Recovery of chromium, copper and vanadium combined with electricity generation in two-chambered microbial fuel cells

2020 ◽  
Vol 367 (15) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kartik S Aiyer

ABSTRACT Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) offer a promising solution towards recovery and treatment of heavy metal pollutants. In this study, two-chambered MFCs were employed for recovery of chromium, copper and vanadium (Cr (VI), Cu (II) and V (V)). One g/L concentrations of K2Cr2O7, CuCl2 and NaVO3 served as catholytes, while a mixed culture was used as anolyte. Cr (VI), Cu (II) and V (V) were reduced biologically into less toxic forms of Cr (III), Cu and V (IV) respectively. Power density and cathodic efficiency were calculated for each of the catholytes. Cr (VI) gave the maximum power density and cathodic efficiency due to its high redox potential. Current produced depended on the concentration of the catholyte. Over a period of time, biological reduction of catholytes lead to decrease in the metal concentrations, which demonstrated the application of MFC technology towards heavy metal treatment and recovery in a reasonably cost-effective manner.

Fuels ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 168-178
Author(s):  
Marzia Quaglio ◽  
Daniyal Ahmed ◽  
Giulia Massaglia ◽  
Adriano Sacco ◽  
Valentina Margaria ◽  
...  

Sediment microbial fuel cells (SMFCs) are energy harvesting devices where the anode is buried inside marine sediment, while the cathode stays in an aerobic environment on the surface of the water. To apply this SCMFC as a power source, it is crucial to have an efficient power management system, leading to development of an effective energy harvesting technique suitable for such biological devices. In this work, we demonstrate an effective method to improve power extraction with SMFCs based on anodes alternation. We have altered the setup of a traditional SMFC to include two anodes working with the same cathode. This setup is compared with a traditional setup (control) and a setup that undergoes intermittent energy harvesting, establishing the improvement of energy collection using the anodes alternation technique. Control SMFC produced an average power density of 6.3 mW/m2 and SMFC operating intermittently produced 8.1 mW/m2. On the other hand, SMFC operating using the anodes alternation technique produced an average power density of 23.5 mW/m2. These results indicate the utility of the proposed anodes alternation method over both the control and intermittent energy harvesting techniques. The Anode Alternation can also be viewed as an advancement of the intermittent energy harvesting method.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 736-750
Author(s):  
Xilu Chen ◽  
Xiaomin Li ◽  
Dandan Xu ◽  
Weichun Yang ◽  
Shaoyuan Bai

AbstractChromium (Cr) is a common toxic heavy metal that is widely used in all kinds of industries, causing a series of environmental problems. Nanoscale zero- valent iron (nZVI) is considered to be an ideal remediation material for contaminated soil, especially for heavy metal pollutants. As a material of low toxicity and good activity, nZVI has been widely applied in the in situ remediation of soil hexavalent chromium (Cr(vi)) with mobility and toxicity in recent years. In this paper, some current technologies for the preparation of nZVI are summarized and the remediation mechanism of Cr(vi)-contaminated soil is proposed. Five classified modified nZVI materials are introduced and their remediation processes in Cr(vi)-contaminated soil are summarized. Key factors affecting the remediation of Cr(vi)-contaminated soil by nZVI are studied. Interaction mechanisms between nZVI-based materials and Cr(vi) are explored. This study provides a comprehensive review of the nZVI materials for the remediation of Cr(vi)-contaminated soil, which is conducive to reducing soil pollution.


2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 1031-1037 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingtao Liu ◽  
Yu Ding ◽  
Lifei Ji ◽  
Xin Zhang ◽  
Fengchun Yang ◽  
...  

Hexavalent chromium (Cr(vi)) is one of the most toxic heavy metal pollutants in groundwater, and thus the detection of Cr(vi) with high sensitivity, accuracy, and simplicity and low cost is of great importance.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 98-109
Author(s):  
Witriani Marvinatur Ihsan ◽  
Ratnawulan Ratnawulan

In the South Coastal Forest area, West Sumatra, a luminous mushroom with the species Neonothopanus Sp. This research was conducted with the aim of seeing the effect of heavy metals on the bioluminescence reaction of luminous mushrooms. Starting from the effect of heavy metal concentrations on the intensity and inhibition coefficient of luminous mushroom biolumination. From the measurement results, the maximum intensity value of luminous mushrooms is 499.6 au occurring at a wavelength of 505 nm. At a wavelength of 505 nm, visible light is produced in green. The results obtained are in accordance with observations, because the light emitted by the glowing mushroom is green. If the concentration of heavy metals is greater, the intensity of the bioluminescent fungus (Neonothopanus sp) will decrease. The type of heavy metal affects the intensity of the fungus biolumination. The greatest decrease in intensity occurred in copper (Cu) and iron (Fe), zinc (Zn) and lead (Pb). If the heavy metal concentration is greater, the inhibition coefficient will be smaller. The greatest inhibition coefficient due to the presence of heavy metals occurs in copper (Cu) then iron (Fe), zinc (Zn) and the smallest is lead (Pb).


RSC Advances ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (63) ◽  
pp. 50968-50974 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinhua Tang ◽  
Haoran Li ◽  
Zhuwei Du ◽  
Weida Wang ◽  
How Yong Ng

Polypyrrole hydrogels/carbon nanotubes enhanced electrocatalytic activity, biocompatibility and power density in microbial fuel cells.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document