Abstract
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons have attracted considerable attention for their carcinogenic, teratogenic, and mutagenic properties in humans. Phenanthrene is one of the most abundant polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in aquatic environments. In this study, different concentrations of phenanthrene were degraded by single-chamber air-cathode microbial fuel cells. The electrochemical parameter of microbial fuel cells and biofilm changes on the anode were observed. The results showed that the addition of phenanthrene reduced the power output of the microbial fuel cell which affected the process of microbial electricity generation. Meanwhile, microorganisms destroyed the original structure of phenanthrene through anaerobic metabolism, and achieved good average degradation of 94.9–98.4%. Observation of the anodic biofilm found that the microbes had tolerance to phenanthrene and the biofilm exhibited to be well-constructed. Bacterial community distribution showed a decrease in the relative abundance of Acidovorax and Aquamicrobium, whereas the relative content of the main electroactive organism, Geobacter, increased by a factor of three. The results show that it is feasible for microbial fuel cells to biodegrade phenanthrene, and provide some references for the changes of microbial community during degradation process.
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Funding
This study was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (2018YFC1802004, 2018YFC1802001), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31570504), and the National Key R&D Program of China (2019YFC1804102).
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Conceptualization: Fengxiang Li; Methodology: Haonan Wang and Shengnan Li; Formal analysis and investigation: Haonan Wang and Peng Chen; Writing - original draft preparation: Haonan Wang; Writing - review and editing: Shengnan Li and Fengxiang Li; Funding acquisition: Tao Hua and Fengxiang Li; Supervision: Wei Wang.
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Highlights
Phenanthrene affected the electron transfer of microorganisms.
Microbes decomposed phenanthrene through anaerobic metabolism.
CLSM and SEM images indicated the anode biofilm maintained to be well-constructed.
Electrogenic bacteria Geobacter became the dominant species after adding PAH.
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Hua, T., Wang, H., Li, S. et al. Electrochemical performance and response of bacterial community during phenanthrene degradation in single-chamber air-cathode microbial fuel cells. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 22705–22715 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-12226-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-12226-5