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Updated: May 2, 2026

Electrochemically and Bioelectrochemically Induced Ammonium Recovery
Published on: January 22, 2015
Anode-biofilm electron transfer behavior and wastewater treatment under different operational modes of
Baoguo Wu1, Chunhua Feng1, Liqiao Huang1
1The Key Lab of Pollution Control and Ecosystem Restoration in Industry Clusters, Ministry of Education, College of Environment and Energy, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, PR China.
Abstract:
Anode-biofilm electron transfer behavior was investigated during the advanced wastewater treatment process by three bioelectrochemical systems (BESs): microbial fuel cell (MFC), MFC operated under short circuit condition (MSC), and microbial electrolysis cell (MEC). Under different operational modes, current produced by the anode biofilm varied from 0.92, 4.15 to 8.21mA in the sequence of MFC, MSC and MEC, respectively. The cyclic voltammetry test on the anode biofilm suggested that the current generation was achieved via various bioelectroactive species with formal potentials at -0.473, -0.402 and -0.345V (vs. SCE). Gibbs free energy and charge transfer resistance data demonstrated that different amounts of available bioelectroactive species functioned in different BESs. The comparative investigation among MFC, MSC and MEC suggested that MEC was the only feasible operational mode for advanced wastewater treatment, because of its superior current generation capability.
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