Innovative constructed wetland coupled with microbial fuel cell for enhancing diazo dye degradation with simultaneous electricity generation

• Published in: Bioresource technology 2022-02, Vol.345, p.126490-126490, Article 126490
• Main Authors: Saket, Palak, Mittal, Yamini, Bala, Kiran, Joshi, Abhijeet, Kumar Yadav, Asheesh
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Azo Compounds; Bioelectric Energy Sources; Chemical oxygen demand; Congo red; Diazo dye degradation; Dual chamber constructed wetland-microbial fuel cell; Electricity; Electricity generation; Electrodes; Waste Water; Wetlands
• ISSN: 0960-8524; 1873-2976
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2021.126490

[Display omitted] •A novel dual-chambered unplanted constructed wetland-microbial fuel cell was developed.•Cathodic aeration facilitated the degradation of aromatic intermediates of Congo red.•A significant reduction in phytotoxicity levels of treated effluents was achieved.•Novel design substantially reduced internal resistance value of CW-MFC to 100 Ω.•Appreciable electricity generation of 235.94 mW/m3 of 1176.4 mA/m3 was achieved. A novel earthen separator-based dual-chambered unplanted core of constructed wetland coupled with microbial fuel cell was developed for studying the microbe-material interaction and their effect on treatment performance and electricity generation. The constructed wetland integrated microbial fuel cell was evaluated for the degradation of high molecular weight diazo Congo red dye as a model pollutant. The system exhibited 89.99 ± 0.04% of dye decolorization and 95.80 ± 0.71% of chemical oxygen demand removal efficiency from an initial concentration of 50 ± 10 mg/L and 750 ± 50 mg/L, respectively. Ultraviolet–Visible spectrophotometric and gas chromatography-mass spectrometric analysis revealed naphthalene and phenol as mineralized products. The developed system achieved high power density and current density generation of 235.94 mW/m3 and 1176.4 mA/m3, respectively. Results manifested that dual-chambered constructed wetland coupled with microbial fuel cell has a high capability of dye decolorization and toxicity abatement with appreciable simultaneous bioelectricity generation owing to the significantly low internal resistance of 100 Ω.