Simultaneous decolorization of azo dye and bioelectricity generation using a biocathode microbial fuel cell
生物阴极型微生物燃料电池同步降解偶氮染料与产电性能研究

A bio-cathode microbial fuel cell (BCMFC) was constructed to investigate active brilliant red X-3B (ABRX3B) degradation and power generation. Glucose was used as co-substrate. The results demonstrated that the electricity was generated from the consumption of glucose rather than ABRX3B. Co-metabolism dependent biodegradation was the dominant mechanism of dye decolorization. The maximum power density was 50.7 mW·m-2 and the final decolorization ratio was above 94.4%. Neither was affected by ABRX3B concentrations up to 300 mg·L-1. But further increase of the ABRX3B concentration showed an inhibitory effect on power generation. Accumulated intermediates were observed during ABRX3B biodegradation by analysis of COD removal and UV-Vis spectra of the anode chamber solution. MFC technology can be successfully used for simultaneous decolorization of an azo dye and bioelectricity generation.