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oai:figshare.com:article/34028420 2026-09-30T01:03:27Z category_1 category_4 category_915 category_7 category_12 category_13 category_21 category_873 category_61 category_122 category_135 portal_63 item_type_6 month_year_09_2026

Synergistic 1‑Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium Trifluoromethanesulfonate and Sodium Percarbonate Pretreatment for Enhanced Medium-Chain Fatty Acid Recovery from Waste-Activated Sludge: Mechanisms and Microbial Insights Ya Ji (2010223) Xiaofeng Luo (405693) Qingyu Zhao (569293) Yufen Wang (827997) Tingting Zhu (334564) Haiya Zhang (22909700) Liang Duan (407516) Xueming Chen (1564720) Yiwen Liu (542543) Biophysics Biochemistry Physical Sciences not elsewhere classified Medicine Cell Biology Genetics Biotechnology Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified Developmental Biology Mental Health Computational Biology representative ionic liquid model substrate tests inefficient chain elongation g ., proteiniclasticum g ., fluoroacetyl emim ][ otf chain fatty acids 3409 mg cod 2888 mg cod 2537 mg cod microbial insights medium enhanced protein solubilization also facilitates ce mediated sludge disintegration targeted mcfa production sodium percarbonate pretreatment fold increases ), fold increase ). 3 -, 1 sodium percarbonate fold increase enhanced medium ce ). activated sludge value products synergistically amplified sustainable route progressive mineralization primary oxidant organic nitrogen methylimidazolium trifluoromethanesulfonate mcfa selectivity mcfa release functional strategy fold higher findings demonstrate encoding genes efficient recovery combined group coa thioesterase cell membranes associated thioesterase associated bacillota 1 -, Medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs) offer a sustainable route for valorizing waste-activated sludge (WAS) into higher-value products, yet their bioproduction is constrained by the rigid extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) barrier and inefficient chain elongation (CE). Here, we develop a synergistic pretreatment strategy employing 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium trifluoromethanesulfonate ([Emim][OTf], a representative ionic liquid) and sodium percarbonate (SPC) to sequentially enhance sludge solubilization and targeted MCFA production. The maximum MCFA yield reaches 5910 mg COD/L in the combined group, 1.3-, 1.1-, and 0.7-fold higher than the control (2537 mg COD/L), [Emim][OTf] alone (2888 mg COD/L), and SPC alone (3409 mg COD/L) groups, respectively. Mechanistically, SPC acted as the primary oxidant to disrupt EPS and cell membranes, while [Emim][OTf] synergistically amplified this effect, as evidenced by enhanced protein solubilization and the progressive mineralization of organic nitrogen to ammonium. The combined pretreatment enriched acidogens (e.g., Proteiniclasticum, 96.8-fold increase), CE-associated Bacillota and Petrimonas (1.1- and 24-fold increases), and MCFA release-associated thioesterase-encoding genes (e.g., fluoroacetyl-CoA thioesterase, 0.5-fold increase). These findings demonstrate that [Emim][OTf] not only activates SPC-mediated sludge disintegration but also facilitates CE, as evidenced by a 1.7-fold increase in MCFA selectivity in model substrate tests, offering a dual-functional strategy for the efficient recovery of MCFA from WAS. 2026-09-29T00:00:00Z Text Journal contribution 10.1021/acsestengg.6c00454.s001 https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Synergistic_1_Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium_Trifluoromethanesulfonate_and_Sodium_Percarbonate_Pretreatment_for_Enhanced_Medium-Chain_Fatty_Acid_Recovery_from_Waste-Activated_Sludge_Mechanisms_and_Microbial_Insights/34028420 CC BY-NC 4.0