Yuzhen Pan

Cooperative cathode electrode and in situ deposited copper for subsequent enhanced Cd(II) removal and hydrogen evolution in bioelectrochemical systems

Bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) were first operated in microbial fuel cell mode for recovering Cu(II), and then shifted to microbial electrolysis cells for Cd(II) reduction on the same cathodes of titanium sheet (TS), nickel foam (NF) or carbon cloth (CC). Cu(II) reduction was similar to all materials (4.79-4.88mg/Lh) whereas CC exhibited the best Cd(II) reduction (5.86±0.25mg/Lh) and hydrogen evolution (0.35±0.07m(3)/m(3)d), followed by TS (5.27±0.43mg/Lh and 0.15±0.02m(3)/m(3)d) and NF (4.96±0.48mg/Lh and 0.80±0.07m(3)/m(3)d). These values were higher than no copper controls by factors of 2.0 and 5.0 (TS), 4.2 and 2.0 (NF), and 1.8 and 7.0 (CC). These results demonstrated cooperative cathode electrode and in situ deposited copper for subsequent enhanced Cd(II) reduction and hydrogen production in BESs, providing an alternative approach for efficiently remediating Cu(II) and Cd(II) co-contamination with simultaneous hydrogen production.

Impact of Fe(III) as an effective electron-shuttle mediator for enhanced Cr(VI) reduction in microbial fuel cells: Reduction of diffusional resistances and cathode overpotentials

The role of Fe(III) was investigated as an electron-shuttle mediator to enhance the reduction rate of the toxic heavy metal hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) in wastewaters, using microbial fuel cells (MFCs). The direct reduction of chromate (CrO4-) and dichromate (Cr2O72-) anions in MFCs was hampered by the electrical repulsion between the negatively charged cathode and Cr(VI) functional groups. In contrast, in the presence of Fe(III), the conversion of Cr(VI) and the cathodic coulombic efficiency in the MFCs were 65.6% and 81.7%, respectively, 1.6 times and 1.4 folds as those recorded in the absence of Fe(III). Multiple analytical approaches, including linear sweep voltammetry, Tafel plot, cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and kinetic calculations demonstrated that the complete reduction of Cr(VI) occurred through an indirect mechanism mediated by Fe(III). The direct reduction of Cr(VI) with cathode electrons in the presence of Fe(III) was insignificant. Fe(III) played a critical role in decreasing both the diffusional resistance of Cr(VI) species and the overpotential for Cr(VI) reduction. This study demonstrated that the reduction of Cr(VI) in MFCs was effective in the presence of Fe(III), providing an alternative and environmentally benign approach for efficient remediation of Cr(VI) contaminated sites with simultaneous production of renewable energy.

Continuous flow operation with appropriately adjusting composites in influent for recovery of Cr(VI), Cu(II) and Cd(II) in self-driven MFC-MEC system.

ABSTRACT A self-driven microbial fuel cell (MFC) – microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) system, where electricity generated from MFCs is in situ utilized for powering MECs, has been previously reported for recovering Cr(VI), Cu(II) and Cd(II) with individual metals fed in different units of the system in batch operation. Here it was advanced with treating synthetic mixed metals’ solution at appropriately adjusting composites in fed-batch and continuous flow operations for complete separation of Cr(VI), Cu(II) and Cd(II) from each other. Under an optimal condition of hydraulic residence time of 4 h, matching of two serially connected MFCs with one MEC, and fed with a composite of either 5 mg L−1 Cr(VI), 1 mg L−1 Cu(II) and 5 mg L−1 Cd(II), or 1 mg L−1 Cr(VI), 5 mg L−1 Cu(II) and 5 mg L−1 Cd(II), the self-driven MFC–MEC system can completely and sequentially recover Cu(II), Cr(VI) and Cd(II) from mixed metals. This study provides a true sustainable and zero-energy-consumed approach of using bioelectrochemical systems for completely recovering and separating Cr(VI), Cu(II) and Cd(II) from each other or from wastes or contaminated sites.

Deposition and separation of W and Mo from aqueous solutions with simultaneous hydrogen production in stacked bioelectrochemical systems (BESs): Impact of heavy metals W(VI)/Mo(VI) molar ratio, initial pH and electrode material

The deposition and separation of W and Mo from aqueous solutions with simultaneous hydrogen production was investigated in stacked bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) composed of microbial electrolysis cell (1#) serially connected with parallel connected microbial fuel cell (2#). The impact of W/Mo molar ratio (in the range 0.01 mM : 1 mM and vice-versa), initial pH (1.5 to 4.0) and cathode material (stainless steel mesh (SSM), carbon rod (CR) and titanium sheet (TS)) on the BES performance was systematically investigated. The concentration of Mo(VI) was more influential than W(VI) in determining the rate of deposition of both metals and the rate of hydrogen production. Complete metal recovery was achieved at equimolar W/Mo ratio of 0.05 mM : 0.05 mM. The rates of metal deposition and hydrogen production increased at acidic pH, with the fastest rates at pH 1.5. The morphology of the metal deposits and the valence of the Mo were correlated with W/Mo ratio and pH. CR cathodes (2#) coupled with SSM cathodes (1#) achieved a significant rate of hydrogen production (0.82 ± 0.04 m3/m3/d) with W and Mo deposition (0.049 ± 0.003 mmol/L/h and 0.140 ± 0.004 mmol/L/h (1#); 0.025 ± 0.001 mmol/L/h and 0.090 ± 0.006 mmol/L/h (2#)).