Power production and wastewater treatment simultaneously by dual-chamber microbial fuel cell technique

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a novel technology that is able to convert the chemical energy of organic and inorganic substrates to electrical energy directly. The use of fossil fuels and recent energy crisis bring increasing attention to this technology. Besides electricity generation, wastewater treatment is another application of MFCs. Sulfide is a hazardous ion that is common in wastes. In this article, dual-chamber MFC was fabricated and a mixed culture of microorganisms was used as an active biocatalyst in an anaerobic anodic chamber to convert substrate to electricity. The obtained experimental results indicate that this MFC can successfully alter sulfide to elementary sulfur and power generation. The initial concentration of sulfide in wastewater was 1.5 g L-1, and it was removed after 10 days of MFC operation. Maximum produced power and current density were 48.68 mWm(-2) and 231.47 mAm(-2), respectively. Besides, the influences of a biocathode were investigated and accordingly the data obtained for power and current density were increased to 372.27 mWm(-2) and 1,665.15 mAm(-2), respectively.