Effects of bicarbonate and cathode potential on hydrogen production in a biocathode electrolysis cell

A biocathode with microbial catalyst in place of a noble metal was successfully developed for hydrogen evolution in a microbial electrolysis cell （MEC）. The strategy for fast biocathode cultivation was demonstrated. An exoelectrogenic reaction was initially extended with an H2-full atmosphere to enrich Ha-utilizing bacteria in a MEC bioanode. This bioanode was then inversely polarized with an applied voltage in a half-cell to enrich the hydrogen-evolving biocathode. The electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction （HER） kinetics of the biocathode MEC could be enhanced by increasing the bicarbonate buffer concentration from 0.05 mol·L-1 to 0.5 mol· L-1 and/or by decreasing the cathode potential from -0.9 V to - 1.3 V vs. a saturated calomel electrode （SCE）. Within the tested potential region in this study, the HER rate of the biocathode MEC was primarily influenced by the microbial catalytic capability. In addition, increasing bicarbonate concentration enhances the electric migration rate of proton carriers. As a consequence, more mass H＋ can be released to accelerate the biocathode-catalyzed HER rate. A hydrogen production rate of 8.44 m3. m 3. d1 with a current density of 951.6 A. m-3 was obtained using the biocathode MEC under a cathode potential of - 1.3 V vs. SCE and 0.4 mol· L-1 bicarbonate. This study provided information on the optimization of hydrogen production in biocathode MEC and expanded the practical applications thereof.     

曝气条件下微电解-Fenton工艺联合处理模拟染料废水的研究

曝气条件下采用微电解-Fenton工艺处理模拟染料废水。在最佳微电解工艺即铁炭比为45 g∶45 g,pH=3,反应时间为60 min;在Fenton工艺pH值为3,H2O2投加量0.7 mL,反应时间为120 min时,染料废水总脱色率达92%,其色度去除率高于单独微电解工艺时的63%和单独Fenton工艺时的67%。模拟染料废水经微电解及Fenton工艺处理后,废水pH值、Fe2+浓度和色度均发生变化。     

氯代烃在铜电极上的电还原特性和还原机理

采用循环伏安法,对氯代烃在铜电极表面上的电还原特性进行了研究,评价了它们在铜电极上的电还原反应活性,分析了此类化合物在铜电极上的还原机理,并且讨论了电还原反应活性和此类化合物结构之间的关系.结果表明,氯代烷烃和部分氯代芳烃在铜电极表面有还原电位,能在铜电极表面被直接还原.氯代芳烃不易在铜电极上被直接还原.实验结果为催化铁内电解法提供了理论依据.     

Copper fractal growth during recycling from waste printed circuit boards by slurry electrolysis

• Copper fractal growth was observed during WPCBs recycling by slurry electrolysis. • Dendrites fractal growth could be controlled by additive during electrodeposition. • Additive was proved to be an effective way to refine the copper crystal. • These findings contribute to enrich the study of slurry electrolysis. Superfine copper particles could be directly prepared from waste printed circuit boards by slurry electrolysis. Meanwhile, copper fractal growth could be observed. To better understand this phenomenon, the factors that affect copper dendrites in a point-cathode system were discussed in detail. These results showed that the fractal degree of copper dendrites increased as the increase of applied voltage and the decrease of copper sulfate and gelatin concentrations. Sodium lauryl sulfate and hydrochloric acid concentrations could not significantly impact the fractal degree of copper dendrites, while gelatin concentration could. The minimum copper fractal dimension was 1.069 when gelatin and copper sulfate concentration was 120 mg/L and 0.1 mol/L, respectively with an applied voltage of 11 V. Moreover, the results diffusion-limited aggregation model demonstrated that particle translational speed, particle numbers and binding probability significantly affected copper dendrite patterns. The scanning electron microscopy results indicated that the three additives greatly affected the refinement of the copper crystal. These findings contribute to enrich the theoretical study on metals recovery from e-waste by slurry electrolysis.     

Enhanced hydrogen production in microbial electrolysis through strategies of carbon recovery from alkaline/thermal treated sludge

• High hydrogen yield is recovered from thermal-alkaline pretreated sludge. • Separating SFL by centrifugation is better than filtration for hydrogen recovery. • The cascaded bioconversion of complex substrates in MECs are studied. • Energy and electron efficiency related to substrate conversion are evaluated. The aim of this study was to investigate the biohydrogen production from thermal (T), alkaline (A) or thermal-alkaline (TA) pretreated sludge fermentation liquid (SFL) in a microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) without buffer addition. Highest hydrogen yield of 36.87±4.36 mgH₂/gVSS (0.026 m³/kg COD) was achieved in TA pretreated SFL separated by centrifugation, which was 5.12, 2.35 and 43.25 times higher than that of individual alkaline, thermal pretreatment and raw sludge, respectively. Separating SFL from sludge by centrifugation eliminated the negative effects of particulate matters, was more conducive for hydrogen production than filtration. The accumulated short chain fatty acid (SCFAs) after pretreatments were the main substrates for MEC hydrogen production. The maximum utilization ratio of acetic acid, propionic acid and n-butyric acid was 93.69%, 90.72% and 91.85%, respectively. These results revealed that pretreated WAS was highly efficient to stimulate the accumulation of SCFAs. And the characteristics and cascade bioconversion of complex substrates were the main factor that determined the energy efficiency and hydrogen conversion rate of MECs.     

Microbial electrolysis cells with biocathodes and driven by microbial fuel cells for simultaneous enhanced Co(II) and Cu(II) removal

Cobalt and copper recovery from aqueous Co(II) and Cu(II) is one critical step for cobalt and copper wastewaters treatment. Previous tests have primarily examined Cu(II) and Co(II) removal in microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) with abiotic cathodes and driven by microbial fuel cell (MFCs). However, Cu(II) and Co(II) removal rates were still slow. Here we report MECs with biocathodes and driven by MFCs where enhanced removal rates of 6.0±0.2 mg?L⁻¹?h⁻¹ for Cu(II) at an initial concentration of 50 mg?L⁻¹ and 5.3±0.4 mg?L⁻¹ h⁻¹ for Co(II) at an initial 40 mg?L⁻¹ were achieved, 1.7 times and 3.3 times as high as those in MECs with abiotic cathodes and driven by MFCs. Species of Cu(II) was reduced to pure copper on the cathodes of MFCs whereas Co(II) was removed associated with microorganisms on the cathodes of the connected MECs. Higher Cu(II) concentrations and smaller working volumes in the cathode chambers of MFCs further improved removal rates of Cu(II) (115.7 mg?L⁻¹?h⁻¹) and Co(II) (6.4 mg?L⁻¹?h⁻¹) with concomitantly achieving hydrogen generation (0.05±0.00 mol?mol⁻¹ COD). Phylogenetic analysis on the biocathodes indicates Proteobacteria dominantly accounted for 67.9% of the total reads, followed by Firmicutes (14.0%), Bacteroidetes (6.1%), Tenericutes (2.5%), Lentisphaerae (1.4%), and Synergistetes (1.0%). This study provides a beneficial attempt to achieve simultaneous enhanced Cu(II) and Co(II) removal, and efficient Cu(II) and Co(II) wastewaters treatment without any external energy consumption.     

铁炭微电解法降解1-丁基-3-甲基咪唑六氟磷酸盐

使用铁炭微电解法降解1-丁基-3-甲基咪唑六氟磷酸盐([BMIM]PF6),并探讨了铁炭微电解法降解[BMIM]PF6的影响因素、工艺条件及其反应动力学.结果表明,影响铁炭微电解降解[BMIM]PF6的因素按从大到小的顺序为:炭铁比、pH、反应时间;铁炭微电解降解[BMIM]PF6的最佳工艺条件是:铁粉用量3g.l-1、水样pH2.5、炭铁比2、反应时间为60—90min;在此条件下,[BMIM]PF6的去除效率可以达到90%以上且该降解反应为三级反应.     

电解法处理废料贵铅的电极极化研究

以含金银铅废料制成贵铅为原料,利用电化学热力学和动力学理论,对贵铅电解法实现金银与铅的分离和得到纯铅的电极过程极化行为与工艺条件的关系进行了研究。从而确定了贵铅电解时的电解液组成为［ｐｂ２＋］７０ｇ／Ｌ,温度为４０℃,β－萘酚／胶联合添加剂等工艺条件．同时根据动力学的研究证明了贵铅电解的电极反应速度受扩散控制,其扩散速度常数Ｋ扩＝１．９１７×１０－３ｃｍ／ｓ。扩散层厚度为０．００５１ｃｍ,在ηｋ＝７５ｍＶ时的阴极过程活化能为１６．１０ｋＪ／ｍｏｌ,为贵铅电解工业分离回收金银铅提供了可靠的理论依据和设计参数。     

曝气催化铁内电解法预处理混合化工废水

采用曝气催化铁内电解法对上海某工业污水场的进水进行预处理,降低了后续生化处理中难降解有机物的负荷,并较大程度地去除了正磷酸盐。废水中的有机物及正磷酸盐在两周的稳定运行中平均去除率分别达到52％和70％。废水经预处理后,pH平均上升0．5。     

磁技术在废水处理中的应用

介绍了磁技术——磁电解、磁分离、磁凝聚在工业废水处理中的应用及各种技术的原理和最新研究状况,并阐述了磁技术的优缺点和发展前景。针对热轧废水中的悬浮物具有磁性并可影响废水中油珠的稳定性这一特点,指出了采用磁凝聚法进行处理的优势。