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Published on: May 16, 2025
Toxicity assessment of copper by electrochemically active bacteria in wastewater
Lijuan Zhang1, Sam Fong Yau Li2,3, Huchun Tao4
1Shenzhen Key Laboratory for Heavy Metal Treatment and Reutilization, School of Environment and Energy, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen, 518055, China.
Abstract:
A bioelectrochemical sensor (BES) was constructed for toxicity assessment of copper in contaminated domestic sewage. Electrochemically active bacteria (EAB), whose growth was supported by the bioenergy generated from an in situ metallurgical process, functioned as the sensing elements. The external resistance of metallurgical BES was optimized based on linear sweep voltammetry analysis. The stabilized BES was utilized to monitor the copper toxicity in real wastewater. During the less than 1-h sensing period, copper concentration ranging from 1 to 5 mg L-1 could be detected. A power output of around 100 Wh (kg Cu)-1 and metallic copper resource were obtained simultaneously. This study demonstrated that the highly active EAB species enriched in metallurgical BES could be a promising candidate for rapid and reliable evaluation of copper toxicity in real domestic wastewater.
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