Electrosorption driven by microbial fuel cells to remove phenol without external power supply

Dual-response quadratic model for optimisation of electricity generation and chlorophenol degradation by electro-degradative Bacillus subtilis in microbial fuel cell system

The interactions within microbial, chemical and electronic elements in microbial fuel cell (MFC) system can be crucial for its bio-electrochemical activities and overall performance. Therefore, this study explored polynomial models by response surface methodology (RSM) to better understand interactions among anode pH, cathode pH and inoculum size for optimising MFC system for generation of electricity and degradation of 2,4-dichlorophenol. A statistical central composite design by RSM was used to develop the quadratic model designs. The optimised parameters were determined and evaluated by statistical results and the best MFC systematic outcomes in terms of current generation and chlorophenol degradation. Statistical results revealed that the optimum current density of 106 mA/m² could be achieved at anode pH 7.5, cathode pH 6.3-6.6 and 21-28% for inoculum size. Anode-cathode pHs interaction was found to positively influence the current generation through extracellular electron transfer mechanism. The phenolic degradation was found to have lower response using these three parameter interactions. Only inoculum size-cathode pH interaction appeared to be significant where the optimum predicted phenolic degradation could be attained at pH 7.6 for cathode pH and 29.6% for inoculum size.

Recent advancements in microbial fuel cells: A review on its electron transfer mechanisms, microbial community, types of substrates and design for bio-electrochemical treatment

The development in urbanization, growth in industrialization and deficiency in crude oil wealth has made to focus more for the renewable and also sustainable spotless energy resources. In the past two decades, the concepts of microbial fuel cell have caught more considerations among the scientific societies for the probability of converting, organic waste materials into bio-energy using microorganisms catalyzed anode, and enzymatic/microbial/abiotic/biotic cathode electro-chemical reactions. The added benefit with MFCs technology for waste water treatment is numerous bio-centered processes are available such as sulfate removal, denitrification, nitrification, removal of chemical oxygen demand and biological oxygen demand and heavy metals removal can be performed in the same MFC designed systems. The various factors intricate in MFC concepts in the direction of bioenergy production consists of maximum coulombic efficiency, power density and also the rate of removal of chemical oxygen demand which calculates the efficacy of the MFC unit. Even though the efficacy of MFCs in bioenergy production was initially quietly low, therefore to overcome these issues few modifications are incorporated in design and components of the MFC units, thereby functioning of the MFC unit have improvised the rate of bioenergy production to a substantial level by this means empowering application of MFC technology in numerous sectors including carbon capture, bio-hydrogen production, bioremediation, biosensors, desalination, and wastewater treatment. The present article reviews about the microbial community, types of substrates and information about the several designs of MFCs in an endeavor to get the better of practical difficulties of the MFC technology.

Continuous flow electrosorption-microbial fuel cell system for efficient removal of oxytetracycline without external electrical supply

The removal of antibiotics from wastewater has attracted much attention. In this research, an intimately coupled autarkical electrosorption (ES)-microbial fuel cell (MFC) system was developed for real-time removal of the antibiotic oxytetracycline (OTC) from wastewater. The removal efficiency was founded to be up to 98.8% at an OTC concentration of 2 mg/L with 3 g/L sodium acetate (NaAC) as co-substrate and 3 MFCs as power supply. The removal efficiencies increased in the ES unit and decreased in the MFC unit with increasing treating time. The adsorption of OTC on activated carbon fibers (ACFs) in the ES unit proceeds via chemical adsorption resulting from electrostatic attraction and cation exchange. The OTC degradation pathways in the MFC unit were proposed by identifying the intermediates with HPLC-MS/MS. The ACFs in the ES unit were proven to be recyclable and the coupled ES-MFC system is applicable for the removal of antibiotics from wastewater.

Biodegradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: Using microbial bioelectrochemical systems to overcome an impasse

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are hardly biodegradable carcinogenic organic compounds. Bioremediation is a commonly used method for treating PAH contaminated environments such as soils, sediment, water bodies and wastewater. However, bioremediation has various drawbacks including the low abundance, diversity and activity of indigenous hydrocarbon degrading bacteria, their slow growth rates and especially a limited bioavailability of PAHs in the aqueous phase. Addition of nutrients, electron acceptors or co-substrates to enhance indigenous microbial activity is costly and added chemicals often diffuse away from the target compound, thus pointing out an impasse for the bioremediation of PAHs. A promising solution is the adoption of bioelectrochemical systems. They guarantee a permanent electron supply and withdrawal for microorganisms, thereby circumventing the traditional shortcomings of bioremediation. These systems combine biological treatment with electrochemical oxidation/reduction by supplying an anode and a cathode that serve as an electron exchange facility for the biocatalyst. Here, recent achievements in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon removal using bioelectrochemical systems have been reviewed. This also concerns PAH precursors: total petroleum hydrocarbons and diesel. Removal performances of PAH biodegradation in bioelectrochemical systems are discussed, focussing on configurational parameters such as anode and cathode designs as well as environmental parameters like porosity, salinity, adsorption and conductivity of soil and sediment that affect PAH biodegradation in BESs. The still scarcely available information on microbiological aspects of bioelectrochemical PAH removal is summarised here. This comprehensive review offers a better understanding of the parameters that affect the removal of PAHs within bioelectrochemical systems. In addition, future experimental setups are proposed in order to study syntrophic relationships between PAH degraders and exoelectrogens. This synopsis can help as guide for researchers in their choices for future experimental designs aiming at increasing the power densities and PAH biodegradation rates using microbial bioelectrochemistry.

Highly porous activated carbons from resource-recovered Leucaena leucocephala wood as capacitive deionization electrodes

Highly porous activated carbons were resource-recovered from Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit. wood through combined chemical and physical activation (i.e., KOH etching followed by CO2 activation). This invasive species, which has severely damaged the ecological economics of Taiwan, was used as the precursor for producing high-quality carbonaceous electrodes for capacitive deionization (CDI). Carbonization and activation conditions strongly influenced the structure of chars and activated carbons. The total surface area and pore volume of activated carbons increased with increasing KOH/char ratio and activation time. Overgasification induced a substantial amount of mesopores in the activated carbons. In addition, the electrochemical properties and CDI electrosorptive performance of the activated carbons were evaluated; cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge/discharge measurements revealed a typical capacitive behavior and electrical double layer formation, confirming ion electrosorption in the porous structure. The activated-carbon electrode, which possessed high surface area and both mesopores and micropores, exhibited improved capacitor characteristics and high electrosorptive performance. Highly porous activated carbons derived from waste L. leucocephala were demonstrated to be suitable CDI electrode materials.

Simultaneous electricity generation and tetracycline removal in continuous flow electrosorption driven by microbial fuel cells

A novel continuous flow electrosorption driven by microbial fuel cells (MFCs) was developed for the first time to remove tetracycline, the second most commonly used antibiotic, from synthetic wastewater.