Rapid degradation of long-alkanes by mild Fe-SOM pre-oxidation in soils

In this study, a novel mild pre-oxidation mode was successfully explored by fabricating Fe-SOM prepared by adding 2.5% and 20% fulvic acid (FA). This study explored the mechanism of mild Fe-SOM pre-oxidation to stimulate rapid biological degradation of long-alkanes in oil-contaminated soils. Results showed that under mild Fe-SOM pre-oxidation, the total •OH intensity and bacterial killing degree（D） were low, and hydrocarbon conversion（C）was fast, resulting in rapid degradation of long-alkanes. Additionally, the fast group removed 1.7-fold more than slow group and biodegraded long-alkanes 182 days significantly faster. Furthermore, compared with slow group (8.26 log CFU/g), the fast group (51.48 log CFU/g) characterized much more bacteria. Besides, the fast group had higher C (5.72%-15.95%), thus increasing the degradation rate of long-alkanes (7.61%-18.86%). A shift in the microbial community was found after mild Fe-SOM pre-oxidation, with an average relative abundance of 18.6% for the dominant genus Bacillus. Therefore, the mild pre-oxidation reduced the D, and the high bacterial abundance promoted nutrients consumption and C, which shortened bioremediation period and increased the long-alkanes degradation rate. This study provided a promising novel mild Fenton pre-oxidation mode to rapid remediate heavily multicomponent oil-contaminated soils.