title: Heavy metal recovery combined with H₂ production from artificial acid mine drainage using the microbial electrolysis cell.
abstract: The aim of this study was to utilize the microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) for metal removal from acid mine drainage (AMD) and simultaneous H2 production. A dual-chamber MEC was developed to concurrently produce H2 and remove Cu(2+), Ni(2+), and Fe(2+) from AMD under single and mixed metal conditions. With an applied voltage of 1.0V, Cu(2+) in the AMD was prior to others to be recovered at the cathode, followed by Ni(2+), and finally Fe(2+). The H2 production rates achieved during the AMD treatment were in the range of 0.4-1.1m(3)m(-3)d(-1), and the highest rate was obtained with the AMD containing single Cu(2+). The highest efficiency of cathode electron recovery reached 89%, which was obtained with the AMD containing mixed metals. The recovered electrons were used for both H2 production and metal reduction. The energy recovery efficiency of MEC reached up to 100%, suggesting that H2 generated from AMD was sufficient to offset the energy input during the treatment. The MEC was successfully applied to remove metals from the AMD, recover value-added products of Cu(0) and Ni(0), and to produce H2.
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Control and Remediation Technology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Haiping
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Control and Remediation Technology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, Guangdong, China. Electronic address: liugl@mail.sysu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Guangli
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Control and Remediation Technology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Renduo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Control and Remediation Technology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Yaoping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Control and Remediation Technology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Shiyu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Control and Remediation Technology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Yanping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hou
mesh_terms: D001674:Bioelectric Energy Sources; D003300:Copper / Q000737:chemistry*; D004566:Electrodes; D004572:Electrolysis; D006859:Hydrogen / Q000737:chemistry; D007220:Industrial Waste; D007501:Iron / Q000737:chemistry*; D008906:Mining; D009532:Nickel / Q000737:chemistry*; D018505:Waste Management / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D007220:Industrial Waste; D003300:Copper; D009532:Nickel; D006859:Hydrogen; D007501:Iron
keywords: Energy evaluation; Hydrogen production; Metal recovery; Microbial electrolysis cell