Abstract
A microbial fuel cell is a rapidly growing, eco-friendly and green technology. As per this technology, the microorganisms are employed to convert the chemical energy stored in the biodegradable portion of organic matter into direct electric current by simultaneously treating the wastewater. In this study, dual-chambered H-type mediator-less and membrane-less microbial fuel cell was operated and was optimized using synthetic wastewater as a substrate. The influence of various factors such as cathodic electron acceptors, electrode configuration, electrode spacing on chemical oxygen demand removal and current output were investigated. The maximum current of 1.72 mA was obtained using synthetic wastewater with potassium permanganate as effective catholyte, electrode spacing of 2 cm from the salt bridge and surface area of 98 cm2. This study also investigated the effect of substrate in the optimized MFC by applying different real wastewaters (municipal wastewater, dairy wastewater, cassava wastewater) and found a superior performance by dairy wastewater with maximum current output of 5.23 mA and chemical oxygen demand removal of 94%. Electron microscopic observations revealed the development of biofilm on the electrode surface, which was responsible for biocatalytic activity in the microbial fuel cell during the operation. The current generated using microbial fuel cell was supplied to peroxicoagulation process and was used for the removal of rhodamine B dye. Decolorization of 98% achieved by the novel microbial fuel cell-coupled peroxicoagulation system. The novel microbial fuel cell-coupled peroxicoagulation is an energy-efficient as well as cost-effective technique.
Graphic abstract
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Agarry SE, Oghenejoboh KM, Solomon BO (2016) Bioelectricity production from cassava mill effluents using microbial fuel cell technology 35:329–336. https://doi.org/10.4314/njt.v35i2.13
Asensio Y, Fernandez-Marchante CM, Lobato J, Canizares P, Rodrigo MA (2016) Influence of the fuel and dosage on the performance of double-compartment microbial fuel cells. Water Res 99:16–23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2016.04.028
Bond DR, Lovley DR (2003) Electricity production by geobacter sulfurreducens attached to electrodes electricity production by geobacter sulfurreducens attached to electrodes. Appl Environ Microbiol 69:1548–1555. https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.69.3.1548
Brillas E, Boye B, Baños MÁ et al (2003) Electrochemical degradation of chlorophenoxy and chlorobenzoic herbicides in acidic aqueous medium by the peroxi-coagulation method. Chemosphere 51:227–235. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0045-6535(02)00836-6
Butti S, Velvizhi G, Sulonen MLK, Haavisto JM, Koroglu EO, Cetinkaya AY, Singh S, Arya D, Modestra JA, Vamsi Krishna K, Verma A, Ozkaya B, Lakaniemi AM, Puhakka JA, Venkata Mohana S (2016) Microbial electrochemical technologies with the perspective of harnessing bioenergy: maneuvering towards upscaling. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 53:462–476. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2013.12.054
Damiano L, Jambeck JR, Ringelberg DB (2014) Municipal solid waste landfill leachate treatment and electricity production using microbial fuel cells. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 173:472–485. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-014-0854-x
Dong Y, Feng Y, Qu Y, Du Y, Zhou X, Liu J (2015) A combined system of microbial fuel cell and intermittently aerated biological filter for energy self-sufficient wastewater treatment. Sci Rep 5:1–8. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep18070
Elakkiya E, Matheswaran M (2013) Comparison of anodic metabolisms in bioelectricity production during treatment of dairy wastewater in microbial fuel cell. Bioresour Technol 136:407–412. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2013.02.113
Ghangrekar MM, Shinde VB (2007) Performance of membrane-less microbial fuel cell treating wastewater and effect of electrode distance and area on electricity production. Bioresour Technol 98:2879–2885. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2006.09.050
Ghasemi M, Halakoo E, Sedighi M, Alam J, Sadeqzadeh M (2015) Performance comparison of three common proton exchange membranes for sustainable bioenergy production in microbial fuel cell. Procedia CIRP 26:162–166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procir.2014.07.169
Gonzalez del Campo A, Perez JF, Cañizares P, Rodrigo MA, Fernandez FJ, Lobato J (2014) Study of a photosynthetic MFC for energy recovery from synthetic industrial fruit juice wastewater. Int J Hydrog Energy 39:21828–21836. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2014.07.055
Gregory KB, Bond DR, Lovley DR (2004) Graphite electrodes as electron donors for anaerobic respiration. Environ Microbiol 6:596–604. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1462-2920.2004.00593.x
Hidalgo D, Tommasi T, Velayutham K, Ruggeri B (2016) Long term testing of microbial fuel cells: comparison of different anode materials. Bioresour Technol 219:37–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2016.07.084
Jadhav GS, Ghangrekar MM (2009) Performance of microbial fuel cell subjected to variation in pH, temperature, external load and substrate concentration. Bioresour Technol 100:717–723. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2008.07.041
Kalathil S, Lee J, Cho MH (2012) Efficient decolorization of real dye wastewater and bioelectricity generation using a novel single chamber biocathode-microbial fuel cell. Bioresour Technol 119:22–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2012.05.059
Kumar R, Singh L, Zularisam AW (2016) Exoelectrogens: recent advances in molecular drivers involved in extracellular electron transfer and strategies used to improve it for microbial fuel cell applications. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 56:1322–1336. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2015.12.029
Li WW, Sheng GP, Liu XW, Yu HQ (2011) Recent advances in the separators for microbial fuel cells. Bioresour Technol 102:244–252. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2010.03.090
Liu Z, Li H (2007) Effects of bio- and abio-factors on electricity production in a mediatorless microbial fuel cell. Biochem Eng J 36:209–214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bej.2007.02.021
Logan B, Cheng S, Watson V, Estadt G (2007) Graphite fiber brush anodes for increased power production in air-cathode microbial fuel cells. Environ Sci Technol 41:3341–3346. https://doi.org/10.1021/es062644y
Mansoorian HJ, Mahvi AH, Jafari AJ, Khanjani N (2014) Evaluation of dairy industry wastewater treatment and simultaneous bioelectricity generation in a catalyst-less and mediator-less membrane microbial fuel cell. J Saudi Chem Soc 20:88–100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jscs.2014.08.002
Mardanpour MM, Esfahany MN, Behzad T, Sedaqatvand R (2012) Single chamber microbial fuel cell with spiral anode for dairy wastewater treatment. Biosens Bioelectron 38:264–269. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bios.2012.05.046
Mathuriya AS, Sharma VN (2009) Bioelectricity production from paper industry waste using a microbial fuel cell by Clostridium species. J Biochem Technol 1:49–52
Mathuriya SA, Sharma VN (2010) Bioelectricity production from various wastewaters through microbial fuel cell technology. J Biochem Technol 2:133–137
Mustakeem (2015) Electrode materials for microbial fuel cells: nanomaterial approach. Mater Renew Sustain Energy 4:1–11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40243-015-0063-8
Namduri H, Nasrazadani S (2008) Quantitative analysis of iron oxides using Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometry. Corros Sci 50:2493–2497. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.corsci.2008.06.034
Nidheesh PV (2015) Heterogeneous Fenton catalysts for the abatement of organic pollutants from aqueous solution: a review. RSC Adv 5:40552–40577. https://doi.org/10.1039/C5RA02023A
Nidheesh PV, Gandhimathi R (2014) Electrolytic removal of Rhodamine B from aqueous solution by peroxicoagulation process. Environ Sci Pollut Res 21:8585–8594. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-2775-1
Nidheesh PV, Gandhimathi R, Ramesh ST (2013) Degradation of dyes from aqueous solution by Fenton processes: a review. Environ Sci Pollut Res. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-012-1385-z
Nimje VR, Chen CY, Chen HR, Chen CC, Huang YM, Tseng MJ, Cheng KC, Chang YF (2012) Comparative bioelectricity production from various wastewaters in microbial fuel cells using mixed cultures and a pure strain of Shewanella oneidensis. Bioresour Technol 104:315–323. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2011.09.129
Pandey P, Shinde VN, Deopurkar RL, Kale SP, Patil SA, Pant D (2016) Recent advances in the use of different substrates in microbial fuel cells toward wastewater treatment and simultaneous energy recovery. Appl Energy 168:706–723. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.01.056
Pankratov D, Sundberg R, Sotres J, Maximov I, Graczyk M, Suyatin DB, González-Arribas E, Lipkin A, Montelius L, Shleev S (2015) Transparent and flexible, nanostructured and mediatorless glucose/oxygen enzymatic fuel cells. J Power Sources 294:501–506. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2015.06.041
Patade S, Silveira K, Babu A, Mhatre Y, Saini V, Rajput R, Mathew J, Birmole R (2016) Bioremediation of dye effluent waste through an optimised microbial fuel cell. Int J Adv Res Biol Sci 3:214–226
Porwal HJ, Mane AV, Velhal SG (2015) Biodegradation of dairy ef fl uent by using microbial isolates obtained from activated sludge. Water Resour Ind 9:1–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wri.2014.11.002
Quan X, Tao K, Mei Y, Jiang X (2014) Power generation from cassava alcohol wastewater: effects of pretreatment and anode aeration. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 37:2325–2332. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-014-1210-9
Rahimnejad M, Adhami A, Darvari S, Zirepour A, Oh SE (2015) Microbial fuel cell as new technology for bioelectricity generation: a review. Alex Eng J 54:745–756. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2015.03.031
Rajeswari S, Vidhya S, Navanietha Krishnaraj R, Saravanan P, Sundarapandiyan S, Maruthamuthu S, Ponmariappan S, Vijayan M (2016) Utilization of soak liquor in microbial fuel cell. Fuel 181:148–156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2016.04.121
Sawasdee V, Pisutpaisal N (2016) Simultaneous pollution treatment and electricity generation of tannery wastewater in air-cathode single chamber MFC. Int J Hydrog Energy 41:15632–15637. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2016.04.179
Sevda S, Sreekrishnan TR (2012) Effect of salt concentration and mediators in salt bridge microbial fuel cell for electricity generation from synthetic wastewater. J Environ Sci Health A Tox Hazard Subst Environ Eng 47:878–886
Slate AJ, Whitehead KA, Brownson DAC, Banks CE (2019) Microbial fuel cells: an overview of current technology. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 101:60–81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2018.09.044
Venkata Mohan S, Mohanakrishna G, Reddy BP, Saravanan R, Sarma PN (2008) Bioelectricity generation from chemical wastewater treatment in mediatorless (anode) microbial fuel cell (MFC) using selectively enriched hydrogen producing mixed culture under acidophilic microenvironment. Biochem Eng J 39:121–130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bej.2007.08.023
Venu D, Gandhimathi R, Nidheesh PV, Ramesh ST (2016) Effect of solution pH on leachate treatment mechanism of peroxicoagulation process. J Hazard Toxic Radioact Waste 20:4–7. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)HZ.2153-5515.0000315
Wang YP, Liu XW, Li WW, Li F, Wang YK, Sheng GP, Zeng RJ, Yu HQ (2012) A microbial fuel cell-membrane bioreactor integrated system for cost-effective wastewater treatment. Appl Energy 98:230–235. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2012.03.029
Yadav AK, Dash P, Mohanty A, Abbassi R, Mishra BK (2012) Performance assessment of innovative constructed wetland-microbial fuel cell for electricity production and dye removal. Ecol Eng 47:126–131. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2012.06.029
You S, Zhao Q, Zhang J, Jiang J, Zhao S (2006) A microbial fuel cell using permanganate as the cathodic electron acceptor. J Power Sources 162:1409–1415. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2006.07.063
Zhang B, Zhao H, Zhou S, Shi C, Wang C, Ni J (2009) A novel UASB–MFC–BAF integrated system for high strength molasses wastewater treatment and bioelectricity generation. Bioresour Technol 100:5687–5693. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2009.06.045
Zhang X, Zhu F, Chen L, Zhao Q, Tao G (2013) Removal of ammonia nitrogen from wastewater using an aerobic cathode microbial fuel cell. Bioresour Technol 146:161–168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2013.07.024
Zhu X, Logan BE (2013) Using single-chamber microbial fuel cells as renewable power sources of electro-Fenton reactors for organic pollutant treatment. J Hazard Mater 252–253:198–203. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2013.02.051
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Jayashree, S., Ramesh, S.T., Lavanya, A. et al. Wastewater treatment by microbial fuel cell coupled with peroxicoagulation process. Clean Techn Environ Policy 21, 2033–2045 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-019-01759-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-019-01759-0