Electrocatalytic biofilm reactor for effective and energy-efficient azo dye degradation: the synergistic effect of MnO_x/Ti flow-through anode and biofilm on the cathode

Highlights

● MnO _x /Ti flow-through anode was coupled with the biofilm-attached cathode in ECBR.

● ECBR was able to enhance the azo dye removal and reduce the energy consumption.

● Mn^IV=O generated on the electrified MnO _x /Ti anode catalyzed the azo dye oxidation.

● Aerobic heterotrophic bacteria on the cathode degraded azo dye intermediate products.

● Biodegradation of intermediate products was stimulated under the electric field.

Abstract

Dyeing wastewater treatment remains a challenge. Although effective, the in-series process using electrochemical oxidation as the pre- or post-treatment of biodegradation is long. This study proposes a compact dual-chamber electrocatalytic biofilm reactor (ECBR) to complete azo dye decolorization and mineralization in a single unit via anodic oxidation on a MnO_x/Ti flow-through anode followed by cathodic biodegradation on carbon felts. Compared with the electrocatalytic reactor with a stainless-steel cathode (ECR-SS) and the biofilm reactor (BR), the ECBR increased the chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency by 24 % and 31 % (600 mg/L Acid Orange 7 as the feed, current of 6 mA), respectively. The COD removal efficiency of the ECBR was even higher than the sum of those of ECR-SS and BR. The ECBR also reduced the energy consumption (3.07 kWh/kg COD) by approximately half compared with ECR-SS. The advantages of the ECBR in azo dye removal were attributed to the synergistic effect of the MnO_x/Ti flow-through anode and cathodic biofilms. Catalyzed by Mn^IV=O generated on the MnO_x/Ti anode under a low applied current, azo dyes were oxidized and decolored. The intermediate products with improved biodegradability were further mineralized by the cathodic aerobic heterotrophic bacteria (non-electrochemically active) under the stimulation of the applied current. Taking advantage of the mutual interactions among the electricity, anode, and bacteria, this study provides a novel and compact process for the effective and energy-efficient treatment of azo dye wastewater.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Azo dye removal / Electrocatalytic biofilm reactor / Anodic oxidation / Electricity-stimulated biodegradation / Energy consumption

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2020YFA0211003), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51978465, 21878230, and 51878646), and the Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin of China (Nos. 19JCQNJC07500 and 19JCZDJC39800).

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-023-1649-5 and is accessible for authorized users.

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