title: Challenges and solutions for biofiltration of hydrophobic volatile organic compounds.
abstract: Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted to the environment highly probably result in ecological and health risks. Many biotechnologies for waste gases containing hydrophobic VOCs have been developed in recent years. However, these biological processes usually exhibit poor removal performances for hydrophobic VOCs due to the low bioavailability. This review presents an overview of enhanced removal of hydrophobic VOCs in biofilters. Mechanisms and problems relevant to the biological removal of hydrophobic VOCs are reviewed, and then solutions including the addition of surfactants, application of fungal biocatalysts, biofiltration with pretreatment, innovative bioreactors and utilization of hydrophilic compounds are discussed in detail. Future research needs are also proposed. This review provides new insights into hydrophobic VOC removal by biofiltration.
authors.affiliation: College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, Hunan 410082, China; Key Laboratory of Environmental Biology and Pollution Control (Hunan University), Ministry of Education, Changsha, Hunan 410082, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, Hunan 410082, China; Key Laboratory of Environmental Biology and Pollution Control (Hunan University), Ministry of Education, Changsha, Hunan 410082, China.
authors.forename: Huijun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, Hunan 410082, China; Key Laboratory of Environmental Biology and Pollution Control (Hunan University), Ministry of Education, Changsha, Hunan 410082, China; Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Solid Waste Treatment and Recycling, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Zhejiang Gongshang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310018, China. Electronic address: yangc@hnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Chunping
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, Hunan 410082, China; Key Laboratory of Environmental Biology and Pollution Control (Hunan University), Ministry of Education, Changsha, Hunan 410082, China. Electronic address: zgming@hnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Guangming
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, Hunan 410082, China; Key Laboratory of Environmental Biology and Pollution Control (Hunan University), Ministry of Education, Changsha, Hunan 410082, China.
authors.forename: Xiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: School of Hydraulic Engineering, Changsha University of Science and Technology, Changsha, Hunan 410004, China.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: School of Hydraulic Engineering, Changsha University of Science and Technology, Changsha, Hunan 410004, China.
authors.forename: Guanlong
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification; D019149:Bioreactors; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D052918:Environmental Restoration and Remediation / Q000379:methods*; D005374:Filtration / Q000379:methods*; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds
keywords: Bioavailability; Biofilm; Biofilter; Biofiltration; Fungi; Hydrophobicity; Surfactant; VOC