Publication
Title
Engineering green wall botanical biofiltration to abate indoor volatile organic compounds : a review on mechanisms, phyllosphere bioaugmentation, and modeling
Author
Abstract
Indoor air pollution affects the global population, especially in developed countries where people spend around 90% of their time indoors. The recent pandemic exacerbated the exposure by relying on indoor spaces and a teleworking lifestyle. VOCs are a group of indoor air pollutants with harmful effects on human health at low concentrations. It is widespread that plants can remove indoor VOCs. To this day, research has combined principles of phytoremediation, biofiltration, and bioremediation into a holistic and sustainable technology called botanical biofiltration. Overall, it is sustained that its main advantage is the capacity to break down and biodegrade pollutants using low energy input. This differs from traditional systems that transfer VOCs to another phase. Furthermore, it offers additional benefits like decreased indoor air health costs, enhanced work productivity, and well-being. However, many disparities exist within the field regarding the role of plants, substrate, and phyllosphere bacteria. Yet their role has been theorized; its stability is poorly known for an engineering approach. Previous research has not addressed the bioaugmentation of the phyllosphere to increase the performance, which could boost the system. Moreover, most experiments have studied passive potted plant systems at a lab scale using small chambers, making it difficult to extrapolate findings into tangible parameters to engineer the technology. Active systems are believed to be more efficient yet require more maintenance and knowledge expertise; besides, the impact of the active flow on the long term is not fully understood. Besides, modeling the system has been oversimplified, limiting the understanding and optimization. This review sheds light on the field’s gains and gaps, like concepts, experiments, and modeling. We believe that embracing a multidisciplinary approach encompassing experiments, multiphysics modeling, microbial community analysis, and coworking with the indoor air sector will enable the optimization of the technology and facilitate its adoption.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Journal of hazardous materials. - Amsterdam
Publication
Amsterdam : 2024
ISSN
0304-3894
DOI
10.1016/J.JHAZMAT.2024.133491
Volume/pages
465 (2024) , p. 1-16
Article Reference
133491
ISI
001163577700001
Pubmed ID
38232548
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (open access)
Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Project info
Indoor air bioremediation: Botanical biofiltration for sustainable abatement of VOCs.
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 11.01.2024
Last edited 12.07.2024
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