The impact of titanium dioxide nanoparticles on biological nitrogen removal from wastewater and bacterial community shifts in activated sludge

The potential impact of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs) on nitrogen removal from wastewater in activated sludge was investigated using a sequencing batch reactor. The addition of 2–50 mg L−1 of TiO2 NPs did not adversely affect nitrogen removal. However, when the activated sludge was exposed to 100–200 mg L−1 of TiO2 NPs, the effluent total nitrogen removal efficiencies were 36.5 % and 20.3 %, respectively, which are markedly lower than the values observed in the control test (80 %). Further studies showed that the decrease in biological nitrogen removal induced by higher concentrations of TiO2 NPs was due to an inhibitory effect on the de-nitrification process. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis profiles showed that 200 mg L−1 of TiO2 NPs significantly reduced microbial diversity in the activated sludge. The effect of light on the antibacterial activity of TiO2 NPs was also investigated, and the results showed that the levels of TiO2-dependent inhibition of biological nitrogen removal were similar under both dark and light conditions. Additional studies revealed that different TiO2 concentrations had a significant effect on dehydrogenase activity, and this effect was most likely the result of decreased microbial activity.