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Updated: Mar 24, 2026
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Electrochemically and Bioelectrochemically Induced Ammonium Recovery
Published on: January 22, 2015
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Substrate and electrode potential affect electrotrophic activity of inverted bioanodes.
Rosanna M Hartline1, Douglas F Call2
1Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, USA.
Bioelectrochemistry (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
|March 7, 2016
Summary
Optimizing microbial electrochemical technologies involves polarity inversion of bioanodes. Formate-enriched bioanodes show significantly higher electrotrophic activity than acetate-enriched ones, suggesting tailored enrichment strategies can boost performance.
Area of Science:
- Microbial electrochemistry
- Bioelectrochemical systems
- Sustainable energy technologies
Background:
- Microbial communities are key biocatalysts in microbial electrochemical technologies (METs).
- Activating electricity-consuming microbial communities as biocathodes is challenging.
- Polarity inversion of bioanodes is a promising strategy to initiate electrotrophic functionality.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effect of bioanode substrate (acetate vs. formate) and electrode potentials on inverted electrotrophic activity.
- To determine optimal conditions for enhancing biocathodic performance in METs.
Main Methods:
- Enrichment of bioanodes from domestic wastewater using acetate or formate as carbon sources at -0.15V or +0.15V.
- Assessment of electrotrophic activity using cathodic linear sweep voltammetry and polarization.
Main Results:
- Formate-enriched cultures consumed nearly 20 times more current than acetate-enriched cultures.
- A +0.15V enrichment potential yielded twice the cathodic current compared to -0.15V for formate-adapted cultures.
- Charge consumed during cathodic polarization correlated with charge released during subsequent anodic polarization for formate-adapted communities.
Conclusions:
- Bioanode substrate and enrichment potential significantly impact electrotrophic activity in METs.
- Formate as a substrate and specific electrode potentials enhance biocathodic performance.
- Tailored bioanodic enrichment procedures can optimize electrotrophic activity for MET applications.
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