Yongyou Hu

Simultaneous decolorization of azo dye and bioelectricity generation using a microfiltration membrane air-cathode single-chamber microbial fuel cell.

Electricity generation from readily biodegradable organic substrates accompanied by decolorization of azo dye was investigated using a microfiltration membrane air-cathode single-chamber microbial fuel cell (MFC). Batch experiment results showed that accelerated decolorization of active brilliant red X-3B (ABRX3) was achieved in the MFC as compared to traditional anaerobic technology. Biodegradation was the dominant mechanism of the dye removal, and glucose was the optimal co-substrate for ABRX3 decolorization, while acetate was the worst one. Confectionery wastewater (CW) was also shown to be a good co-substrate for ABRX3 decolorization and a cheap fuel source for electricity generation in the MFC. Low resistance was more favorable for dye decolorization than high resistance. Suspended sludge (SS) should be retained in the MFC for accelerated decolorization of ABRX3. Electricity generation was not significantly affected by the ABRX3 at 300 mg/L, while higher concentrations inhibited electricity generation. However, voltage can be recovered to the original level after replacement with anodic medium not containing azo dye.

Adsorption of Cu2+, Cd2+ and Ni2+ from aqueous single metal solutions on graphene oxide membranes

Novel, highly ordered layered graphene oxide (GO) membranes with larger interlayer spacing were prepared by induced directional flow and were used as adsorbents for the removal of Cu(2+), Cd(2+) and Ni(2+) from aqueous solutions. The effects of pH, ionic strength, contact time, metal ion concentration and cycle time on Cu(2+), Cd(2+) and Ni(2+) sorption were investigated. The results indicated that the adsorption of Cu(2+), Cd(2+) and Ni(2+) onto GO membranes was greatly influenced by the pH and weakly affected by the ionic strength. The adsorption isotherms for Cu(2+), Cd(2+) and Ni(2+) were well fitted by the Langmuir model. The maximum adsorption capacities of the GO membranes for Cu(2+), Cd(2+) and Ni(2+) were approximately 72.6, 83.8 and 62.3 mg/g, respectively. The adsorption kinetics of Cu(2+), Cd(2+) and Ni(2+) onto GO membranes followed the pseudo-second-order model. The adsorption equilibrium was reached in a shorter time. The GO membranes can be regenerated more than six times based on their adsorption/desorption cycles, with a slight loss in the adsorption capacity. The results demonstrated that the GO membranes can be used as effective adsorbents for heavy metal removal from water.

Explore various co-substrates for simultaneous electricity generation and Congo red degradation in air-cathode single-chamber microbial fuel cell

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) holds a great promise to harvest electricity directly from a wide range of ready degradable organic matters and enhance degradation of some recalcitrant contaminants. Glucose, acetate sodium and ethanol were separately examined as co-substrates for simultaneous bioelectricity generation and Congo red degradation in a proton exchange membrane (PEM) air-cathode single-chamber MFC. The batch test results showed that more than 98% decolorization at the dye concentration of 300 mg/L were achieved within 36 h for all tested co-substrates during electricity generation. The decolorization rate was different with the co-substrates used. The fastest decolorization rate was achieved with glucose followed by ethanol and sodium acetate. Accumulated intermediates were observed during Congo red degradation which was demonstrated by UV-Visible spectra and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Electricity generation was sustained and not significantly affected by the Congo red degradation. Glucose, acetate sodium and ethanol produced maximum power densities of 103 mW/m(2), 85.9 mW/m(2) and 63.2 mW/m(2), respectively, and the maximum voltage output decreased by only 7% to 15%. Our results demonstrated the feasibility of using various co-substrates for simultaneous decolorization of Congo red and bioelectricity generation in the MFC and showed that glucose was the preferred co-substrate.

Redox mediator enhanced simultaneous decolorization of azo dye and bioelectricity generation in air-cathode microbial fuel cell.

Enhanced simultaneous decolorization of Congo red and bioelectricity generation with anthraquinone-2,6-disulphonic disodium salt (AQDS), riboflavin (RF) and humic acid (HA) as mediators in air-cathode microbial fuel cell (MFC) was demonstrated. Compared with mediator-free MFC, the MFC with added 0.005 mM AQDS, 0.005 mM RF or 1g/L HA showed 36%, 26% and 15% increase in maximum power density along with 394%, 450%, and 258% increases in decolorization rates of Congo red, respectively. Addition of mediators at higher concentration further increased power and Congo red decolorization but the increases were not proportional to the rise in mediator concentration. Based on decreases of anode charge transfer resistance and increases of Congo red decolorization, the mediators kinetically promote the extracellular electron transfer between bacteria, anode and Congo red. Microbial analysis showed that addition of mediators changed the composition of anodic microbial community and stimulated the growth of species belonging to Chlorobi, Endomicrobia and Firmicutes.

Further treatment of decolorization liquid of azo dye coupled with increased power production using microbial fuel cell equipped with an aerobic biocathode

A microbial fuel cell (MFC) incorporating a recently developed aerobic biocathode is designed and demonstrated. The aerobic biocathode MFC is able to further treat the liquid containing decolorization products of active brilliant red X-3B (ABRX3), a respective azo dye, and also provides increased power production. Batch test results showed that 24.8% of COD was removed from the decolorization liquid of ABRX3 (DL) by the biocathode within 12 h. Metabolism-dependent biodegradation of aniline-like compound might be mainly responsible for the decrease of overall COD. Glucose is not necessary in this process and contributes little to the COD removal of the DL. The similar COD removal rate observed under closed circuit condition (500 Ω) and opened circuit condition indicated that the current had an insignificant effect on the degradation of the DL. Addition of the DL to the biocathode resulted in an almost 150% increase in open cycle potential (OCP) of the cathode accompanied by a 73% increase in stable voltage output from 0.33 V to 0.57 V and a 300% increase in maximum power density from 50.74 mW/m(2) to 213.93 mW/m(2). Cyclic voltammetry indicated that the decolorization products of the ABRX3 contained in the DL play a role as redox mediator for facilitating electron transfer from the cathode to the oxygen. This study demonstrated for the first time that MFC equipped with an aerobic biocathode can be successfully applied to further treatment of effluent from an anaerobic system used to decolorize azo dye, providing both cost savings and high power output.

Recovery of phosphorus and nitrogen from alkaline hydrolysis supernatant of excess sludge by magnesium ammonium phosphate.

Magnesium ammonium phosphate (MAP) method was used to recover orthophosphate (PO₄(3-)-P) and ammonium nitrogen (NH4(+)-N) from the alkaline hydrolysis supernatant of excess sludge. To reduce alkali consumption and decrease the pH of the supernatant, two-stage alkaline hydrolysis process (TSAHP) was designed. The results showed that the release efficiencies of PO₄(3-)-P and NH₄(+)-N were 41.96% and 7.78%, respectively, and the pH of the supernatant was below 10.5 under the running conditions with initial pH of 13, volume ratio (sludge dosage/water dosage) of 1.75 in second-stage alkaline hydrolysis reactor, 20 g/L of sludge concentration in first-stage alkaline hydrolysis reactor. The order of parameters influencing MAP reaction was analyzed and the optimized conditions of MAP reaction were predicted through the response surface methodology. The recovery rates of PO₄(3-)-P and NH₄(+)-N were 46.88% and 16.54%, respectively under the optimized conditions of Mg/P of 1.8, pH 9.7 and reaction time of 15 min.

Bioaccumulation versus adsorption of reactive dye by immobilized growing Aspergillus fumigatus beads.

The removal of reactive brilliant blue KN-R using growing Aspergillus fumigatus (abbr. A. fumigatus) immobilized on carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) beads with respect to initial dye concentration was investigated. Bioaccumulation was the dominant mechanism of the dye removal. According to the UV-vis spectra and the results of three sets of experiments, it could be concluded that the bioaccumulation using immobilized growing A. fumigatus beads was achieved by metabolism-dependent accumulation and metabolism-independent adsorption (15-23% proportion of overall dye removal), which included biosorption by mycelia entrapped in them and adsorption on immobilization matrix. The transmission electron microscope (TEM) images showed the intracellular structures of mycelia and the toxicity of dye. It was found that the fungus had a considerable tolerance to reactive brilliant blue KN-R at initial dye concentrations of <114.7 mg/l. Though at high initial dye concentrations the growth of mycelia was inhibited significantly by the dye molecules in the growth medium, the bioaccumulation capacity was not markedly affected and the maximum bioaccumulation capacity was 190.5+/-2.0 mg/g at an initial dye concentration of 374.4 mg/l. The bioaccumulation rates were not constant over the contact time.

Reduction of excess sludge production in sequencing batch reactor through incorporation of chlorine dioxide oxidation.

In this study, chlorine dioxide (ClO(2)) instead of chlorine (Cl(2)) was proposed to minimize the formation of chlorine-based by-products and was incorporated into a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) for excess sludge reduction. The results showed that the sludge disintegrability of ClO(2) was excellent. The waste activated sludge at an initial concentration of 15 g MLSS/L was rapidly reduced by 36% using ClO(2) doses of 10mg ClO(2)/g dry sludge which was much lower than that obtained using Cl(2) based on similar sludge reduction efficiency. Maximum sludge disintegration was achieved at 10mg ClO(2)/g dry sludge for 40 min. ClO(2) oxidation can be successfully incorporated into a SBR for excess sludge reduction without significantly harming the bioreactor performance. The incorporation of ClO(2) oxidation resulted in a 58% reduction in excess sludge production, and the quality of the effluent was not significantly affected.

Performance and microbial diversity of microbial fuel cells coupled with different cathode types during simultaneous azo dye decolorization and electricity generation

To study the effect of cathode type on performance and microbial diversity of the MFC, aerobic biocathode and air-cathode were incorporated into microbial fuel cells (MFCs) which were explored for simultaneous azo dye decolorization and electricity generation. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) results demonstrated that the catalytic activity of the microorganisms on the biocathode surface was comparable with that of the platinum coated on the air-cathode. The power density achieved by using biocathode was lower than air-cathode, but the biocathode could greatly improve the Congo red decolorization rate. By using the biocathode, 96.4% decolorization of Congo red was obtained within 29 h, whereas, about 107 h was required to achieve the same decolorization efficiency with the air-cathode. 16S rRNA sequencing analysis demonstrated a phylogenetic diversity in the communities of the anode biofilm and showed clear differences between the anode-attached populations in the MFCs with a different cathode type.

Defluorination of Aqueous Perfluorooctanesulfonate by Activated Persulfate Oxidation

Activated persulfate oxidation technologies based on sulfate radicals were first evaluated for defluorination of aqueous perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS). The influences of catalytic method, time, pH and K2S2O8 amounts on PFOS defluorination were investigated. The intermediate products during PFOS defluorination were detected by using LC/MS/MS. The results showed that the S2O8 2− had weak effect on the defluorination of PFOS, while the PFOS was oxidatively defluorinated by sulfate radicals in water. The defluorination efficiency of PFOS under various treatment was followed the order: HT (hydrothermal)/K2S2O8 > UV (ultraviolet)/K2S2O8 > Fe2+/K2S2O8 > US (ultrasound)/K2S2O8. Low pH was favorable for the PFOS defluorination with sulfate radicals. Increase in the amount of S2O8 2− had positive effect on PFOS defluorination. However, further increase in amounts of S2O8 2− caused insignificant improvement in PFOS defluorination due to elimination of sulfate radicals under high concentration of S2O8 2−. CF3(CF2)nCOOH (n = 0–6) were detected as intermediates during PFOS defluorination. Sulfate radicals oxidation and hydrolysis were the main mechanisms involved in defluorination process of PFOS.