Cost-effective copper removal by electrosorption powered by microbial fuel cells

This work studied a cost-effective electrosorption that driven by microbial fuel cells (MFC-sorption) to remove Cu2+ from wastewater without an external energy supply. The impact factors, adsorption isotherms and kinetics of the novel process were investigated. It indicated that a low electrolyte concentration and a high solution pH could enhance the Cu2+ removal efficiency, while the adsorption capacity increased with the increase of numbers of MFCs in series and the initial Cu2+ concentration. The adsorption isotherms study indicated that the monolayer adsorption in MFC-sorption was dominant. The kinetics study suggested the increase of initial Cu2+ concentration could enhance the initial adsorption rate. The electrode characterizations verified the existence of Cu2O and Cu on the electrode surface of active carbon fibers (ACFs), suggesting that MFC-sorption was not only an adsorption process, but also a redox reaction process.