A novel single chamber vertical baffle flow biocathode microbial electrochemical system with microbial separator

A 10-liter single chamber vertical baffle flow biocathode microbial electrochemical system (MES) with microbial separator was designed for wastewater treatment. The anode and cathode compartments were incompletely isolated by the microbial separator, which enabled module integration and centralized sludge collection of MES. The effluent COD was < 50 mg L-1 with COD removal of 86 +/- 2% and low sludge yield rate of 0.05 +/- 0.02 g-sludge g(-1) -COD. The MES performance was mainly restricted by biocathodes and supporting matrixes with higher permeability resulted in better cathode performance. The MES obtained the maximum power density of 67.5 +/- 7.8 mW m(-2) with two layers of filter cloth and one layer of polyurethane sponge (S2P1) and supporting matrix with moderate permeability was more suitable in overall power generation and anode stability. The influences on bio-community of both cathodes and separators by the permeability of supporting matrixes were observed.