Abstract
Wetlands cover a significant part of the world’s land surface area. Wetlands are permanently or temporarily inundated with water and rich in nutrients. Therefore, wetlands equipped with Plant-Microbial Fuel Cells (Plant-MFC) can provide a new source of electricity by converting organic matter with the help of electrochemically active bacteria. In addition, sediments provide a source of electron donors to generate electricity from available (organic) matters. Eight lab-wetlands systems in the shape of flat-plate Plant-MFC were constructed. Here, four wetland compositions with activated carbon and/or marine sediment functioning as anodes were investigated for their suitability as a bioanode in a Plant-MFC system. Results show that Spartina anglica grew in all of the plant-MFCs, although the growth was less fertile in the 100% activated carbon (AC100) Plant-MFC. Based on long-term performance (2 weeks) under 1000 ohm external load, the 33% activated carbon (AC33) Plant-MFC outperformed the other plant-MFCs in terms of current density (16.1 mA/m2 plant growth area) and power density (1.04 mW/m2 plant growth area). Results also show a high diversity of microbial communities dominated by Proteobacteria with 42.5%–69.7% relative abundance. Principal Coordinates Analysis shows clear different bacterial communities between 100% marine sediment (MS100) Plant-MFC and AC33 Plant-MFC. This result indicates that the bacterial communities were affected by the anode composition. In addition, small worms (Annelida phylum) were found to live around the plant roots within the anode of the wetland with MS100. These findings show that the mixture of activated carbon and marine sediment are suitable material for bioanodes and could be useful for the application of Plant-MFC in a real wetland. Moreover, the usage of activated carbon could provide an additional function like wetland remediation or restoration, and even coastal protection.
Highlights
Wetlands have been known as one of the world’s most important type of ecosystems, which play a critical role in climate change, biodiversity, hydrology, and human health [1]
Small worms (Annelida phylum) were found to live around the plant roots within the anode of the wetland with MS100. These findings show that the mixture of activated carbon and marine sediment are suitable material for bioanodes and could be useful for the application of Plant-MFC in a real wetland
The results provide insights that the Plant-MFC anode, consisting of activated carbon and marine sediments, has potential to be tested in a demo-scale wetland to generate electricity and provide additional functions like wetland remediation or restoration, and eventually coastal protection [51,52,53]
Summary
Wetlands have been known as one of the world’s most important type of ecosystems, which play a critical role in climate change, biodiversity, hydrology, and human health [1]. Is coastal wetlands [3] Despite their critical role wetlands are facing a serious problem of losses caused by human activities. A study has shown that at least 33% of global wetlands had been lost as of 2009 due to human activities [1]. This loss was comparable to a previous study reporting that between 1970 and 2008, natural wetland declined globally by about 30% [4]
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