Optimizing bioelectromethanosynthesis of CO 2 and membrane fouling mitigation in MECs via in-situ biogas recirculation

The CO bioelectromethanosynthesis via two-chamber microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) holds tremendous potential to solve the energy crisis and mitigate the greenhouse gas emissions. However, the membrane fouling is still a big challenge for CO bioelectromethanosynthesis owing to the poor proton diffu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inChemosphere (Oxford) Vol. 358; p. 142119
Main Authors Hu, Weijie, Zheng, Shaojuan, Wang, Jiayi, Lu, Xueqin, Han, Yule, Wang, Juan, Zhen, Guangyin
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England 01.06.2024
Subjects
Bioelectric Energy Sources
Biofuels
Bioreactors
Carbon Dioxide - analysis
Electrodes
Electrolysis
Membranes, Artificial
Methane
Methanobacterium - metabolism
Proteobacteria - metabolism
Microbial electrolysis cell
Electroactive microbes
Bioelectromethanosynthesis
Extracellular electron transfer
e(−)/H(+) donor
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Summary:The CO bioelectromethanosynthesis via two-chamber microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) holds tremendous potential to solve the energy crisis and mitigate the greenhouse gas emissions. However, the membrane fouling is still a big challenge for CO bioelectromethanosynthesis owing to the poor proton diffusion across membrane and high inter-resistance. In this study, a new MEC bioreactor with biogas recirculation unit was designed in the cathode chamber to enhance secondary-dissolution of CO2 while mitigating the contaminant adhesion on membrane surface. Biogas recirculation improved CO re-dissolution, reduced concentration polarization, and facilitated the proton transmembrane diffusion. This resulted in a remarkable increase in the cathodic methane production rate from 0.4 mL/L·d to 8.5 mL/L·d. A robust syntrophic relationship between anodic organic-degrading bacteria (Firmicutes 5.29%, Bacteroidetes 25.90%, and Proteobacteria 6.08%) and cathodic methane-producing archaea (Methanobacterium 65.58%) enabled simultaneous organic degradation, high CO bioelectromethanosynthesis, and renewable energy storage.
ISSN:1879-1298