Continuous bioelectricity generation through treatment of Victoria blue R: A novel microbial fuel cell operation

ABSTRACT

A novel two-chamber microbial fuel cell (MFC) operation with a continuous anaerobic–aerobic decolorization system was developed to improve the degradation of the triphenylmethane dye, Victoria blue R (VBR). In addition, bioelectricity was generated during the VBR degradation process, and the operation parameters were optimized. The results indicated that the VBR removal efficiency and electricity generation were affected by the VBR concentration, liquid retention time (LRT), external resistance, gas retention time (GRT), and shock loading. The optimal operation parameters were as follows: VBR concentration, 600 mg L⁻¹; LRT, 24 h; external resistance, 3300 Ω; and GRT, 60 s. Under these operating conditions, the VBR removal efficiency, COD removal efficiency, and power density were 98.2% ± 0.3%, 97.6% ± 0.5%, and 30.6 ± 0.4 mW m⁻², respectively. According to our review of the relevant literature, this is the first paper to analyze the electrical characteristics of a continuous two-chamber MFC operation and demonstrate the feasibility of the simultaneous electricity generation and decolorization of VBR.

KEYWORDS:

• Continuous system
• degradation
• microbial fuel cell
• Victoria blue R

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge Wallace Academic Editing for editing this manuscript. Chih-Yu Chen and Guey-Horng Wang share equal credit as first author of this paper.

Funding

This work was partially supported by a grant from the Xiamen Municipal Bureau of Science and Technology, China (Grant No. 3502Z20151251).