Microbial biofilms: a concept for industrial catalysis?

Biofilm reactors have long been commercially used in the treatment of wastewater and off-gas. New opportunities are arising with the rapid expansion of our understanding of biofilm biology over the last few years. Biofilms have great potential as industrial workhorses for the sustainable production...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Trends in biotechnology (Regular ed.) 2009-11, Vol.27 (11), p.636-643
Main Authors: Rosche, Bettina, Li, Xuan Zhong, Hauer, Bernhard, Schmid, Andreas, Buehler, Katja
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bacteria
Bacteria - ultrastructure
Bacterial Physiological Phenomena
Batch processes
Biocatalysis
Biocatalysts
Biofilms
Biological and medical sciences
Biology
Bioreactors
Biotechnology
Catalysis
Cell growth
Cotton fabrics
Enzymes
Ethanol
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humans
Industrial Microbiology - methods
Internal Medicine
Microorganisms
Process controls
Reactors
Sustainable production
Wastewater treatment
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Summary:Biofilm reactors have long been commercially used in the treatment of wastewater and off-gas. New opportunities are arising with the rapid expansion of our understanding of biofilm biology over the last few years. Biofilms have great potential as industrial workhorses for the sustainable production of chemicals because of their inherent characteristics of self-immobilization, high resistance to reactants and long-term activity, which all facilitate continuous processing. A variety of biofilm reactor configurations have been explored for productive catalysis and some reactors have been operated continuously for months. Sectors that might particularly benefit from this biofilm approach include synthetic chemistry (ranging from specialty to bulk chemicals), bioenergy, biologics and the food industry.
ISSN:0167-7799
1879-3096
DOI:10.1016/j.tibtech.2009.08.001