Ferroferric oxide triggered possible direct interspecies electron transfer between Syntrophomonas and Methanosaeta to enhance waste activated sludge anaerobic digestion

• Published in: Bioresource technology Vol. 250; pp. 79 - 85
• Main Authors: Zhao, Zisheng, Li, Yang, Yu, Qilin, Zhang, Yaobin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.02.2018
• Subjects: activated sludge; anaerobic digesters; anaerobic digestion; Anaerobic sludge digestion; Anaerobiosis; Bioreactors; Direct interspecies electron transfer; electron transfer; Electrons; Fe3O4; Ferric Compounds; Hydrogen; Methane; methane production; methanogens; Methanosaeta; Oxides; Sewage; Syntrophomonas; Zero-valent iron; Fe3O4; Anaerobic sludge digestion; Hydrogen; Zero-valent iron; Direct interspecies electron transfer; FeO
• ISSN: 0960-8524; 1873-2976; 1873-2976
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2017.11.003

[Display omitted] •Fe3O4 increased the waste activated sludge reduction and methane production.•DIET was possibly conducted between Methanosaeta and Syntrophomonas.•In the Fe3O4 added reactor DIET became the main pathway for methane production.•The combination of ZVI and Fe3O4 could further improve WAS reduction. ZVI was reported to enrich H2-utilizing methanogens that enhanced interspecies H2 transfer, while Fe(III) oxide served as a conductive material to promote direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET). However, the interaction of these two modes in anaerobic digestion has not been clarified yet. In this study, when adding Fe3O4 and ZVI simultaneously into an anaerobic digester, the abundance of hydrogenotrophic methanogens decreased drastically compared to ZVI-added digester and Fe-free digester. However, the methane production of ZVI + Fe3O4 added digester were 68.9% higher than Fe-free digester and 20.0% higher than ZVI-added digester, respectively. Sludge reduction rate of these three digesters also showed similar results. These indicated that hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis was not the main reason for methanogenesis in Fe3O4-added digester. Instead, Syntrophomonas and Methanosaeta were specially enriched in Fe3O4-added digesters, which implied that the potential DIET between Syntrophomonas and Methanosaeta was likely a crucial reason for accelerating anaerobic digestion of waste sludge.