Micro-aeration in anode chamber promotes p-nitrophenol degradation and electricity generation in microbial fuel cell

Aman Khan; Zhengjun Chen; Shuai Zhao; Hongyuhang Ni; Yaxin Pei; Rong Xu; Zhenmin Ling; El-Sayed Salama; Pu Liu; Xiangkai Li

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2019.03.130

Micro-aeration in anode chamber promotes p-nitrophenol degradation and electricity generation in microbial fuel cell

Bioresour Technol. 2019 Aug:285:121291. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2019.03.130. Epub 2019 Mar 27.

Authors

Aman Khan¹, Zhengjun Chen², Shuai Zhao¹, Hongyuhang Ni¹, Yaxin Pei¹, Rong Xu¹, Zhenmin Ling¹, El-Sayed Salama³, Pu Liu⁴, Xiangkai Li⁵

Affiliations

¹ MOE, Key Laboratory of Cell Activities and Stress Adaptations, School of Life Science, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu, PR China.
² College of Life Science and Technology, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, Gansu, PR China.
³ Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu, PR China.
⁴ MOE, Key Laboratory of Cell Activities and Stress Adaptations, School of Life Science, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu, PR China; Key Laboratory for Resources Utilization Technology of Unconventional Water of Gansu Province, Gansu Academy of Membrane Science and Technology, Lanzhou 730020, Gansu, PR China.
⁵ MOE, Key Laboratory of Cell Activities and Stress Adaptations, School of Life Science, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu, PR China; Key Laboratory for Resources Utilization Technology of Unconventional Water of Gansu Province, Gansu Academy of Membrane Science and Technology, Lanzhou 730020, Gansu, PR China. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 30999190
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2019.03.130

Abstract

Biodegradation of recalcitrant organic compounds in microbial fuel cell (MFC) is limited, due to its strong electron affinity and persisted in anaerobic condition. In this study, Pseudomonas monteilii LZU-3 degraded p-nitrophenol (PNP) and generated current at 100 mg L^-1 of PNP in anode MFC with the addition of oxygen. The highest PNP degradation was 4, 37.75, and 99.89% in anaerobic, aerobic, and aerated anode of MFC respectively, at 7 h. The maximum voltage generation in aerated anode was 183 mV, which was comparatively higher than aerobic (150 mV) and anaerobic (68 mV). The qRT-PCR results confirmed that the oxygenase genes in strain LZU-3 were up-regulated from 17.51 to 39.39-fold at 1.6-4.5 mg L^-1 of oxygen concentrations resulted in PNP degradation in anode MFC. This study demonstrated that supplementation of oxygen into the anode MFC might be a potential approach for biodegradation of recalcitrant compounds and electricity generation.

Keywords: Aerated anode; Biodegradation; Dissolved oxygen; Microbial fuel cell; p-Nitrophenol.

MeSH terms

Bioelectric Energy Sources*
Electricity
Electrodes
Nitrophenols

Substances

Nitrophenols
4-nitrophenol