Bioelectrogenesis Group is attending VI Workshop on Analytical Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (VI NyNA, 2013) to be held at College of San Ildefonso of the University of Alcalá, on July 8-9. Bioe will present recent work on ‘Microbial electrogenic biosensors: acetate into electricity by bacteria of the genus Geobacter’.

This workshop is organised by MINYNANOTECH which is led by Dr. Alberto Escarpa, Director of the Department of Analytical Chemistry, Physical Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, UAH.

The most important advances in the field of wastewater will be the subject of course on “New trends in biological wastewater treatments: water and energy”, organized by University of Alcalá from 24 to 26 June within its summer program, in collaboration with IMDEA Water and sponsored by aqualia company.

The conference will offer a practical perspective on the applications that are being developed for the removal of pollution and electricity co-generation. Directed by Ana Karina Boltes, Lecturer at Department of Analytical Chemistry, Physical Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, UAH, the course is aimed at graduate students, undergraduate or graduate in biological sciences, chemistry or those who are interested in biological decontamination processes coupled to the production of clean energy.

Lecturers and researchers from the University of Alcalá,IMDEA Water and aqualia will present the latest techniques in water treatment. The course will conclude with a work session in the laboratory of chemical engineering.

Further information and registration:

http://www3.uah.es/cultura/images/documentos/Cursos_de_Verano/alcala/15-01%20nuevas%20tendencias.pdf

Researchers from AQUAELECTRA Project have developed a system of wastewater treatment based on an electrically conductive biofilter. This system attempts to solve some of the problems that arise during the water treatment, in which oxygen is a significant portion of operating costs, while it generates a large amount of biomass, or sewage sludge, due to the high growth yield from aerobic microorganisms.

The system designed by researchers from IMDEA Water, CENTA Foundation and Euroestudios, all consortium members, is based on the capacity that certain conductive materials have to stimulate the exchange of electrons between organisms and their environment. The conductive biofilter, which has been the object of the patent of invention, consists of a device filled with inert electrically conductive particles, acting as physical support for electroactive biofilm growth. This biocompatible bed favours oxidation reactions, increasing the ability of microorganisms to transfer electrons generated during these reactions to a final electron acceptor, generally inorganic compounds. One of the most innovative aspects of this system lies in its application to the construction of artificial wetlands to favour the oxidation or removal of organic matter present in the wastewater, significantly reducing the wetland dimension and minimizing the production of sludge or biomass, thus attenuating the phenomena of clogging of the filter substrate.

The technology can be applied to wastewater treatment in general and it is currently being tested at treatment plant scale. International patent holders are IMDEA Water, CENTA Foundation and Euroestudios as requesters and Abraham Esteve Núñez and Antonio Berná y Alejandro Reija, from Bioelectrogénesis group of IMDEA Water, and Juan José Salas Rodriguez, Juan Ramón Pidre and Carlos Aragón, from CENTA Foundation, as inventors.

Bioelectrogenesis Group has been invited to participate in the third Dissemination workshop of the Nano4water cluster that will take place on 17-18 April 2013 in Dresden, Germany.

The workshop themed ‘Nano-and membrane-based systems for water treatment’ will be organised and housed by Fraunhofer IKTS, coordinator of the Cerawater project

Bioelectrogenesis PI Dr.Abraham Esteve-Núñez will talk about ‘BACWIRE project: Bacterial wiring for energy conservation and bioremediation’ and the latest project achivements.

The University of Alicante hosted on November 26 the workshop Bacwire with the aim to demonstrate the Bacwire project’s achievements, funded by the 7FP. Spanish and European companies specialized in water treatment attended the event and tested the performance of our prototype microbial fuel cell at pilot scale, capable of converting wastewater into electricity.

The Madrid Science Week is one of the most important science fair projects in Europe. This twelfth edition hosts more than 400 organizations involved with the common goal of bringing science and technology to the citizens. The Science Week is organized by the Community of Madrid, through madri+d Foundation for Knowledge. This year’s event runs from November 5-18th, 2012.

Every year since 2009 Bioelectrogenesis participates in the activities of the week. At this year’s edition, attendees will deepen into the microbial ecology of electrogenic bacteria by inserting electrodes in Winogradsky columns.