Allophane improves anaerobic digestion of chicken manure by alleviating ammonia inhibition and intensifying direct interspecies electron transfer.

Synthesized allophane was employed in anaerobic digestion of chicken manure to improve the stability and methane production under ammonia inhibition. Adding 0.5 %, 1.0 % and 1.5 % (w/w) allophane increased the methane production by 261 ∼ 350 % compared with the group without allophane addition. Further investigation indicated that the maximum adsorption capacity of allophane for NH-N achieved at 261.9 mg/g; it suggested that allophane adsorption potentially alleviated the ammonia inhibition, which also was reflected by the increase in the activity of the related enzyme, such as coenzyme F. Moreover, allophane addition also intensified the direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET) in anaerobic digestion; it can be well supported by the increased relative abundance of Methanosaeta and Methanosarcina involved in the DIET. Overall, the improved anaerobic digestion via alleviating ammonia inhibition and intensifying DIET by allophane was elucidated comprehensively, which can contribute to the development of a functional additive for efficient anaerobic digestion in practical application.