Aide Robles
Civil, environmental and sustainable engineering
Hometown: Glendale, Arizona
Graduation date: Spring 2019
MORE | Fall 2018
Reductive Dechlorination of Trichloroethene(TCE) Sustained by Microbial Chain Elongation
The objective of this research is to enrich a novel approach for bioremediation of trichloroethylene (TCE) in soil and groundwater. This approach consists of reducing TCE to non-chlorinated, non-toxic, ethene by utilizing the electron donor, hydrogen, produced from microbial chain elongating (MCE) cultures. Results thus far showed that TCE-reductively dechlorinating microorganisms can successfully use hydrogen produced from MCE to reduce TCE to ethene using a variety of substrates. Future experiments will be dedicated to the fundamental understanding of the synergy between reductive dechlorination and MCE and optimizing this approach for sustainable dechlorination at contaminated sites.
Mentor: Anca Delgado