Enhanced biohydrogen production from sugar industry effluent using nickel oxide and cobalt oxide as cathode nanocatalysts in microbial electrolysis cell

Abstract

Development of economically viable cathode catalysts with practicability in the treatment of real effluents is one of the strenuous efforts among the multidisciplinary approaches in microbial electrolysis cell (MEC). Treatment of industrial effluents using this technology had resulted in simultaneous energy production in the form of hydrogen along with wastewater treatment, promoting both energy and environmental benefits. In this study, two metal oxides such as, Nickel Oxide (NiO) and Cobalt oxide (Co 3 O 4 ) were employed as the cathode catalyst using sugar industry effluent as the substrate for biohydrogen production in the MEC. The addition of NiO and Co 3 O 4 on nickel foam (NF) has demonstrated better hydrogen evolution performance than the control (uncoated) cathode. Electrochemical characterization of the modified cathodes revealed the improved capability analogous to the current density and hydrogen production rate (HPR) obtained in the experimentation. The best performance was achieved by NiO/NF with the maximum HPR of 3.39 ± 0.03 mmol/L/D, coloumbic efficiency of 58 ± 1.4%, hydrogen recovery of 27 ± 1.8% and COD removal efficiency of 52 ± 1.6% when operated with the applied voltage of 1.0 V. Hence, the potential of metal oxides was demonstrated for the candidature of efficient and economical cathode materials in MECs.

Enhancement of biological hydrogen production from organic wastes with the application of nanomaterials

“…17 The wastewater from sugar and starch processing industries is the prominent feedstock for better biohydrogen yield. 18,19 Comparatively, the yield of biohydrogen is low in dark fermentation, majorly due to the formation of the reaction by-products such as alcohols, VFA, and other soluble metabolites. Acetate, butyrate, and propionate are the major metabolites commonly formed with the hydrogen production during anaerobic dark fermentation [20][21][22] and the reaction is shown in Equations ( 1)-(3).…”

“…Similarly, the vermicelli wastewater was utilized as the substrate for the production of biohydrogen and the resulted yield was found to be 1210 mL H 2 /L wastewater 17 . The wastewater from sugar and starch processing industries is the prominent feedstock for better biohydrogen yield 18,19 …”

Influence of Nanomaterials and Other Factors on Biohydrogen Production Rates in Microbial Electrolysis Cells—A Review

“…Jayabalan et al (2020, 2021) used a chemical deposition method to manufacture cathode catalysts from nickel molybdate (NiMoO 4 ), nickel oxide (NiO) and cobalt oxide (Co 3 O 4 ) nanoparticles [ 27 , 28 ]. Raney et al (2021) also synthesized cathode catalysts from magnetite (Fe 3 O 4 ) nanoparticles using a chemical deposition method [ 29 ].…”

Application of different Nanocatalysts in industrial effluent treatment: A review

“…Because of the catalyst's insolubility in the solvent, it is heterogeneous and hence it could be readily removed from the solution, which is one of the properties of heterogeneous catalysis [21]. Several authors have studied many magnetic [22][23][24], zinc [25,26], cobalt [27,28], and copper-based [29,30] nanocatalysts. In this work, different nanocatalysts in industrial effluent treatment, including zinc-based nanocatalysts, cobalt-based nanocatalysts, copper-based nanocatalysts, and magnetic nanocatalysts, and their mechanism of action have been studied.…”