Xiayuan Wua,
Chunrui Lia,
Zuopeng Lvb,
Xiaowei Zhouc,
Zixuan Chena,
Honghua Jiaa,
Jun Zhoua,
Xiaoyu Yonga,
Ping Weia and
Yan Li*a
aCollege of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, No. 30 Puzhu Road(S), Nanjing 211816, Jiangsu, China. E-mail: liyan@njtech.edu.cn; Fax: +86 25 58139929; Tel: +86 25 58139929
bThe Key Laboratory of Biotechnology for Medicinal Plants of Jiangsu Province, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou 221116, China
cDepartment of Philosophy, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
First published on 17th April 2020
Cr(VI) laden wastewaters generally comprise a range of multiple heavy metals such as Au(III) and Cu(II) with great toxicity. In the present study, cooperative cathode modification by biogenic Au nanoparticles (BioAu) reduced from aqueous Au(III) and in situ Cu(II) co-reduction were investigated for the first time to enhance Cr(VI) removal in microbial fuel cells (MFCs). With the co-existence of Cu(II) in the catholyte, the MFC with carbon cloth modified with nanocomposites of multi-walled carbon nanotubes blended with BioAu (BioAu/MWCNT) obtained the highest Cr(VI) removal rate (4.07 ± 0.01 mg L−1 h−1) and power density (309.34 ± 17.65 mW m−2), which were 2.73 and 3.30 times as high as those for the control, respectively. The enhancements were caused by BioAu/MWCNT composites and deposited reduzates of Cu(II) on the cathode surface, which increased the adsorption capacity, electronic conductivity and electrocatalytic activity of the cathode. This study provides an alternative approach for efficiently remediating co-contamination of multiple heavy metals and simultaneous bioenergy recovery.
High concentration of Cr(VI) is usually found together with multiple heavy metal ions (e.g. Au(III), Cu(II)) in the acidic wastewaters from the electroplating and mining industries.13 On the other hand, chemical Au nanoparticles as electrode modifiers, especially decorating other nanomaterials such as multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), can significantly improve the electrochemical reduction of Cr(VI).1,14 Biogenic Au nanoparticles (BioAu), which can be recovered from wastewaters containing Au(III) ions by microorganisms such as Shewanella oneidensis, have been reported to possess higher electronic conductivity and electrocatalytic activity compared to the chemical counterpart.15,16 Our previous work has demonstrated BioAu/MWCNT modification for the anode remarkably enhanced power output of MFCs.16 However, the BioAu/MWCNT nanohybrids modified electrode, to our best knowledge, has never been attempted to use as the cathode to reduce Cr(VI) in MFCs. Consequently, BioAu/MWCNT modification might be an ex situ strategy to improve the electrochemical properties of the cathode for Cr(VI) reduction, which is certainly warranted further investigations.
Regarding to the in situ strategy for improving the Cr(VI)-reducing cathode performance, we hypothesized that some co-existing heavy metals could exert positive effects due to their conductive reduzates deposited on the cathode surface. For example, previous studies have confirmed that the main product of Cu(II) reduction in MFC cathode (pH = 2.2–3.4) was pure Cu.3,17 Since Cu possesses excellent conductivity and electrocatalytic activity, the interaction of cathode materials with in situ deposited Cu from Cu(II) reduction becomes crucial for the improved electrochemical properties of electrodes. The in situ deposition of Cu onto the cathode has been demonstrated to efficiently enhance continuous Cu(II) reduction, subsequent Cd(II) reduction as well as energy recovery. Furthermore, different cathode materials influenced the diversity of shapes and morphology of the deposited Cu, resulting in different active surface areas, and consequently the overall performance of MFCs.17 Therefore, it would be reasonably expected that the co-existence of Cu(II) with Cr(VI) in catholyte might mitigate the cathode deactivation and thereby facilitate Cr(VI) reduction in MFCs. These effects have not been systematically investigated in literatures, especially when interacting with the BioAu/MWCNT modified electrode. Besides, the use of reduction products from Au(III) and Cu(II) to facilitate Cr(VI) reduction is not trivial since Au(III) and Cu(II) often co-exist with Cr(VI) in electroplating and mining wastewaters.
This study aimed to promote the efficiency of Cr(VI) removal in MFCs through ex situ and in situ improving the electrochemical properties of the cathode. The effects of cooperative cathode modification by BioAu/MWCNT nanohybrids and in situ Cu(II) co-reduction on Cr(VI) removal in MFCs were systematically investigated. The performance of MFCs was evaluated in terms of cathodic Cr(VI) and Cu(II) removal, anodic COD removal as well as electricity generation. The precipitations on the cathode surface after operation were defined by scanning electron microscopy with coupled energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). This work reveals a new insight into the way to combat poisonous Cr(VI) through other poisonous heavy metals co-existing in wastewaters.
SEM-EDS (Hitachi S-4800, Japan) was used to analyze the morphology and element contents of the electrode surface. The specific surface area (SSA), contact-angle, and surface resistance of the electrode were characterized as previously described.19 The elemental compositions of the precipitates on the cathode surface after operation were detected by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS, PHIQuantera II, Japan).
The concentrations of soluble Cr(VI) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) were determined by using the standard methods.20 The soluble Cu(II) concentration was analyzed by atomic absorption spectroscopy (WFX-130, Beijing Ruili Analytical Instrument Co. Ltd., China). The MFC experiments lasted for 24 h, and the catholyte sampling was conducted on 0 h, 2 h, 4 h, 6 h, 8 h, 24 h for soluble Cr(VI) and Cu(II) concentration analyses.
Fig. 1 CV and EIS analysis of electrodes with different BioAu/MWCNT ratios (A and B) and different BioAu loading amounts (C and D) before operation. |
Furthermore, the interfacial electrochemical properties of modified electrodes were also evaluated by EIS.25 Fig. 1B shows the Nyquist plots of all the electrodes. The x-intercept of a Nyquist plot represents Rs, and the semicircle diameter indicates Rct. There were no distinct differences in Rs of all the electrodes, whereas all the electrodes presented significant differences in the observed Rct. The Rct decreased with the increased proportion of MWCNT powder in the modifiers, signifying remarkable enhancements of the catalytic reaction and electron transfer efficiency at the electrodes with the addition of MWCNTs. Accordingly, the electrode with the BioAu/MWCNT ratio of 1:2 possessed the smallest Rct. The EIS results were in good agreement with the CV results.
As the BioAu/MWCNT ratio was set at 1:2, effects of different BioAu loading amounts (0.40 ± 0.01, 0.83 ± 0.02, 1.84 ± 0.01 mg cm−2) on the electrochemical characteristics of the carbon cloth were studied as well. Similarly, the larger BioAu loading amount caused the higher faradaic current range of the CV curve (Fig. 1C), indicating that BioAu possessed the ability to facilitate electron transfer on the electrode. The largest BioAu loading amount (1.84 ± 0.01 mg cm−2) achieved the best electrochemical performance for the electrode. EIS analysis (Fig. 1D) further confirmed that the larger BioAu loading amount correspondingly reduced the Rct of the modified electrode. Alatraktchi et al.26 also proposed that higher Au nanoparticle density led to higher power generation when Au nanoparticle modified carbon papers were applied as anodes in MFCs. Therefore, the BioAu/MWCNT ratio and BioAu loading amount were respectively set at 1:2 and 1.84 ± 0.01 mg cm−2 for the electrode modification in the subsequent experiments.
The surface morphology of the bare and BioAu/MWCNT electrode was observed using SEM-EDS before operation (Fig. 2A and E). Compared with a smooth and clean surface of the bare electrode (Fig. 2A), there were substantial deposits with typical MWCNTs evenly attached on the BioAu/MWCNT electrode (Fig. 2E), resulting in a rougher and more crosslinked surface.27 Au element was detected on the BioAu/MWCNT electrode by EDS, implying the successful modification of BioAu/MWCNT composites on the carbon cloth (ESI, Fig. S4†).
Fig. 2 SEM images of the bare (A–D) and BioAu/MWCNT ((E–H) BioAu/MWCNT ratio: 1:2, BioAu loading amount: 1.84 ± 0.01 mg cm−2) electrode before and after operation. |
Table 1 presents surface characteristics of the two different electrodes. The SSA value of the BioAu/MWCNT electrode (66.97 ± 0.23 m2 g−1) was 17.72 times as high as that of the bare electrode (3.78 ± 0.34 m2 g−1), further confirming that BioAu/MWCNT composites gave rise to a larger surface area. The large surface area can facilitate rapid mass transfer and increase active reaction sites on materials.28 Besides, the BioAu/MWCNT electrode (contact angle: 48.2 ± 0.7°) was much more hydrophilic than the bare electrode (contact angle: 110.4 ± 0.6°). This was opposite to the BioPd modification results in another study.29 The materials with strong hydrophilicity could have faster electrochemical reactions due to the enhanced mass transfer on the solid–liquid interface.30 In terms of the surface resistance, the BioAu/MWCNT electrode had a lower value than the bare electrode.
Electrode | BET SSA (m2 g−1) | Contact angle (°) | Resistance (Ω) |
---|---|---|---|
Bare | 3.78 ± 0.34 | 110.4 ± 0.6 | 7.5 ± 0.7 |
BioAu/MWCNT | 66.97 ± 0.23 | 48.2 ± 0.7 | 6.31 ± 0.9 |
Fig. 3 Voltage outputs (A), power densities (B), polarization curves (C), and dissolved Cr(VI) concentration changes (D) of Cr(VI)-reducing MFCs with different cathode electrodes. |
MWCNTs have been widely used to remove aqueous metal ions such as Cr(VI) due to the excellent adsorption performance.32 In addition, MWCNTs decorated with chemical Au nanoparticles have also been applied for Cr(VI) detection because of their good electron transfer ability and electrocatalytic activity.14 Therefore, in order to define the adsorption and electrochemical reduction functions for Cr(VI) removal, each Cr(VI)-reducing MFC was operated with and without circuit connected (Fig. 3D). After 24 h open-circuit operation, the Cr(VI) removal rate in the MFC with the BioAu/MWCNT electrode reached 0.66 ± 0.04 mg L−1 h−1 after 24 h, while the MFC with the bare electrode achieved 0.31 ± 0.02 mg L−1 h−1. The Cr(VI) removal mechanism under open-circuit condition was mainly the electrode adsorption, indicating that BioAu/MWCNT modification increased the adsorption amounts of aqueous Cr(VI). Clearly, the Cr(VI) removal remarkably enhanced during closed-circuit operation in both MFCs: extra Cr(VI) of 52.93% was further removed in the MFC with the BioAu/MWCNT electrode compared with only 26.50% in the MFC with the bare electrode once the circuit connected, demonstrating that BioAu/MWCNT composites facilitated Cr(VI) electrochemical reduction. The Cr(VI) removal rate of the MFC with the BioAu/MWCNT electrode (2.86 ± 0.03 mg L−1 h−1) was 2.01 times as high as that in the MFC with the bare electrode (1.42 ± 0.04 mg L−1 h−1). Table 2 presents the comparative data of studies on abiotic Cr(VI) reduction in similar two-chamber MFCs. Gangadharan et al.5 and Gupta et al.6 respectively investigated a liquid crystal polaroid glass electrode (LCPGE) and an alumina/nickel nanoparticles-dispersed carbon nanofiber electrode (AA:Ni-ACF/CNF) for Cr(VI) removal in MFCs, and the Cr(VI) removal rates in these works were lower than that in the present work (Table 2). The results suggest that the excellent adsorption capacity and electrochemical activity of BioAu/MWCNT composites on the cathode electrode enhanced the power output and Cr(VI) removal in the MFC.
No. | Anode (A)/Cathode (C) material | Initial Cr(VI) (mg L−1) and pH | Other metals (mg L−1) in catholyte | Power density (mW m−2) | Cr(VI) removal rate (mg L−1 h−1) | Reference |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
a NA: not applicable; PPy: polypyrrole; AQS: 9,10-anthraquinone-2-sulfonic acid sodium salt; LCPGE: liquid crystal polarized glass electrode; AA:Ni-ACF/CNF: alumina/nickel nanoparticles-dispersed carbon nanofiber; BioAu/MWCNT: biogenic Au nanoparticles/multi-walled carbon nanotubes. | ||||||
1 | Graphite plate (A/C) | 200, 2.0 | None | 150 | 1.06 | 7 |
2 | Graphite plate (A)/rutile-coated graphite plate (C) | 26, 2.0 | None | NA | 0.97 | 8 |
3 | Graphite felt (A)/PPy/AQS-modified graphite felt (C) | 20, 7.0 | None | 299.6 | 0.43 | 9 |
4 | LCPGE (A/C) | 100, 2.0 | None | 10 | 2.08 | 5 |
5 | AA:Ni-ACF/CNF (A/C) | 200, 2.0 | None | 1540 | 2.13 | 6 |
6 | Carbon fiber felt (A/C) | 250, 2.0 | V(V), 250 | 970.2 | 0.79 | 10 |
7 | Graphite felt (A)/carbon rod (C) | 50, 1.5 | Fe(III), 150 | 225 | 9.4 | 2 |
8 | Graphite felt (A)/BioAu/MWCNT modified carbon cloth (C) | 100, 2.5 | Cu(II), 400 | 309.34 | 4.07 | This study |
Fig. 4 Voltage outputs (A), dissolved Cr(VI) concentration changes (B), and dissolved Cu(II) concentration changes (C) of MFCs with different cathode electrodes for different heavy metals removal. |
Group | Pmax (mW m−2) | Internal resistance (Ω) | COD removal (%) |
---|---|---|---|
Bare-Cr | 93.82 ± 4.79 | 259.52 ± 21.65 | 44.58 ± 2.57 |
Bare-Cu | 80.03 ± 5.01 | 239.17 ± 26.745 | 53.21 ± 1.67 |
Bare-CrCu | 143.60 ± 12.46 | 202.09 ± 18.64 | 57.64 ± 3.58 |
BioAu/MWCNT-Cr | 215.39 ± 21.21 | 197.64 ± 17.55 | 68.65 ± 2.93 |
BioAu/MWCNT-Cu | 231.38 ± 13.53 | 162.32 ± 13.86 | 70.91 ± 1.76 |
BioAu/MWCNT-CrCu | 309.34 ± 17.65 | 124.42 ± 9.54 | 79.66 ± 4.87 |
As seen from Fig. 4B, Cr(VI) was removed more quickly in the MFCs with co-existing Cu(II) than MFCs without co-existing Cu(II). The BioAu/MWCNT-CrCu MFC obtained the highest Cr(VI) removal rate (4.07 ± 0.01 mg L−1 h−1), which was 1.36 and 2.73 times as high as that from the BioAu/MWCNT-Cr (3.00 ± 0.02 mg L−1 h−1) and bare-Cr (1.49 ± 0.02 mg L−1 h−1) MFC, respectively, implying that the presence of Cu(II) accelerated the electrochemical reduction of Cr(VI) in MFCs. In addition, the enhancement exhibited an increasing trend with the increased Cu(II) concentrations (from 50 mg L−1 to 400 mg L−1) and with the decreased external resistances (from 2000 Ω to 10 Ω), implying more Cu(II) ions and electrons were needed to exert synergistic effects of the co-existing Cu(II) for Cr(VI) reduction (ESI, Fig. S2 and S3†). According to Table 2, although it might not be appropriate to directly compare the Cr(VI) removal efficiency due to different conditions applied in the studies, it still clearly shows that the present study obtained a noticeably higher Cr(VI) removal rate than other studies, except Wang et al.'s2 study. In their study, a lower pH (1.5) along with the presence of Fe(III), an efficient electron mediator, were used to obtain a higher Cr(VI) removal rate (9.4 mg L−1 h−1) but a lower power density (225 mW m−2) than those in our study.2 As seen in Fig. 4C, Cu(II) was simultaneously removed with Cr(VI) from catholyte in MFCs, although the Cu(II) removal was slightly lower than that in MFCs with Cu(II) acting as the sole electron acceptor. The Cu(II) removals in the BioAu/MWCNT-CrCu and bare-CrCu MFC reached 89.10 ± 0.23% and 66.23 ± 0.98%, respectively, while those in the BioAu/MWCNT-Cu and bare-Cu MFC were 98.54 ± 0.48% and 84.93 ± 0.47%. This indicated that BioAu/MWCNT modification could also facilitate Cu(II) removal and the co-existing Cr(VI) negatively affected Cu(II) reduction due to the non-conductive deposits generated from Cr(VI) reduction on the cathode surface.10 On the other hand, the deposited products of Cu(II) reduction on the cathode appreciably increased the conductivity throughout the cathode electrode, leading to the improved electricity generation and Cr(VI) removal.17
The bare and BioAu/MWCNT electrode were observed by SEM after 24 h-operation time (Fig. 2). Compared with the corresponding electrodes before operation, some noticeable precipitates were generated on all of the electrode surfaces. In particular, the largest amount of precipitates was found on the BioAu/MWCNT electrode for Cr(VI) and Cu(II) removal (Fig. 2H). This was consistent with the substantial reduction of Cr(VI) and Cu(II) in MFCs (Fig. 4). The BioAu/MWCNT electrode for Cr(VI) and Cu(II) removal was further analyzed by XPS to determine the elemental compositions of precipitates on the surface (Fig. 5). The XPS results showed the presence of Cr, Cu, C, O and Au signals (Fig. 5A). Detailed XPS scans of the Cr2p region (Fig. 5B) were observed Cr2p1/2 and Cr2p3/2 lines at 577.4 and 587.1 eV, respectively, confirming Cr(VI) was electrochemically reduced to Cr(III) and recovered as Cr2O3. Similarly, Cu2p3/2 and Cu2p1/2 lines at 932.7 and 952.5 eV were respectively observed in Cu2p region (Fig. 5C), demonstrating that the reduction products of Cu(II) were Cu and Cu2O. Tao et al.33 reported the same results about Cu(II) reduction products in MFCs. Au4f7/2 line at 84.3 eV in Au4f region (Fig. 5D) together with SEM-EDS results proved the successful modification of BioAu/MWCNT composites on the electrode. Previous studies have found that non-conductive Cr(III) deposits on the electrode from Cr(VI) reduction (e.g. Cr2O3) led to severe cathode deactivation, decreasing electrode conductivity and impeding electron transfer on the cathode.5,6,10,13 Due to the cathode deactivation, the Cr(VI) has been demonstrated to negatively affect the co-existing V(V) reduction in MFCs.10 This phenomenon was similar with the decreased efficiency of co-existing Cu(II) reduction in this study. On the contrary, the deposited products from Cu(II) reduction on the electrode surface have been proven to significantly improve the adsorption capacity, electronic conductivity and electrochemical activity of the cathode, which facilitated the subsequent cycles of Cu(II) and Cd(II) reduction and energy recovery.3,17 Moreover, Devaraj et al.34 observed a remarkable enhancement of electrochemical activity for the carbon-based electrode after Cu@Cu2O/MWCNT modification. Therefore, BioAu/MWCNT modification coupling with in situ Cu(II) co-reduction noticeably enhanced Cr(VI) removal as well as electricity production in MFCs by improving electrochemical properties of the cathode. Since in practice Cr(VI) laden wastewaters generally comprise a range of multiple heavy metal ions such as Au(III) and Cu(II), this study provides a feasible approach through recovering some heavy metals from wastewaters as ex situ or in situ electrode modifiers to accelerate Cr(VI) removal. It could simultaneously realize the concomitant heavy metals remediation along with bioenergy generation. However, there are a variety of impurities in the real wastewaters, including not only diverse metal ions but also organic contaminants, which might have different effects on the performance of Cr(VI)-reducing MFCs. For example, except Au(III) and Cu(II), the other co-existing metal ions which might have positive or negative effects on the Cr(VI) removal still need to further investigate. In addition, the interaction effects of metal ions and organic contaminants in the real wastewaters are another subject deserved to study as well. These should be clarified before the application for the real wastewaters in the future.
Fig. 5 XPS analysis for the deposits on the BioAu/MWCNT electrode after Cr(VI) and Cu(II) removal ((A) full survey, (B) Cr2p, (C) Cu2p, (D) Au4f). |
Footnote |
† Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/d0ra01471k |
This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2020 |