Characterization of polyhydroxyalkanoates synthesized in activated sludge using three carbon sources

Polyhydroxyalkanoates(PHAs) were synthesized in activated sludge using three types of carbon sources (sodium acetate,sodium propionate and sodium butyrate), and their characterization were studied. It was shown that the content of PHA synthesized by microorganisms in activated sludge were different. The biggest synthetic amount up to 36.7% of VSS was obtained when sodium acetate was used as carbon source. The polymer yield was lower when using sodium propionate as the carbon source than when using others, with 25.1% of VSS, while resulted in an increase of hydroxyvalerate(HV) units produced. The structure and thermal properties of extracted biopolymers were analyzed by scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and themo-gravimetry (TG).