Quantifying biodegradable organic matter in polluted water on the basis of coulombic yield

Abstract

Biodegradable organic matter (BOM) in polluted water plays a key role in various biological purification technologies. The five-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) index is often used to determine the amount of BOM. However, standard BOD5 assays, centering on dissolved oxygen detection, have long testing times and often show severe deviation (error ≥ 15%). In the present study, the coulombic yield (Q) of a bio-electrochemical degradation process was determined, and a new index for BOM quantification was proposed. The Q value represents the quantity of transferred electrons from BOM to oxygen, and the corresponding index was defined as BOMQ. By revealing Q-BOM stoichiometric relationship, we were able to perform a BOMQ assay in a microbial fuel cell involved technical platform. Experimental results verified that 5–500mgL−1 of BOMQ toward artificial wastewater samples could be directly obtained without calibration in several to dozens of hours, leaving less than 5% error. Moreover, the BOMQ assay remained accurate and precise in a wide range of optimized operational conditions. A ratio of approximately 1.0 between the values of BOMQ and BOD5 toward artificial and real wastewater samples was observed. The rapidity, accuracy, and precision of the measurement results are supported by a solid theoretical foundation. Thus, BOMQ is a promising water quality index for quantifying BOM in polluted water.