Key Laboratory for Water Quality and Conservation of Pearl River Delta, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Radionuclides Pollution Control and Resources, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, 510006, PR China.
National-Regional Joint Engineering Research Center for Soil Pollution Control and Remediation in South China, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Integrated Agro-environmental Pollution Control and Management, Guangdong Institute of Eco-environmental Science & Technology, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510650, China; Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Joint Laboratory for Environmental Pollution and Control，Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China; School of Environment, Key Laboratory of Yellow River and Huai River Water Environment and Pollution Control, Ministry of Education, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang 453007, China.
Chemosphere. 2022 Mar;291(Pt 1):132754. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.132754. Epub 2021 Nov 16.
Environmental toxicity of antimony (Sb) is significantly increased through the widespread industrial application. The extended release of Sb above the regulatory level became a risk to humans habituated in the ecosystem. Conventional methods to remediate Sb demand high energy or resource input, which further leads to secondary pollution. The bio-electrochemical system offers a promising bioremediation strategy to remove or reduce toxic heavy metals. Thus, this research explores the possibilities of simultaneous metal sulfide (MeS) precipitation and electricity production using a full biological Microbial fuel cell (MFC). A non-conventional sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) Citrobacter freundii SR10 was used for this investigation, where the MFC was operated for lactate utilization in the bio-anode and Sb reduction at the bio-cathode. This study observed 81% of coulombic efficiency (bio-anode) and 97% of sulfate reduction with 99.3% Sb (V) reduction (bio-cathode), and it was concluded that the MeS precipitation entirely depends on sulfide concentration via SR10 sulfate reduction. The MFC-SR10 offers a maximum power density of 1652.9 ± 32.1 mW/m and their performance was depicted using cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The Sb reduction was evaluated through fluorescence spectroscopy, and the Sb (V) MeS precipitation was confirmed as stibnite (SbS) by Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Furthermore, the matured anodic and cathodic biofilm formation was confirmed by Scanning electron microscopy with Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Thus the MFC with SRB bio-cathode can be used as an alternative to simultaneously remove sulfate and Sb from the wastewater with electricity production.
锑（Sb）的广泛工业应用显著增加了其环境毒性。超过监管水平的锑的持续释放对栖息在生态系统中的人类构成了风险。传统的修复 Sb 的方法需要高能量或资源投入，这进一步导致了二次污染。生物电化学系统为去除或减少有毒重金属提供了一种很有前途的生物修复策略。因此，本研究探索了使用全生物微生物燃料电池（MFC）同时进行金属硫化物（MeS）沉淀和发电的可能性。本研究使用一种非常规的硫酸盐还原菌（SRB）柠檬酸杆菌 SR10 进行了此项研究，其中 MFC 用于生物阳极的乳酸利用和生物阴极的 Sb 还原。本研究观察到 81%的库仑效率（生物阳极）和 97%的硫酸盐还原以及 99.3%的 Sb（V）还原（生物阴极），并得出结论，MeS 沉淀完全取决于通过 SR10 硫酸盐还原产生的硫化物浓度。MFC-SR10 提供了 1652.9 ± 32.1 mW/m 的最大功率密度，其性能通过循环伏安法和电化学阻抗谱进行了描述。通过荧光光谱评估 Sb 还原，通过拉曼光谱和 X 射线光电子能谱证实 Sb（V）MeS 沉淀为辉锑矿（Sb 2 S 3 ）。此外，通过扫描电子显微镜和能量色散 X 射线光谱证实了成熟的阳极和阴极生物膜形成。因此，具有 SRB 阴极的 MFC 可用于同时从废水中去除硫酸盐和 Sb 并发电。
