Sediment microbial fuel cell coupled floating treatment wetland for enhancing non-reactive phosphorus removal

Shuting Shen; Longxiao Xie; Rui Wan; Xiang Li; Xiwu Lu; Hongliang Dai

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.142142

Sediment microbial fuel cell coupled floating treatment wetland for enhancing non-reactive phosphorus removal

Chemosphere. 2024 Apr 25:358:142142. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.142142. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Shuting Shen¹, Longxiao Xie², Rui Wan³, Xiang Li⁴, Xiwu Lu⁵, Hongliang Dai⁶

Affiliations

¹ School of Ecology and Environment, Anhui Normal University, 189 South of Jiuhua Road, Wuhu, Anhui 241002, China; Southeast Univ, Sch Energy & Environment, 2 Sipailou Rd, Nanjing 210096, Jiangsu, China. Electronic address: stshen95@163.com.
² School of Ecology and Environment, Anhui Normal University, 189 South of Jiuhua Road, Wuhu, Anhui 241002, China. Electronic address: xielongxiao123@126.com.
³ School of Ecology and Environment, Anhui Normal University, 189 South of Jiuhua Road, Wuhu, Anhui 241002, China. Electronic address: wanrui910@163.com.
⁴ School of Ecology and Environment, Anhui Normal University, 189 South of Jiuhua Road, Wuhu, Anhui 241002, China. Electronic address: li_xiang@ahnu.edu.cn.
⁵ Southeast Univ, Sch Energy & Environment, 2 Sipailou Rd, Nanjing 210096, Jiangsu, China. Electronic address: xiwulu@seu.edu.cn.
⁶ Southeast Univ, Sch Energy & Environment, 2 Sipailou Rd, Nanjing 210096, Jiangsu, China; School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, No. 2 Mengxi Road, Zhenjiang 212018, China. Electronic address: daihongliang@just.edu.cn.

PMID: 38677619
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.142142

Abstract

The presence of non-reactive phosphorus (NRP) in environmental waters presents a potential risk of eutrophication and poses challenges for the removal of all phosphorus (P) fractions. This study presents the first investigation on the removal performance and mechanism of three model NRP compounds, sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP), adenosine 5'-monophosphate (AMP) and 2-phosphonobutane-1,2,4-tricarboxylic acid (PBTC), in the sediment microbial fuel cell-floating treatment wetland (SMFC-FTW). Coupling SMFC with plants proved to be effective at removing NRP via electrochemical oxidation and plant uptake, particularly the challenging-to-degrade phosphonates that contain C-P bonds. Compared with the control group, the removal efficiencies of the model NRP in SMFC were observed to increase by 11.9%-20.8%. SMFC promoted the conversion of NRP to soluble reactive phosphorus (sRP) and the transfer of P to sediment. Furthermore, the electrochemical process enhanced both plant growth and P uptake, and increased P assimilation by 72.6%. The presence of plants in the bioelectrochemical system influenced the occurrence and fate of P by efficiently assimilating sRP and supporting microbial transformation of NRP. Consequently, plants enhanced the removal efficiencies of all P fractions in the overlying water. This study demonstrated that SMFC-FTW is a promising technology to remove various NRP species in environmental waters.

Keywords: Bioelectrochemical systems; Floating treatment wetland; Non-reactive phosphorus; Pollutant degradation; Sediment microbial fuel cell.