Assessing the chemical compositions and disinfection byproduct formation of biofilms: Application of fluorescence excitation-emission spectroscopy coupled with parallel factor analysis

Abstract

There are increased concerns over the contributions of biofilms to disinfection byproduct (DBP) formation in engineered water systems (EWS). However, monitoring the biomolecular characteristics of biofilms to understand their impacts on DBP formation has been a great challenge as it requires complex analytical techniques. This study aimed to examine the applicability of fluorescence excitation-emission matrices (EEMs) coupled with parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) to assess the chemical compositions and DBP formation of biofilms. Biofilms were collected from reactors grown on R2A media, as well as two drinking water-related organic substrates such as humic substances and algal organic matter. The chemical composition and formation of carbonaceous and nitrogenous DBPs of biofilms were continuously monitored every 21 days for 168 days and correlated with the derived EEM-PARAFAC components. Results indicated that all biofilm samples comprised mostly of protein-like components (∼90%), and to a lesser extent, humic-like components (∼10%). Strong correlations were generally found between tryptophan-like substances and the studied DBP formation (R²_min ≥ 0.76, P < 0.05), indicating that they play a major role in producing biofilm-derived DBPs upon chlorination. Moreover, significant discrepancies between the chemical compositions and DBP formation of biofilms and their corresponding feed solutions were observed, likely due to biotransformation and biosorption processes. Overall, this work highlights that EEM-PARAFAC analysis is a promising tool to monitor the biomolecular characteristics of biofilm components and to predict the subsequent DBP formation in optimizing disinfection protocols for EWS.

Keywords: Biofilms; Correlation; Disinfection byproducts; Engineered water systems; Fluorescence excitation-emission matrix.