Interrelation between sulphur and conductive materials and its impact on ammonium and organic pollutants removal in electroactive wetlands

Pratiksha Srivastava, Rouzbeh Abbassi, Asheesh Kumar Yadav, Vikram Garaniya, Trevor Lewis , Yaqian Zhao, Tejraj Aminabhavi*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

29 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This investigation is the first of its kind to evaluate the interrelation of sulphate (SO42-) with conductive materials as well as their individual and synergetic effects on the removal of ammonium and organic pollutants in electroactive wetlands, also known as constructed wetland (CW) - microbial fuel cell (MFC). The role of MFC components in CW was investigated to treat the sulphate containing wastewater under a long-term operation without any toxicity build-up in the system. A comparative study was also performed between CW-MFC and CW, where sulphate containing wastewater (S-replete) and without sulphate wastewater (S-deplete) was assessed. The S-replete showed high NH4+ removal than the S-deplete, and the requesnce of removal was: CW-MFC-replete > CW-MFC-deplete > CW-replete > CW-deplete. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal was high in the case of CW-MFC-replete, and the sequence of removal was CW-MFC-replete > CW-MFC-deplete > CW-deplete > CW-replete. X-ray photon spectroscopic study indicates 0.84% sulphur accumulation in CW-MFC-replete and 2.49% in CW-replete, indicating high sulphur precipitation in CW without the MFC component. The high relative abundance of class Deltaproteobacteria (7.3%) in CW-MFC-replete along with increased microbial diversity (Shannon index = 3.5) rationalise the symbiosis of sulphate reducing/oxidising microbes and its impact on the treatment performance and electrochemical activity.

Original languageEnglish
Article number126417
Pages (from-to)1-12
Number of pages12
JournalJournal of Hazardous Materials
Volume419
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 5 Oct 2021

Keywords

  • Microbial fuel cell
  • Constructed wetland
  • Constructed-wetland microbial fuel cell
  • Sulphate wastewater
  • Electricity generation

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