated using the simple procedure of calcining a melamine sponge. The properties of the fabricated carbon foam and its performance in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) using Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 (S. oneidensis) were compared with those of commercial graphite felt. The MFC with the carbon foam anode produced approximately 2 times higher power density than the commercial graphite felt. The superior performance of the as-prepared carbon foam in MFC was attributed to the higher surface area (687.19 m² g⁻¹) and open-porous scaffold structure. Moreover, the appearance of the hydrophilic functional groups such as CN–C, N–CO on the surface of the as-prepared carbon foam facilitated extracellular electron transfer, resulting in a decrease in charge transfer resistance and an increase in biocompatibility. Owing to the excellent biocompatibility, a large amount of microbial biomass colonized both the surface and inside the carbon foam, which helped enhance the performance of the MFC.

The contribution ratio of autotrophic and heterotrophic metabolism in the mixotrophic culture of Chlorella sorokiniana (C. sorokiniana) was investigated. At the early stage of mixotrophic growth (day 0–1), autotrophy contributed over 70% of the total metabolism; however, heterotrophy contributed more than autotrophy after day 1 due to the rapid increase in cell density, which had a shading effect in the photo-bioreactor. Heterotrophy continued to have a higher contribution until the available organic carbon was depleted at which point autotrophy became dominant again. Overall, the increase in algal biomass and light conditions in the photo-bioreactor are important factors in determining the contribution of autotrophy and heterotrophy during a mixotrophic culture.

Nutrient removal from artificial wastewater in autotrophic condition by the co-culture consortium of Scenedesmus dimorphus and nitrifiers was investigated. The batch experiments of co-culture, S. dimorphus- and nitrifiers-only treatments were conducted and compared for 9 days. As a result, the co-culture system showed enhancement in both nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P) removal compared to each single culture. Especially, total N removal efficiency and P removal efficiency in co-culture reactor were enhanced 3.4 and 6.5 times compared to nitrifiers-only reactor, respectively. This result implies that post-treatment systems such as denitrification of nitrate and luxury uptake of P can be deducted by using the co-culture consortium of Scenedesmus dimorphus and nitrifiers. In addition, unlike nitrifiers-only reactor, the co-culture maintained high Dissolved Oxygen (DO) without external aeration. Thus it is suggested that co-culture of Scenedesmus dimorphus and nitrifiers is an efficient and economic method to removal nutrient from wastewater.

A two-stage hydrogen/methane fermentation process has emerged as a feasible engineering system to recover bio-energy from wastewater. Hydrogen-producing bacteria (HPB) generate hydrogen from readily available carbohydrates, and organic acids produced during the hydrogen fermentation step can be degraded to generate methane in the following step. Three strong acids, HCl, H2SO4, and HNO3, were tested to determine the appropriate pre-treatment method for enhanced hydrogen production. The hydrogen production rates of 230, 290, and 20 L/kg-glucose/day was observed for the sludge treated with HCl, H2SO4, and HNO3, respectively, indicating that the acid pre-treatment using either HCl or H2SO4 resulted in a significant increase in hydrogen production. The fluorescent in situ hybridization method indicated that the acid pre-treatment selectively enriched HPB including Clostridium sp. of cluster I from inoculum sludge. After hydrogen fermentation was terminated, the sludge was introduced to a methane fermentation reactor. This experiment showed methane production rates of 100, 30, and 13 L/kg-glucose/day for the sludge pre-treated with HCl, H2SO4, and HNO3, respectively, implying that both sulfate and nitrate inhibited the activity of methane-producing bacteria. Consequently, the acid pre-treatment might be a feasible option to enhance biogas recovery in the two-stage fermentation process, and HCl was selected as the optimal strong acid for the enrichment of HPB and the continuous production of methane.

We designed an experiment to analyze the gut content of Rotifera based on DNA barcoding and tested it on Asplanchna sp. in order to ensure that the DNA extracted from the rotifer species is from the food sources within the gut. We selected ethanol fixation (60%) to minimize the inflow effects of treated chemicals, and commercial bleach (the final concentration of 2.5%, for 210 s) to eliminate the extracellular DNA without damage to the lorica. Rotifers have different lorica structures and thicknesses. Therefore, we chose a pretreatment method based on Asplanchna sp., which is known to have weak durability. When we used the determined method on a reservoir water sample, we confirmed that the DNA fragments of Chlorophyceae, Diatomea, Cyanobacteria, and Ciliophora were removed. Given this result, Diatomea and cyanobacteria, detected from Asplanchna, can be considered as gut contents. However, bacteria were not removed by bleach, thus there was still insufficient information. Since the results of applying commercial bleach to rotifer species confirmed that pretreatment worked effectively for some species of rotifers food sources, in further studies, it is believed to be applicable to the gut contents analysis of more diverse rotifers species and better DNA analysis techniques by supplementing more rigorous limitations.