Scaling up a novel denitrifying microbial fuel cell with an oxic-anoxic two stage biocathode

A scaled up microbial fuel cell （MFC） of a 50 L volume was set up with an oxic-anoxic two-stage biocathode and activated semicoke packed electrodes to achieve simultaneous power generation and nitrogen and organic matter removals. An average maximum power density of 43.1 W·m^-3 was obtained in batch operating mode. By adjusting the two extemal resistances, the denitrification in the A-MFC and power production in the O-MFC could be enhanced. In continuous mode, when the hydraulic retention times were set at 6 h, 8 h and 12 h, the removal efficiencies of COD, NHf-N and total nitrogen （TN） were higher than 95%, 97%, and 84%, respectively. Meanwhile the removal loads for COD, NH4^＋-N and TN were10, 0.37 and 0.4 kg·（m^3·d）^-1, respectively.     

Microbial electrolysis cells with biocathodes and driven by microbial fuel cells for simultaneous enhanced Co(II) and Cu(II) removal

Cobalt and copper recovery from aqueous Co(II) and Cu(II) is one critical step for cobalt and copper wastewaters treatment. Previous tests have primarily examined Cu(II) and Co(II) removal in microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) with abiotic cathodes and driven by microbial fuel cell (MFCs). However, Cu(II) and Co(II) removal rates were still slow. Here we report MECs with biocathodes and driven by MFCs where enhanced removal rates of 6.0±0.2 mg?L⁻¹?h⁻¹ for Cu(II) at an initial concentration of 50 mg?L⁻¹ and 5.3±0.4 mg?L⁻¹ h⁻¹ for Co(II) at an initial 40 mg?L⁻¹ were achieved, 1.7 times and 3.3 times as high as those in MECs with abiotic cathodes and driven by MFCs. Species of Cu(II) was reduced to pure copper on the cathodes of MFCs whereas Co(II) was removed associated with microorganisms on the cathodes of the connected MECs. Higher Cu(II) concentrations and smaller working volumes in the cathode chambers of MFCs further improved removal rates of Cu(II) (115.7 mg?L⁻¹?h⁻¹) and Co(II) (6.4 mg?L⁻¹?h⁻¹) with concomitantly achieving hydrogen generation (0.05±0.00 mol?mol⁻¹ COD). Phylogenetic analysis on the biocathodes indicates Proteobacteria dominantly accounted for 67.9% of the total reads, followed by Firmicutes (14.0%), Bacteroidetes (6.1%), Tenericutes (2.5%), Lentisphaerae (1.4%), and Synergistetes (1.0%). This study provides a beneficial attempt to achieve simultaneous enhanced Cu(II) and Co(II) removal, and efficient Cu(II) and Co(II) wastewaters treatment without any external energy consumption.     

Nitrogen recovery from wastewater using microbial fuel cells

Nitrogen is one of major contaminants in wastewater; however, nitrogen, as bio-elements for crop growth, is the indispensable fertilizer in agriculture. In this study, two-chamber microbial fuel cells (MFCs) were first operated with microorganisms in anode chamber and potassium ferricyanide as catholyte. After being successfully startup, the two-chamber MFCs were re-constructed to three-chamber MFCs which were used to recover the NO3−−N and NH4+−N of synthetic wastewater into value-added nitrogenous fertilizer from cathode chamber and anode chamber, respectively. Ferric nitrate was used as the sole electron acceptor in cathode, which also was used to evaluate the NO3−−N recover efficiency in the case major anion of NO3− in cathode. The output voltage of these MFCs was about 600–700 mV at an external load of 500 Ω. About 47% NH4+−N in anode chamber and 83% NO3−−N in cathode chamber could be recovered. Higher current density can selectively improve the recovery efficiency of both NH4+−N and NO3−−N. The study demonstrated a nitrogen recovery process from synthetic wastewater using three-chamber MFCs.     

Effects of bicarbonate and cathode potential on hydrogen production in a biocathode electrolysis cell

A biocathode with microbial catalyst in place of a noble metal was successfully developed for hydrogen evolution in a microbial electrolysis cell （MEC）. The strategy for fast biocathode cultivation was demonstrated. An exoelectrogenic reaction was initially extended with an H2-full atmosphere to enrich Ha-utilizing bacteria in a MEC bioanode. This bioanode was then inversely polarized with an applied voltage in a half-cell to enrich the hydrogen-evolving biocathode. The electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction （HER） kinetics of the biocathode MEC could be enhanced by increasing the bicarbonate buffer concentration from 0.05 mol·L-1 to 0.5 mol· L-1 and/or by decreasing the cathode potential from -0.9 V to - 1.3 V vs. a saturated calomel electrode （SCE）. Within the tested potential region in this study, the HER rate of the biocathode MEC was primarily influenced by the microbial catalytic capability. In addition, increasing bicarbonate concentration enhances the electric migration rate of proton carriers. As a consequence, more mass H＋ can be released to accelerate the biocathode-catalyzed HER rate. A hydrogen production rate of 8.44 m3. m 3. d1 with a current density of 951.6 A. m-3 was obtained using the biocathode MEC under a cathode potential of - 1.3 V vs. SCE and 0.4 mol· L-1 bicarbonate. This study provided information on the optimization of hydrogen production in biocathode MEC and expanded the practical applications thereof.     

外阻对污泥微生物燃料电池产电以及有机物降解的影响

重点考察了不同外阻（10、150和1 000Ω）对污泥微生物燃料电池（sludge microbial fuel cell,SMFC）产电性能及有机物去除速率的影响。结果表明,外阻对电池产电和有机物降解有显著影响,低电阻有利于电流产生及有机物消耗。当外阻为10Ω时,输出电流最高（4.2 mA）,且污泥溶解性化学需氧量（SCOD）去除速率最快（53 mg.d-1）。DGGE图谱显示,不同外阻导致阳极微生物菌落结构有明显差异;CV扫描发现外阻对生物膜氧化还原能力有显著影响,低电阻下运行的阳极生物膜氧化还原活性较强。本研究为理解外阻与阳极生物膜间的关系提供一条有益线索,也为MFC性能提高提供一条可操作性的途径。     

Microalgae Scenedesmus obliquus as renewable biomass feedstock for electricity generation in microbial fuel cells （MFCs）

Renewable algae biomass, Scenedesmus obliquus, was used as substrate for generating electricity in two chamber microbial fuel cells （MFCs）. From polarization test, maximum power density with pretreated algal biomass was 102mW·m^2 （951mW·m^3） at current generation of 276mA·m^-2. The individual electrode potential as a function of current generation suggested that anodic oxidation process of algae substrate had limitation for high current generation in MFC. Total chemical oxygen demand （TCOD） reduction of 74% was obtained when initial TCOD concentration was 534mg · L^-1 for 150 h of operation. The main organic compounds of algae oriented biomass were lactate and acetate, which were mainly used for electricity generation. Other byproducts such as propionate and butyrate were formed at a negligible amount. Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy （EIS） analysis pinpointed the charge transfer resistance （112Ω ） of anode electrode, and the exchange current density of anode electrode was 1214 nA·cm^-2.     

Effect of wetland plant fermentation broth on nitrogen removal and bioenergy generation in constructed wetland-microbial fuel cells

● Fermentation broth facilitates N removal and energy yields in tertiary CW-MFC. ● Carbon sources are preferred for nitrogen removal over electricity generation. ● A mutual promotion relationship exists between acetic and humic acid in N removal. ● Humic acid boosts the abundances of functional genes relate to nitrogen metabolism. Constructed wetlands (CWs) are widely used as a tertiary treatment technology, and the addition of carbon sources can significantly improve advanced nitrogen removal. However, excessive carbon sources would lead to an increase in the effluent chemical oxygen demand in CWs, and microbial fuel cells (MFCs) can convert these into electricity. In this study, constructed wetland-microbial fuel cells (CW-MFCs) were built to achieve simultaneous nitrogen removal and electricity generation, using wetland plant litter fermentation broths as carbon sources. The total nitrogen removal in the groups with fermentation broth addition (FGs) reached 83.33%, which was 19.64% higher than that in the CG (group without fermentation broth), and the mean voltages in the FGs were at least 2.6 times higher than that of the CG. Furthermore, two main components of the fermentation broths, acetic acid (Ac) and humic acid (HA), were identified using a three-dimensional excitation emission matrix and gas chromatograph and added to CW-MFCs to explore the influence mechanism on the treatment performance. Denitrification and electrogenesis presented the same tendency: Ac&HA > Ac > CG’ (groups without Ac and HA). These results indicate that Ac and HA increased the abundance of functional genes associated with nitrogen metabolism and electron transfer. This study demonstrated that CW-MFC fermentation broth addition can be a potential strategy for the disposal of secondary effluent and bioelectricity generation.     

A mini-microbial fuel cell for voltage testing of exoelectrogenic bacteria

Current methods for testing the electricity generation capacity of isolates are time- and labor-consuming. This paper presents a rapid voltage testing system of exoelectrogenic bacteria called Quickscreen, which is based on a microliter microbial fuel cell (MFC). Geobacter sulfurreducens and Shewanella baltica were used as the model exoelectrogenic bacteria; Escherichia coli that cannot generate electricity was used as a negative control. It was found that the electricity generation capacity of the isolates could be determined within about five hours by using Quickscreen, and that its time was relatively rapid compared with the time needed by using larger MFCs. A parallel, stable, and low background voltage was achieved using titanium as a current collector in the blank run. The external resistance had little impact on the blank run during the initial period. The cathode with a five-hole configuration, used to hydrate the carbon cathode, gave higher cathode potential than that with a one-hole configuration. Steady discharge and current interrupt methods showed that the anode mostly contributed to the large internal resistance of the Quickscreen system. However, the addition of graphite felt decreased the resistance from 18 to 5 kΩ. This device was proved to be useful to rapidly evaluate the electricity generation capacity of different bacteria.     

Using crosslinked polyvinyl alcohol polymer membrane as a separator in the microbial fuel cell

Separator between anode and cathode is an essential part of the microbial fuel cell （MFC） and its property could significantly influence the system perfor- mance. In this study we used polyvinyl alcohol （PVA） polymer membrane crosslinked with sulfosuccinic acid （SSA） as a new separator for the MFC. The highest power density of 7594-4 mW-m-2 was obtained when MFC using the PVA membrane crosslinked with 15% of SSA due to its desirable proton conductivity （5.16 x 10-2 S.cml）. The power density significantly increased to 11064- 30 mW.m-2 with a separator-electrode-assembly config- uration, which was comparable with glass fiber （11704- 46 mW.m-2）. The coulombic efficiencies of the MFCs with crosslinked PVA membranes ranged from 36.3% to 45.7% at a fix external resistance of lO00f2. The crosslinked PVA membrane could be a promising alter- native to separator materials for constructing practical MFC system.     

DOW CORNING 1-2577 Conformal Coating as an efficient diffusion material for cathode in the microbial fuel cell

In this study, DOW CORNING 1-2577 Conformal Coating was proposed for the cathode diffusion layer of the microbial fuel cell (MFC). In MFCs, stainless steel mesh cathodes using DOW CORNING 1-2577 Conformal Coating/carbon as the diffusion layer and two poly (dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS)/carbon diffusion layers and carbon cloth cathode with four poly (tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) diffusion layers were constructed for comparison. Under the same operational condition, the MFCs with the DOW CORNING 1-2577 Conformal Coating/carbon diffusion layer produced the maximum power density of 1585±52 mW·m^-2, compared with those using poly (tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) diffusion layers (1421±45 mW·m^-2) and poly (dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS)/carbon diffusion layers (1353±49 mW·m^-2). The DOW CORNING 1-2577 Conformal Coating could be an alternative for the diffusion layer construction in the MFC due to its remarkable performance and much simple construction procedure.     

微生物燃料电池耦合连续搅拌反应系统(CSTR)低温下处理“糖蜜-电镀”废水

为提高传统微生物燃料电池(MFC)在低温条件下的效率,实现实验装置放大化.本实验将连续搅拌反应系统(CSTR)与双极室微生物燃料电池系统相结合,连续流处理糖蜜废水,并间接回收金属单质,处理模拟电镀废水,考察系统的产电性能和废水处理效果.结果表明,当系统稳定运行后,最高电压及功率密度分别可达到340 m V和58.65 m W·m-2.20 d后,系统COD去除率明显增加,最高COD去除率可达到81%.实验运行10 d后,银离子开始析出,最高去除率可达到90%左右.     

A hybrid fuel cell for water purification and simultaneously electricity generation

● A novel hybrid fuel cell (F-HFC) was fabricated. ● Pollutant degradation and synchronous electricity generation occurred in F-HFC. ● BiOCl-NH₄PTA photocatalyst greatly improved electron transfer and charge separation. ● Pollutant could act as substrate directly in ambient conditions without pretreatment. ● The mechanism of the F-HFC was proposed and elucidated. The development of highly efficient energy conversion technologies to extract energy from wastewater is urgently needed, especially in facing of increasing energy and environment burdens. Here, we successfully fabricated a novel hybrid fuel cell with BiOCl-NH₄PTA as photocatalyst. The polyoxometalate (NH₄PTA) act as the acceptor of photoelectrons and could retard the recombination of photogenerated electrons and holes, which lead to superior photocatalytic degradation. By utilizing BiOCl-NH₄PTA as photocatalysts and Pt/C air-cathode, we successfully constructed an electron and mass transfer enhanced photocatalytic hybrid fuel cell with flow-through field (F-HFC). In this novel fuel cell, dyes and biomass could be directly degraded and stable power output could be obtained. About 87 % of dyes could be degraded in 30 min irradiation and nearly 100 % removed within 90 min. The current density could reach up to ~267.1 μA/cm²; with maximum power density (P_max) of ~16.2 μW/cm² with Rhodamine B as organic pollutant in F-HFC. The power densities were 9.0 μW/cm², 12.2 μW/cm², and 13.9 μW/cm² when using methyl orange (MO), glucose and starch as substrates, respectively. This hybrid fuel cell with BiOCl-NH₄PTA composite fulfills the purpose of decontamination of aqueous organic pollutants and synchronous electricity generation. Moreover, the novel design cell with separated photodegradation unit and the electricity generation unit could bring potential practical application in water purification and energy recovery from wastewater.     

Acceleration of the particulate organic matter hydrolysis by start-up stage recovery and its original microbial mechanism

• Carbon availability was partially solved by POM recovery and fermentation. • 12% carbon sources were regenerated by fermentation of the entrapped 35% TCOD. • The unique microbial communities facilitated the efficient hydrolysis of the POM. • Considerable economic benefits in aeration power and ECS dosage were anticipated. To address the availability of carbon sources for denitrification, the accelerated hydrolysis of the most abundant but low-availability fraction of particulate organic matter (POM) was investigated. Mesh sieves with different pore sizes were used as primary pretreatment at the start-up-stage of the biological process to separate some POM from the liquid system. The changes in soluble carbohydrates and proteins were monitored to investigate the hydrolysis performance of the sieved POM, with waste activated sludge (WAS) as the control test. The results showed that an average of 35% POM could be entrapped before filtrate mat development. In addition, benefiting from the high polysaccharides concentration, as well as the high availability due to the relatively loose physical structure, a 23% hydrolysis efficiency of POM was obtained, in contrast to that of WAS (3.4%), with a hydrolysis constant of 0.39 h⁻¹. The prominent performance was also attributed to the unique microbial communities having been domesticated at a lower temperature, especially the cellulose-degrading bacteria Paraclostridium and psychrophile Psychrobacter, making up 6.94% and 2.56%, respectively. Furthermore, the potential benefits and application of improved POM hydrolysis by start-up stage recovery via mesh sieves combined with anaerobic fermentation were evaluated, including selective POM entrapment, alleviation of blockage and wear, and a reduction in aeration energy. By the proposed strategy, carbon availability for biological nutrient removal (BNR) processes is anticipated to be improved more economically than that can be achieved by primary clarifier elimination.     

Comparison of the removal of monovalent and divalent cations in the microbial desalination cell

Microbial desalination cell (MDC) is a promising technology to desalinate water and generate electrical power simultaneously. The objectives of this study were to investigate the desalination performance of monovalent and divalent cations in the MDC, and discuss the effect of ion characteristics, ion concentrations, and electrical characteristics. Mixed salt solutions of NaCl, MgCl₂, KCl, and CaCl₂ with the same concentration were used in the desalination chamber to study removal of cations. Results showed that in the mixed salt solutions, the electrodialysis desalination rates of cations were: Ca²⁺ >Mg²⁺>Na⁺>K⁺. Higher ionic charges and smaller hydrated ionic radii resulted in higher desalination rates of the cations, in which the ionic charge was more important than the hydrated ionic radius. Mixed solutions of NaCl and MgCl₂ with different concentrations were used in the desalination chamber to study the effect of ion concentrations. Results showed that when ion concentrations of Na⁺ were one-fifth to five times of Mg²⁺, ion concentration influenced the dialysis more profoundly than electrodialysis. With the current densities below a certain value, charge transfer efficiencies became very low and the dialysis was the main process responsible for the desalination. And the phosphate transfer from the anode chamber and potassium transfer from the cathode chamber could balance 1%–3% of the charge transfer in the MDC.     

堆肥过程中有机质和微生物群落的动态变化

利用3个容积约为50 L的平行生物反应装置研究堆肥过程中温度、湿度（水分含量）、pH值和有机质的动态变化情况。按照Van Soest方法根据有机质不同的溶解特性将其分为：溶于沸水的有机质H2O、溶于中性试剂的有机质SOLU、半纤维素（HEMI）、纤维素（CELL）和木质素（LIGN）。结果表明：反应装置内环境湿度调控在60%左右时,堆肥系统内借助生化反应,温度最高可达到约50℃。堆肥材料在反应初期呈现偏酸性（pH=6.5）,而随着反应的发生,pH逐渐变为中性或弱碱性（pH=7.4）。经过20 d的堆肥实验,有机质总量降解了约47%。在微生物作用下的各类有机质的降解率不同,按大小排序为H2O〉HEMI〉CELL〉SOLU〉LIGN,其降解率分别是85%、56%、36%、32%和27%。为了深入理解堆肥过程中有机质的降解机制,文章采用磷脂脂肪酸（PLFAs）技术对体系中的微生物群落变化进行了初步分析,发现微生物优势群落随反应温度的改变发生明显变化,在堆肥初期和堆肥中期,细菌占优势,而堆肥末期时真菌比例较高。在堆肥的过程中,革兰氏阴性菌的比例呈下降趋势,而革兰氏阳性菌的比例呈上升趋势。     

垃圾填埋场渗滤液溶解性有机质特性及其去除技术综述

垃圾填埋场渗滤液所含物质种类繁多,理化特性复杂,且随填埋时间等条件而变化.本文综合分析了垃圾渗滤液溶解性有机质的组成特征、结构特征及随年代变化特征.针对垃圾渗滤液难降解有机质的特性而研发的处理技术包括物化法、高级氧化法和微电解法等,并在实际工程中得到应用.随着越来越严格的渗滤液排放要求,溶解性有机质的去除应充分考虑投资的经济、运行的稳定性和可靠性.     

Reutilize tire in microbial fuel cell for enhancing the nitrogen removal of the anammox process coupled with iron-carbon micro-electrolysis

• MFC promoted the nitrogen removal of anammox with Fe-C micro-electrolysis. • Reutilize pyrolysis waste tire as micro-electrolysis and electrode materials. • Total nitrogen removal efficiency of modified MFC increased to 85.00%. • Candidatus kuenenia and SM1A02 were major genera responsible for nitrogen removal. In this study, microbial fuel cells (MFCs) were explored to promote the nitrogen removal performance of combined anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) and Fe-C micro-electrolysis (CAE) systems. The average total nitrogen (TN) removal efficiency of the modified MFC system was 85.00%, while that of the anammox system was 62.16%. Additionally, the effective operation time of this system increased from six (CAE system alone) to over 50 days, significantly promoting TN removal. The enhanced performance could be attributed to the electron transferred from the anode to the cathode, which aided in reducing nitrate/nitrite in denitrification. The H⁺ released through the proton exchange membrane caused a decrease in the pH, facilitating Fe corrosion. The pyrolyzed waste tire used as the cathode could immobilize microorganisms, enhance electron transport, and produce a natural Fe-C micro-electrolysis system. According to the microbial community analysis, Candidatus kuenenia was the major genus involved in the anammox process. Furthermore, the SM1A02 genus exhibited the highest abundance and was enriched the fastest, and could be a novel potential strain that aids the anammox process.     

Fertilizer drawn forward osmosis as an alternative to 2nd pass seawater reverse osmosis: Estimation of boron removal and energy consumption

• The boron concentration in diluted DS can satisfy the irrigation water standard. • The boron concentration in diluted DS equaled that in two-pass RO permeate. • FDFO process SEC was slightly lower than the 2nd pass RO SEC. • FDFO has potential as an alternative to 2nd pass RO for irrigation water production. Agriculture is the largest consumer of freshwater. Desalinated seawater is an important alternative water source for sustainable irrigation. However, some issues of the current desalination technology hinder its use for agriculture irrigation, including low boron removal and high energy consumption. This study systematically explored the feasibility of employing fertilizer drawn forward osmosis (FDFO) as an alternative to 2nd pass reverse osmosis (RO) by considering the boron removal performance and specific energy consumption (SEC). Different operating conditions were investigated, such as the boron and NaCl concentrations in feed solution (FS), draw solution (DS) concentration, pH, the volume ratio of FS to DS, membrane orientation, flow rate, and operating temperature. The results indicated that a low boron concentration in FS and high pH DS (pH= 11.0) decreased the boron solute flux, and led to low final boron concentration in the DS. The other operating conditions had negligible influence on the final DS boron concentration. Also, a lower flow rate and higher specific water flux with certain permeate water volumes were conducive to reducing the SEC of the FDFO process. Overall, our study paves a new way of using FDFO in irrigation, which avoids the phytotoxicity and human health risk of boron. The results show the potential of FDFO as an alternative to 2nd pass RO for irrigation water production.     

Excitation-emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence spectroscopy for characterization of organic matter in membrane bioreactors: Principles,methods and applications

• Principles and methods for fluorescence EEM are systematically outlined. • Fluorophore peak/region/component and energy information can be extracted from EEM. • EEM can fingerprint the physical/chemical/biological properties of DOM in MBRs. • EEM is useful for tracking pollutant transformation and membrane retention/fouling. • Improvements are still needed to overcome limitations for further studies. The membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology is a rising star for wastewater treatment. The pollutant elimination and membrane fouling performances of MBRs are essentially related to the dissolved organic matter (DOM) in the system. Three-dimensional excitation-emission matrix (3D-EEM) fluorescence spectroscopy, a powerful tool for the rapid and sensitive characterization of DOM, has been extensively applied in MBR studies; however, only a limited portion of the EEM fingerprinting information was utilized. This paper revisits the principles and methods of fluorescence EEM, and reviews the recent progress in applying EEM to characterize DOM in MBR studies. We systematically introduced the information extracted from EEM by considering the fluorescence peak location/intensity, wavelength regional distribution, and spectral deconvolution (giving fluorescent component loadings/scores), and discussed how to use the information to interpret the chemical compositions, physiochemical properties, biological activities, membrane retention/fouling behaviors, and migration/transformation fates of DOM in MBR systems. In addition to conventional EEM indicators, novel fluorescent parameters are summarized for potential use, including quantum yield, Stokes shift, excited energy state, and fluorescence lifetime. The current limitations of EEM-based DOM characterization are also discussed, with possible measures proposed to improve applications in MBR monitoring.     

Removal of organic matter and disinfection by-products precursors in a hybrid process combining ozonation with ceramic membrane ultrafiltration

The performance of an integrated process including coagulation, ozonation, ceramic ultrafiltration (UF) and biologic activated carbon (BAC) filtration was investigated for the removal of organic matter and disinfection by-products (DBPs) precursors from micro-polluted surface water. A pilot scale plant with the capacity of 120 m³ per day was set up and operated for the treatment of drinking water. Ceramic membranes were used with the filtration area of 50 m² and a pore size of 60 nm. Dissolved organic matter was divided into five fractions including hydrophobic acid (HoA), base (HoB) and neutral (HoN), weakly hydrophobic acid (WHoA) and hydrophilic matter (HiM) by DAX-8 and XAD-4 resins. The experiment results showed that the removal of organic matter was significantly improved with ozonation in advance. In sum, the integrated process removed 73% of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), 87% of UV₂₅₄, 77% of trihalomethane (THMs) precursors, 76% of haloacetic acid (HAAs) precursors, 83%of trichloracetic aldehyde (CH) precursor, 77% of dichloroacetonitrile (DCAN) precursor, 51% of trichloroacetonitrile (TCAN) precursor, 96% of 1,1,1-trichloroacetone (TCP) precursor and 63% of trichloronitromethane (TCNM) precursor. Hydrophobic organic matter was converted into hydrophilic organic matter during ozonation/UF, while the organic matter with molecular weight of 1000–3000 Da was remarkably decreased and converted into lower molecular weight organic matter ranged from 200–500 Da. DOC had a close linear relationship with the formation potential of DBPs.