The microbial immobilization method using polyvinyl alcohol （PVA） gel as an immobilizing material was improved and used for entrapment of activated sludge. The oxygen uptake rate （OUR） was used to characterize the biological activity of immobilized activated sludge. Three kinds of PVA-immobilized particles of activated sludge, that is, PVA-boric acid beads, PVA-sodium nitrate beads and PVA-orthophosphate beads were prepared, and their biological activity was compared by measuring the OUR value. The bioactivity of both autotrophic and heterotrophic microorganisms of activated sludge was determined using different synthetic wastewater media （containing 250 mg/L COD and 25 mg/L NH4^＋ -N）. The experimental results showed that the bioactivity and stability of the three kinds of immobilized activated sludge was greatly improved after activation. With respect of the bioactivity and the mechanical stability, the PVA-orthophosphate method may be a promising and economical technique for microbial immobilization.
Objective To investigate the function of a novel biosensor used for the rapid determination of biochemical oxygen demand （BOD） which is developed by our research group based on suspended immobilized microbial cell system in a completely mixed determining chamber as a substitute of the traditional membrane system. Methods Activated sludge was immobilized by PVA gel and used as a bio-sensing element. The novel biosensor was used to measure the short time BOD value and the conventional cultivation method was used for BOD5 measurement. Results A linear relationship was observed for the difference between the current and the concentration of glucose-glutamic acid （GGA） solution below 200 mg/L with a correlation coefficient of 0.995. The optimal response of the sensor was obtained at pH 7.0 and 30℃. The sensor response was within 15 min and was reproducible within ±5% of the mean in a series of eight samples containing 75 mg/L BOD using standard GGA solution. The novel sensor response was found to be fairly constant over a period of 30 days, with ±5% fluctuations. Conclusion A relatively good agreement is found between BOD estimated by the novel BOD biosensor and that determined by the conventional 5-day BOD method. This novel BOD biosensor has good sensitivity, stability and reproducibility.
