Impact of anodophilic biofilm bioelectroactivity on denitrification
behavior of single-chamber air-cathode microbial fuel cell in steady
state
Abstract
Generally, high bioelectroactivity of anodophilic biofilm favors high
power generation of microbial fuel cell (MFC), however, it is not clear
whether it can promote denitrification of MFC synchronously. In this
study, the impact of anodophilic biofilms bioelectroactivity on
denitrification behavior of single-chamber air-cathode MFC (SAMFC) in
steady state was studied for the first time. Anodophilic biofilms of
various bioelectroactivity were acclimated at conditions of open circuit
(OC), Rext of 1000Ω and 20Ω (denoted as SAMFC-OC, SAMFC-1000Ω and
SAMFC-20Ω, respectively) and run for 100 days in the presence of
nitrate. Electrochemical tests and microbial analysis results showed
that the anode of the SAMFC-20Ω delivered higher oxidation and
denitrification current response and had a higher abundance of
electroactive bacteria, like Geobacter, Pseudomonas and Comamonas, which
possessed bidirectional electron transfer function, demonstrating a
higher bioelectroactivity of the anodophilic biofilm. Moreover, these
electroactive bacteria favored the accumulation of denitrifers, like
Thauera and Alicycliphilus, probably by consuming trace oxygen through
catalyzing oxygen reduction. The SAMFC-20Ω not only delivered a 61.7%
higher power than the SAMFC-1000Ω, but also achieved a stable and high
denitrification rate constant (kDN) of 1.9, which was 50% and 40%
higher than that of the SAMFC-OC and SAMFC-1000Ω, respectively. It could
be concluded that the high bioelectroactivity of the anodophilic
biofilms not only favored high power generation of the SAMFC, but also
promote the growth of denitrifers at the anodes and strengthened
denitrification. This study provided an effective method and important
theoretical basis for enhancing power generation and denitrification
performance of the SAMFC synchronously.