title: Self-sustained reduction of multiple metals in a microbial fuel cell-microbial electrolysis cell hybrid system.
abstract: A self-sustained hybrid bioelectrochemical system consisting of microbial fuel cell (MFC) and microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) was developed to reduce multiple metals simultaneously by utilizing different reaction potentials. Three heavy metals representing spontaneous reaction (chromium, Cr) and unspontaneous reaction (lead, Pb and nickel, Ni) were selected in this batch-mode study. The maximum power density of the MFC achieved 189.4 mW m(-2), and the energy recovery relative to the energy storage circuit (ESC) was ∼ 450%. At the initial concentration of 100 mg L(-1), the average reduction rate of Cr(VI) was 30.0 mg L(-1) d(-1), Pb(II) 32.7 mg L(-1) d(-1), and Ni(II) 8.9 mg L(-1) d(-1). An electrochemical model was developed to predict the change of metal concentration over time. The power output of the MFC was sufficient to meet the requirement of the ESC and MEC, and the "self-sustained metal reduction" was achieved in this hybrid system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Connecticut, 261 Glenbrook Road, Unit 2037, CT 06269, USA.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, 73 Huanghe Rd, Harbin 150001, China.
authors.forename: Yining
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Connecticut, 261 Glenbrook Road, Unit 2037, CT 06269, USA.
authors.forename: Bingchuan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Connecticut, 261 Glenbrook Road, Unit 2037, CT 06269, USA.
authors.forename: Hongwei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Luan
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Connecticut, 261 Glenbrook Road, Unit 2037, CT 06269, USA.
authors.forename: Timothy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Vadas
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, 73 Huanghe Rd, Harbin 150001, China.
authors.forename: Wanqian
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, 73 Huanghe Rd, Harbin 150001, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Connecticut, 261 Glenbrook Road, Unit 2037, CT 06269, USA. Electronic address: baikun@engr.uconn.edu.
authors.forename: Baikun
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D001674:Bioelectric Energy Sources / Q000382:microbiology*; D004560:Electricity; D004572:Electrolysis / Q000379:methods*; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D019216:Metals, Heavy
keywords: Capacitor circuit; Metal reduction; Microbial electrolysis cell; Microbial fuel cell; Self-sustained