An alternative method to diminish the nitrogen pollutant levels in waste waters is to encapsulate microorganisms whitin ceramic materials. The sol-gel method has been extensively used for the preparation of such kind of materials permitting a higher stability and viability of useful organisms. In this work, the thermal characterization during dehydration of nitrifying and denitrifying aqueous emulsions of mud encapsulated in sol-gel silica is presented during the process of dehydration in ambient conditions and as a function of temperature. The characterization was performed by a photopyroelectric (PPE) technique, whose detector was made with a 110 mm polyvinyldifluoride (PVDF). The cell was constructed in such a way that the sample was inside the cell, and the bottom of the cell was closed by the PVDF foil. Thermal effusivity as a function of temperature was obtained illuminating the PVDF directly by a modulated 1W tungsten lamp. The sample is enclosed inside a chamber, using a Peltier cell that controls temperature in a range from 40 to 27 degreesC. The sample is on top of the PVDF, which is illuminated by the modulated tungsten lamp. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.