Recently, there has been an emergent interest in developing novel and less energy consuming disintegration process to combat excess sludge generation and enhance energy recovery during anaerobic digestion. In the present study, a novel attempt was made to recover energy (methane) in an efficient way by floc disruption through low temperature thermochemical (LTTC) treatment followed by antibiotic secreting bacterial disintegration (ABD). Growth optimization studies were performed using response surface methodology (RSM). Results revealed that the optimal pH, temperature, and growth time were 6.5, 40 C-omicron, and 24 h, respectively. LTTC followed by ABD was found to be more efficient than the ABD process alone in terms of degree of cell lysis (17% vs. 10.5%) and methane production potential (0.24 gCOD/gCOD vs.0.15 gCOD/gCOD). The efficiency of LTTC pre-treatment with the ABD process was also proven kinetically through linear and non-linear regression analysis. Energetic investigation and cost analysis of the present study showed that the LTTC+ABD could be used as a less energy consuming and economic process with a net profit of about 2.58 USD/Ton of sludge. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.