Abstract
An osmotic microbial fuel cell (OsMFC) using a forward osmosis (FO) membrane to replace the proton exchange membrane in a typical MFC achieves superior electricity production and better effluent water quality during municipal wastewater treatment. However, inevitable FO membrane fouling, especially biofouling, has a significantly adverse impact on water flux and thus hinders the stable operation of the OsMFC. Here, we proposed a method for biofouling mitigation of the FO membrane and further improvement in current generation of the OsMFC by applying a silver nanoparticle (AgNP) modified FO membrane. The characteristic tests revealed that the AgNP modified thin film composite (TFC) polyamide FO membrane showed advanced hydrophilicity, more negative zeta potential and better antibacterial property. The biofouling of the FO membrane in OsMFC was effectively alleviated by using the AgNP modified membrane. This phenomenon could be attributed to the changes of TFC–FO membrane properties and the antibacterial property of AgNPs on the membrane surface. An increased hydrophilicity and a more negative zeta potential of the modified membrane enhanced the repulsion between foulants and membrane surface. In addition, AgNPs directly disturbed the functions of microorganisms deposited on the membrane surface. Owing to the biofouling mitigation of the AgNP modified membrane, the water flux and electricity generation of OsMFC were correspondingly improved.
Highlights
The concept of an osmotic microbial fuel cell (OsMFC) was proposed in 2011 [1]
The results indicated that a thick fouling layer, including biofouling and inorganic fouling existed on the forward osmosis (FO) membrane surface in OsMFCs treating wastewater [8,9,10]
thin film composite (TFC)–FO membrane components of the active layer, and silver was observed on the modified membrane
Summary
The concept of an osmotic microbial fuel cell (OsMFC) was proposed in 2011 [1]. The concentrated organic contaminants in the anode chamber by the FO membrane are oxidized with the production of bioelectricity, and water flux through the FO membrane transports protons from the anode to the cathode [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Compared with the conventional microbial fuel cell (MFC), the OsMFC achieves superior electricity production and better effluent water quality during municipal wastewater treatment [1,2,3,4,5,6]. There are some drawbacks hindering the application of OsMFC in wastewater treatment, including the lower water flux of the FO membrane, membrane fouling and salt accumulation [6,7]. Previous literature has demonstrated that membrane fouling has a significantly adverse impact on the water flux of the FO membrane and stable
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