Effects of carbon source on electricity generation and PAH removal in aquaculture sediment microbial fuel cells

ABSTRACT

Sediment microbial fuel cells (SMFCs) have been used for treating pollutants in sediment or overlying water. This study investigated the feasibility of constructing SMFCs under aquaculture conditions by employing indigenous carbohydrates as substrates to enhance the removal efficiency of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in sediment, as well as the correlation between PAHs removal and electricity generation in SMFCs. The results showed that adding glucose could allow SMFCs to generate more electrical power and increase the removal efficiency of PAHs (by 57.2% for naphthalene, 41.3% for acenaphthene, and 36.5% for pyrene). In addition, starch enhanced PAHs removal by 49.9%, 35.8%, and 31.2%, respectively, whereas cellulose enhanced removal by 44.3%, 29.3%, and 26.9%, respectively. Pearson correlation coefficients between the level of electrical power generated and the removal masses of the three PAHs were 0.485, 0.830**, and 0.851**. Thus, the use of SMFCs could be an effective approach for PAH treatment in aquaculture, and the electrical power generated could be used as an in-situ indicator for the biodegradation rate of SMFCs.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS:

• Biodegradation
• carbon sources
• electricity generation
• sediment microbial fuel cells (SMFCs)
• polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)

Data availability statement

All data, models, and code generated or used during the study appear in the submitted article.

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 42077108) and Scientific Research Program Funded by Shaanxi Provincial Education Department (No. 20JK0783).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Natural Science Foundation of China: [Grant Number 42077108]; Scientific Research Program Funded by Shaanxi Provincial Education Department: [Grant Number 20JK0783].