Quinone-functionalized activated carbon improves the reduction of congo red coupled to the removal of p-cresol in a UASB reactor

•A successful method for the immobilization of redox mediator is proposed.•Functionalized activated carbon improves azo dye reduction in batch and continuous.•Simultaneous treatment of two recalcitrant pollutants in UASB reactor.•The longest operation in continuous reactor using immobilized redox mediator. In this research was immobilized anthraquinone-2-sulfonate (AQS) on granular activated carbon (GAC) to evaluate its capacity to reduce congo red (CR) in batch reactor and continuous UASB reactors. The removal of p-cresol coupled to the reduction of CR was also evaluated. Results show that the immobilization of AQS on GAC (GAC-AQS) achieved 0.469mmol/g, improving 2.85-times the electron-transferring capacity compared to unmodified GAC. In batch, incubations with GAC-AQS achieved a rate of decolorization of 2.64-fold higher than the observed with GAC. Decolorization efficiencies in UASB reactor with GAC-AQS were 83.9, 82, and 79.9% for periods I, II, and III; these values were 14.9–22.8% higher than the obtained by reactor with unmodified GAC using glucose as energy source. In the fourth period, glucose and p-cresol were simultaneously fed, increasing the decolorization efficiency to 87% for GAC-AQS and 72% for GAC. Finally, reactors efficiency decreased when p-cresol was the only energy source, but systems gradually recovered the decolorization efficiency up to 84% (GAC-AQS) and 71% (GAC) after 250 d. This study demonstrates the longest and efficient continuous UASB reactor operation for the reduction of electron-accepting contaminant in presence of quinone-functionalized GAC, but also using a recalcitrant pollutant as electron donor.