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Both anode potentials and substrates can affect the process of biofilm formation in bioelectrochemical systems, but it is unclear who primarily determine the anode-respiring bacteria (ARB) community structure and composition. To address this issue, we divided microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) into groups, feeding them with different substrates and culturing them at various potentials. Non-turnover cyclic voltammetry indicated that the extracellular electron transfer components were uniform when feeding acetate, because the same oxidation peaks occurred at - 0.36 ± 0.01 and - 0.17 ± 0.01 V (vs. Ag/AgCl). Illumina MiSeq sequencing revealed that the dominating ARB was Geobacter, which did not change with different potentials. When the MECs were cultured with sucrose and mixed substrates, oxidation peak P3 (- 0.29 ± 0.015 V) occurred at potentials of - 0.29 and 0.01 V. This may be because of the appearance of Unclassified_AKYG597. In addition, oxidation peak P4 (- 0.99 ± 0.01 V) occurred at high and low potentials (0.61 and - 0.45 V, respectively), and the maximum current densities were far below those of the middle potentials. Illumina MiSeq sequencing showed that fermentation microorganisms (Lactococcus and Sphaerochaeta) dominated the biofilms. Consequently, substrate primarily determined the dominating ARB, and Geobacter invariably dominated the acetate-fed biofilms with potentials changed. Conversely, different potentials mainly affected fermentable substrate-fed biofilms, with dominating ARB turning into Unclassified_AKYG59.

Biodegradation of p-fluoronitrobenzene (p-FNB) regardless of effective p-FNB removal in a bioelectrochemical system (BES) was achieved for the first time in a biological system (BS). p-FNB degradation showed different kinetics, pathways, and microbial community evolutions in the two systems. About 36 d were required before 100% p-FNB removal in the BSp-FNB, while only 18 d were required in the BESp-FNB. Moreover, the reaction rate constant for p-FNB removal in the BESp-FNB was 1.625 times that in the BSp-FNB. The reduction of nitro groups was the key step for p-FNB removal in the BESp-FNB. However, defluorination was the first step for direct biodegradation of p-FNB in the BSp-FNB. Microbial community analysis showed that the dominant bacteria in the BESp-FNB (20.8% Anaerolineae, 15.9% Flavobacteriia, and 14.8% α-proteobacteria) differed greatly from those in the BSp-FNB (32.8% Flavobacteriia, 24.1% Clostridia and 19.2% Ignavibacteria). In the BSp-FNB, some aerobic microorganisms responsible for direct p-FNB biodegradation were enriched, while p-FA-degrading microorganisms were dominant in the BESp-FNB.

In this paper, we first systematically investigate the current output performance of stainless steel electrodes (SS) modified by carbon coating (CC), polyaniline coating (PANI), neutral red grafting (NR), surface hydrophilization (SDBS), and heat treatment (HEAT). The maximum current density of 13.0 A m−2 is obtained on CC electrode (3.0 A m−2 of the untreated anode). Such high performance should be attributed to its large effective surface area, which is 2.3 times that of the unmodified electrode. Compared with SS electrode, about 3-fold increase in current output is achieved with PANI. Functionalization with hydrophilic group and electron medium result in the current output rising to 1.5–2 fold, through enhancing bioadhesive and electron transport rate, respectively. CC modification is the best choice of single modification for SS electrode in this study. However, this modification is not perfect because of its poor hydrophilicity. So CC electrode is modified by SDBS for further enhancing the current output to 16 A m−2. These results could provide guidance for the choice of suitable single modification on SS electrodes and a new method for the perfection of electrode performance through composite modification.

Titanium has been widely used as a dimensionally stable anode in the electrolysis industry because of its excellent corrosion resistance, conductivity, and scalability. However, because of its poor biocompatibility and poor performance as a bioanode, it has drawn little attention in the field of microbial fuel cells (MFCs). This study reports an efficient way to convert a titanium electrode into a high-performance anode for MFCs, in situ growth of titanium dioxide nanotubes (TNs) on its surface. After TN modification, the titanium surface became rougher, more hydrophilic, and more conducive for anodic biofilm formation. The maximal current density achieved on this TN-modified titanium electrode was 12.7 A m–2, which was 190-fold higher than that of the bare titanium electrode and even higher than that of the most commonly used carbon felt electrode. Therefore, the high conductivity, corrosion resistance, and current density make the TN-modified titanium electrode a promising and scalable anode for MFCs.

Bacterial extracellular electron transfer is one of the main bottlenecks in determining the efficiency of bioelectrochemical systems. Here, we report a photobioanode that combines carbon material with a photocatalyst (α-Fe2O3), utilizing visible light to accelerate biofilm formation and extracellular electron transfer in bioelectrochemical systems. Cyclic voltammetric studies of this photobioanode revealed active electron transfer at the anode/biofilm interface. The charge-transfer resistance of the anode/biofilm was ca. 46.6 Ω, which is half that of the unmodified anode. In addition, the results of confocal laser scanning microscopy and bacterial community analysis indicate that the photobioanode and light can accelerate biofilm formation and enrich exoelectrogens. When equipped in photo-bioelectrochemical systems, the start-up time was shortened from about 2.5 days to 1.1 days. The maximum current density of photo-bioelectrochemical systems was almost twice that of a control bioelectrochemical system. In addition, the current density of the photo-bio-electrochemical cell (PBEC) showed almost no decrease after being subjected to 40 d of illumination. This photobioanode is therefore a cost-effective, energy-clean, environment-friendly anode with high electrocatalytic activity and long-term stability, which has broad prospects in various processes, including wastewater treatment, bioelectricity generation, bioelectricity synthesis, and hydrogen production.

This paper introduces a novel composite anode that uses light to enhance current generation and accelerate biofilm formation in bioelectrochemical systems. The composite anode is composed of 316L stainless steel substrate and a nanostructured α-Fe2O3 photocatalyst (PSS). The electrode properties, current generation, and biofilm properties of the anode are investigated. In terms of photocurrent, the optimal deposition and heat-treatment times are found to be 30 min and 2 min, respectively, which result in a maximum photocurrent of 0.6 A m−2. The start-up time of the PSS is 1.2 days and the maximum current density is 2.8 A m−2, twice and 25 times that of unmodified anode, respectively. The current density of the PSS remains stable during 20 days of illumination. Confocal laser scanning microscope images show that the PSS could benefit biofilm formation, while electrochemical impedance spectroscopy indicates that the PSS reduce the charge-transfer resistance of the anode. Our findings show that photo-electrochemical interaction is a promising way to enhance the biocompatibility of metal anodes for bioelectrochemical systems.

This paper introduces a high-performance photo-microbial desalination cell (PMDC) based on photo-electrochemical interactions. The anode of the cell was successfully modified with nanostructured α-Fe 2 O 3 . The maximum current density of the PMDC during operation was 8.8 A m −2 at an initial salt concentration of 20 g L −1 , which was twice that of the unmodified microbial desalination cell. The results of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry indicated the current increase of PMDC was mainly contributed by the high electron transfer rate at electrode/biofilm interface. The salt concentration of the effluent from the middle chamber was below ca. 1.4 mg L −1 and the salt removal performance of the PMDC was always higher than 96%. The calculated number of harvested electrons agreed well with NaCl removal. In conclusion, the present PMDC effectively offers simultaneous electricity generation and desalination.

Rather than the conventional concept of viewing conductive carbon black (CB) to be chemically inert in microbial electrochemical cells (MECs), here we confirmed the redox activity of CB for its feasibility as an electron sink in the microbial battery (MB). Acting as the cathode of a MB, the solid-state CB electrode showed the highest electron capacity equivalent of 18.58 ± 0.46 C/g for the unsintered one and the lowest capacity of 2.29 ± 0.48 C/g for the one sintered under 100% N2 atmosphere. The capacity vibrations of CBs were strongly in coincidence with the abundances of C=O moiety caused by different pretreatments and it implied one plausible mechanism based on CB’s surface functionality for its electron capturing. Once subjected to electron saturation, CB could be completely regenerated by different strategies in terms of electrochemical discharging or donating electrons to biologically-catalyzed nitrate reduction. Surface characterization also revealed that CB’s regeneration fully depended on the reversible shift of C=O moiety, further confirming the functionality-based mechanism for CB’s feasibility as the role of MB’s cathode. Moreover, resilience tests demonstrated that CB cathode was robust for the multi-cycles charging-discharging operations. These results imply that CB is a promising alternative material for the solid-state cathode in MBs.

To verify the potentially synthetic anodic and cathodic biocatalysis mechanism in bioelectrocatalysis systems (BECSs), a single-chamber thermophilic bioelectrocatalysis system (R3) was operated under strictly anaerobic conditions using the biocathode donated dual-chamber (R1) and bioanode donated dual-chamber (R2) BECSs as controls. Direct bioelectrocatalytic oxidation was found to be infeasible while bioelectrocatalytic reduction was the dominant process for p-Fluoronitrobenzene (p-FNB) removal, with p-FNB removal of 0.188 mM d(-1) in R1 and 0.182 mM d(-1) in R3. Cyclic voltammetry experiments confirmed that defluorination in the BECSs was an oxidative metabolic process catalyzed by bioanodes following the reductive reaction, which explained the 0.034 mM d(-1) defluorination in R3, but negligible defluorination in controls. Taken together, these results revealed a sequentially combined reduction and oxidation mechanism in the thermophilic BECS for p-FNB removal. Moreover, the enrichment of Betaproteobacteria and uniquely selected Bacilli in R3 were probably functional populations for p-FNB degradation.