Abstract
Perchlorate removal was tested in the cathode chamber of microbial electrochemical systems (MESs). Dual-chambers MESs were constructed and operated in batch mode with four kinds of cathode materials including Fe/C particles (Fe/C), zero valent iron particles (ZVI), blank carbon felt (CF), and active carbon (AC). Without external energy supply or perchlorate-reducing microbial pre-enrichment, perchlorate () removal could be achieved in the cathode chambers of MESs at different efficiencies. The highest removal rates in these reactors were 18.96 (Fe/C, 100 Ω, 2 days), 15.84 (ZVI, 100 Ω, 2 days), 14.37 (CF, 100 Ω, 3 days), and 19.78 mg/L/day (AC, 100 Ω, 2 days). degradation products were mainly Cl− and , and the total chlorine in the products was lower than the theoretical input. The non-conservation of the total chlorine may be caused by the adsorption and co-precipitation related to the electrode materials. Coulombs and coulombic efficiency calculation showed that electron provided by MESs was partially responsible for reduction, for the Fe/C cathode reactors, about a quarter of electron was provided by MESs.
Highlights
Perchlorate is a kind of persistent chemicals included in the U.S EPA contaminant candidate list
Operating duration of batch experiments and external resistance are factors that may affect the contaminant removal in microbial electrochemical systems (MESs)
The MESs used in this research were operated on batch-fed in cubic reactors, and output voltage would drop in 2 or 3 days as the anode substrate largely consumed based on preliminary studies, 2 and 3 days were chosen as the operating duration
Summary
Perchlorate is a kind of persistent chemicals included in the U.S EPA contaminant candidate list. The aerospace fuels, explosives, and firecrackers could cause perchlorate contamination existing in the soil, groundwater, and drinking water. The perchlorate concentration can reach 3,700 mg/L in groundwater, 120 mg/L in surface water, and 811 μg/L in drinking water (Guan et al, 2015). It has been found in milk, urine, and blood (Cheng et al, 2004; Valentínblasini et al, 2005). Perchlorate adversely affects human health by interfering with the production of thyroid hormone (Wang et al, 2014). The environment and health problems caused by perchlorate have raised extensive concern
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