Abstract
Increased human, agricultural and industrial activities along with improper waste disposal leads to high levels of soil contamination and accumulation of recalcitrant contaminants in the environment. This global issue demands the use of green and sustainable technologies and soil microbial fuel cells (SMFC) can be a potential solution. We adopted minimalistic designs, based on low-cost carbon materials without any expensive catalyst and membrane, which makes the SMFCs suitable for in-field applications. We investigated the ability of the indigenous microbial population of the soil to use organic contaminants as the source of carbon and the enrichment of the electroactive consortium was monitored over time onto the electrode surface of the SMFCs. We tested performance in soil contaminated with pesticide and soil contaminated with hydrocarbons and compare the microbial enrichment process with respect to the case of non-contaminated soil.
Highlights
Increasing human, agricultural, and industrial activities cause widespread environmental pollution across the globe, which is a serious threat to the ecosystem as well as to human and animal health
By introducing microbial fuel cell (MFC) strategy as a remediation technique, we can effectively exploit the ability of electroactive bacteria to degrade organic contaminants and simultaneously generate bioelectricity
Several studies have demonstrated the ability of MFCs to degrade recalcitrant pollutants like hydrocarbons and pesticides [6, 7], suggesting the technology as a promising green strategy to promote advanced environmental remediation
Summary
Increasing human, agricultural, and industrial activities cause widespread environmental pollution across the globe, which is a serious threat to the ecosystem as well as to human and animal health. Despite the scientific advancements towards reducing these pollutants, there is still huge scope and need for developing low-cost, sustainable green technologies to address these environmental issues. Minimising the risks associated with the accumulations of harmful chemicals in the environment is key to establish low-cost sustainable methodologies for the treatment of contaminated soil and water. By introducing microbial fuel cell (MFC) strategy as a remediation technique, we can effectively exploit the ability of electroactive bacteria to degrade organic contaminants and simultaneously generate bioelectricity. Several studies have demonstrated the ability of MFCs to degrade recalcitrant pollutants like hydrocarbons and pesticides [6, 7], suggesting the technology as a promising green strategy to promote advanced environmental remediation. We test the use of low-cost air-cathode soil microbial fuel cells (SMFCs) for the degradation of recalcitrant pollutants in soil. The simple design implemented for the SMFC, with no use of catalyst and no membrane, facilitates the scale-up of the technology for field tests and guarantee its cost-effectiveness
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