Community structure dynamics during startup in microbial fuel cells - The effect of phosphate concentrations.
For microbial fuel cells (MFCs) to become a cost-effective wastewater treatment technology, they must produce a stable electro-active microbial community quickly and operate under realistic wastewater nutrient conditions. The composition of the anodic-biofilm and planktonic-cells communities was followed temporally for MFCs operated under typical laboratory phosphate concentrations (134mgL(-1)P) versus wastewater phosphate concentrations (16mgL(-1)P). A stable peak voltage was attained two-fold faster in MFCs operating under lower phosphate concentration. All anodic-biofilms were composed of well-known exoelectrogenic bacterial families; however, MFCs showing faster startup and a stable voltage had a Desulfuromonadaceae-dominated-biofilm, while biofilms co-dominated by Desulfuromonadaceae and Geobacteraceae characterized slower or less stable MFCs. Interestingly,planktonic-cell concentrations of these bacteria followed a similar trend as the anodic-biofilm and could therefore serve as a biomarker for its formation. These results demonstrate that wastewater-phosphate concentrations do not compromise MFCs efficiency, and considerably speed up startup times.
The Porter School of Environmental Studies, Tel Aviv University, P.O. Box 39040, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel. Electronic address: golubyanuka@post.tau.ac.il.
Keren
K
Yanuka-Golub
Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, Tel Aviv University, P.O. Box 39040, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel. Electronic address: leahfa@gmail.com.
Leah
L
Reshef
The Porter School of Environmental Studies, Tel Aviv University, P.O. Box 39040, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel; Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, Tel Aviv University, P.O. Box 39040, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel. Electronic address: JudithRi@tauex.tau.ac.il.
Judith
J
Rishpon
The Porter School of Environmental Studies, Tel Aviv University, P.O. Box 39040, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel; Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, Tel Aviv University, P.O. Box 39040, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel. Electronic address: urigo@tauex.tau.ac.il.
Uri
U
Gophna
D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects*; D001674:Bioelectric Energy Sources / Q000382:microbiology*; D004553:Electric Conductivity; D004563:Electrochemistry; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D010710:Phosphates / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010933:Plankton / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D013997:Time Factors
D010710:Phosphates
Anodic-biofilm development; Microbial communities; Microbial fuel cell; Phosphate concentration; Startup time