title: Bioelectrochemical systems-driven directional ion transport enables low-energy water desalination, pollutant removal, and resource recovery.
abstract: Bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) are integrated water treatment technologies that generate electricity using organic matter in wastewater. In situ use of bioelectricity can direct the migration of ionic substances in a BES, thereby enabling water desalination, resource recovery, and valuable substance production. Recently, much attention has been placed on the microbial desalination cells in BESs to drive water desalination, and various configurations have optimized electricity generation and desalination performance and also coupled hydrogen production, heavy metal reduction, and other reactions. In addition, directional transport of other types of charged ions can remediate polluted groundwater, recover nutrient, and produce valuable substances. To better promote the practical application, the use of BESs as directional drivers of ionic substances requires further optimization to improve energy use efficiency and treatment efficacy. This article reviews existing researches on BES-driven directional ion transport to treat wastewater and identifies a few key factors involved in efficiency optimization.
authors.affiliation: State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, PR China.
authors.forename: Xi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, PR China.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, PR China.
authors.forename: Xiaoyuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, PR China. Electronic address: xhuang@tsinghua.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Xia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D001674:Bioelectric Energy Sources; D055664:Electrochemical Techniques; D060587:Groundwater / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D059027:Recycling; D012492:Salts / Q000302:isolation & purification; D062065:Wastewater / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D014867:Water; D014873:Water Pollutants / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D012492:Salts; D062065:Wastewater; D014867:Water; D014873:Water Pollutants
keywords: Bioelectrochemical system; Directional ion transport; Efficiency optimization