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Updated: May 1, 2026

Laboratory Simulation of an IronII-rich Precambrian Marine Upwelling System to Explore the Growth of Photosynthetic Bacteria
Published on: July 24, 2016
To improve the performance of sediment microbial fuel cell through amending colloidal iron oxyhydroxide into
Yan-Li Zhou1, Ying Yang2, Mo Chen1
1State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China; Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
Abstract:
Effects of iron oxide amendment into freshwater sediments on performance of sediment microbial fuel cell (SMFC) were investigated. It was found that amending amorphous bulk ferric oxyhydroxide, and crystalline goethite and magnetite did not affect SMFC operation. However, amendment of the mixed solution including soluble ferric citrate and colloidal iron oxyhydroxide, stably improved SMFC performance with voltage outputs up to threefolds higher than those without amendment. The enhanced voltage production corresponded to lower anode potential, but was not related to organic matter removal in sediments. Further experiments demonstrated that colloidal iron oxyhydroxide instead of soluble ferric iron played an important role in voltage production through maintaining high-concentration ferrous iron in pore water of sediments as electron shuttle and for chemical oxidation on the anode. Thus, colloidal iron oxyhydroxide amendment was a promising strategy to improve power production from SMFC employed in sediments especially with low content of organic matters.
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