Development of Bioelectrochemical System for Monitoring the Biodegradation Performance of Activated Sludge

Abstract

In the microbial electrochemical system (MES), the microbial-electrode interactions are often regulated by the metabolic pathway and respiratory activities. To improve the efficiency of MES, there is a need to introduce a microbial community that provides a continuous oxidation of organic substrates with a sustainable current output. Thus, activated sludge was suggested and the rapid evaluation of its biodegradation activity, using cyclic voltammetry, was performed. Stimulation of the metabolic pathway led to the appearance of an oxidation peak current (22 μA/cm(2), at about 750 mV), whereas the electrochemical signals were originated only from the metabolically active microbes. Cell viability, cultivation time, type, and concentration of the degradable organic substrates have been identified as major regulators for the electrocatalytic performance. From two different microbial communities, the generated electrochemical signal of the aerobic activated sludge was more than twofold higher in converting the degradable organic substrates (glucose, acetate, and succinate at 10 g/L) into oxidation current. On the other hand, the secretion of electroactive metabolite(s) in the extracellular matrix was determined as a source of electrochemical signal. Moreover, the mechanism(s) of the microbe-electrode interactions were demonstrated. Therefore, the current bioelectrochemical system could be used as a platform for monitoring the rate of substrate degradation as well as measuring the metabolic pathway activity.