Role of bioelectrochemical systems for the remediation of emerging contaminants from wastewater: A review

Abstract

Bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) are a unique group of wastewater remediating technology that possesses the added advantage of valuable recovery with concomitant wastewater treatment. Moreover, due to the application of robust microbial biocatalysts in BESs, effective removal of emerging contaminants (ECs) can be accomplished in these BESs. Thus, this review emphasizes the recent demonstrations pertaining to the removal of complex organic pollutants of emerging concern present in wastewater through BES.Owing to the recalcitrant nature of these pollutants, they are not effectively removed through conventional wastewater treatment systems and thereby are discharged into the environment without proper treatment. Application of BES in terms of ECs removal and degradation mechanism along with valuables that can be recovered are discussed. Moreover, the factors affecting the performance of BES, like biocatalyst, substrate, salinity, and applied potential are also summarized. In addition, the present review also elucidates the occurrence and toxic nature of ECs as well as future recommendations pertaining to the commercialization of this BES technology for the removal of ECs from wastewater. Therefore, the present review intends to aid the researchers in developing more efficient BESs for the removal of ECs from wastewater.

Critical assessment of advanced oxidation processes and bio-electrochemical integrated systems for removing emerging contaminants from wastewater

“…95,96 However, in the real eld various kinds of ECs are simultaneously present in wastewater, which are difficult to treat by the standalone technologies. 97 In typical BESs, such as MFCs, MECs, MDCs and MCCs, the fouling of membrane, meagre power production, high fabrication and catalyst cost and in case of MECs, the external power requirements for the remediation of various contaminants, are the major obstructions in the way towards the broader application of these technologies. 98 To overcome these hindrances, researchers have experimented with integrated BESs and hybridized BESs with other technologies such as constructed wetlands (CW), EF, adsorption, membrane bioreactors and also MECs integrated with MFCs, which were operated with the power drawn from the MFCs, and might prove to be a sustainable and economical alternative for remediating these ECs.…”

“…In a similar way to BESs, the hybrid systems have also shown high efficacy in the treatment of wastewater and removal of various kinds of ECs such as beta blockers, EDCs, pesticides, antibiotics, and other pharmaceutical complexes. 97 However, there are many challenges in up-scaling of the BESs for example fouling of membranes, higher energy demand, and higher operational and fabrication costs. Despite that, these technologies have shown tremendous potential for the removal of antibiotics, analgesics, lipid regulators, beta blockers, pesticides, and some miscellaneous pharmaceuticals, but still exhibited lower removal of some of the ECs.…”

Electroactive biofilms: how microbial electron transfer enables bioelectrochemical applications

“…Biofilms are relevant in a variety of industrial processes, including wastewater cleanup (Ahmad et al, 2022 ; Qureshi et al, 2005 ), bioremediation (Mohapatra et al, 2020 ), and the production of value-added products such as bioplastics and biofuels ( Scientia , 2021). This latter category takes advantage of bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) in the form of MFCs, microbial electrolysis cells (MECs), and microbial electrosynthesis (MES) systems.…”

“…Technologies falling under this umbrella include MECs, MFCs, and MES, among others [for reviews on these technologies, see Hasany et al ( 2016 ), Obileke et al ( 2021 ), Palanisamy et al ( 2019 ), and Wang et al ( 2015 )]. Among other applications, these tools are being used for wastewater cleanup, bioremediation, hydrogen generation, plastic production, and fuel production (Ahmad et al, 2022 ; El-malek et al, 2020 ; Karthikeyan et al, 2019 ; Keasling et al, 2021 ; Mohapatra et al, 2020 ). The latter two products are especially important in the current environment.…”

A Sustainable Approach for the Production of Green Energy With the Holistic Treatment of Wastewater Through Microbial Electrochemical Technologies: A Review

“…An MFC can be modified to produce valuable biohydrogen through the application of external potential and then it is termed as MEC (Ahmad et al, 2021). The construction and working of a MEC is analogous to that of a MFC with concomitant H 2 production through application of externally applied voltage of 0.2 V or greater (Figure 2).…”