High-Performance Microbial Fuel Cell for Aromatic Hydrocarbon Bioremediation: Leveraging a Unique Mangrove-Derived...

Area of Science:

• Environmental Microbiology
• Bioelectrochemical Systems
• Bioremediation

Background:

• Bioelectrocatalytic activity is crucial for efficient toxic compound biodegradation and energy generation in bioelectrochemical systems.
• Developing novel microbial consortia is key to enhancing microbial fuel cell (MFC) performance.
• Benzene biodegradation and energy recovery present significant environmental and technological challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To obtain a novel electrogenic microbial consortium from mangrove sediments.
• To enhance microbial fuel cell (MFC) performance for energy generation and benzene biodegradation.
• To evaluate the consortium's efficiency in degrading benzene, a model aromatic compound.

Main Methods:

• Enrichment of a microbial community from mangrove sediments in dual-chamber MFCs.
• Acclimation using sodium acetate followed by operation with benzene as the sole carbon source.
• Monitoring of bacterial genera composition, benzene removal, and electrochemical parameters (voltage, power density).

Main Results:

• The microbial consortium significantly enhanced bioelectricity generation and benzene biodegradation.
• Dominant genera shifted from Arcobacter and Comamonas to Bacillus and Arcobacter as benzene replaced acetate.
• Achieved 98.7% benzene removal within 96 h, increased voltage to 902.3 mV, and reached a power density of 390.1 mW m^-2, a ~100-fold improvement.

Conclusions:

• The novel electrogenic microbial consortium from mangrove sediments markedly improved MFC performance.
• This consortium demonstrates enhanced electron transfer, voltage, and power generation capabilities.
• It offers a promising solution for bioelectricity production and bioremediation of toxic aromatic compounds like benzene.