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Updated: Jun 16, 2025

Waste Water Derived Electroactive Microbial Biofilms: Growth, Maintenance, and Basic Characterization
Published on: December 29, 2013
External circuit loading mode regulates anode biofilm electrochemistry and pollutants removal in microbial fuel cells
Han Xu1, Xiao-Li Yang1, Zhi-Hao Zhang1
1School of Civil Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China.
Abstract:
This study investigated the effects of different external circuit loading mode on pollutants removal and power generation in microbial fuel cells (MFC). The results indicated that MFC exhibited distinct characteristics of higher maximum power density (Pmax) (named MFC-HP) and lower Pmax (named MFC-LP). And the capacitive properties of bioanodes may affect anodic electrochemistry. Reducing external load to align with the internal resistance increased Pmax of MFC-LP by 54.47 %, without no obvious effect on MFC-HP. However, intermittent external resistance loading (IER) mitigated the biotoxic effects of sulfamethoxazole (SMX) (a persistent organic pollutant) on chemical oxygen demand (COD) and NH4+-N removal and maintained high Pmax (424.33 mW/m2) in MFC-HP. Meanwhile, IER mode enriched electrochemically active bacteria (EAB) and environmental adaptive bacteria Advenella, which may reduce antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) accumulation. This study suggested that the external circuit control can be effective means to regulate electrochemical characteristics and pollutants removal performance of MFC.
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