Microbial fuel cell biosensor for the determination of biochemical oxygen demand of wastewater samples containing readily and slowly biodegradable organics

Abstract

Objectives Single-chamber air cathode microbial fuel cells (MFCs) were applied as biosensors for biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) measurement of real wastewaters with considerable suspended and/or slowly biodegradable organic content. Results The measurement method consists of batch sample injection, continuous measurement of cell voltage and calculation of total charge (Q) gained during the biodegradation of organic content. Diverse samples were analyzed: acetate and peptone samples containing only soluble readily biodegradable substrates; corn starch and milk samples with suspended and colloidal organics; real domestic and brewery wastewaters. Linear regression fitted to the Q vs. BOD5 measurement points of the real wastewaters provided high (> 0.985) R2 values. Time requirement of the measurement varied from 1 to 4 days, depending on the composition of the sample. Conclusions Relative error of BOD measured in the MFCs comparing with BOD5 was less than 10%, thus the method might be a good basis for the development of on-site automatic BOD sensors for real wastewater samples.

Development of a New Hydrogel Anion Exchange Membrane for Swine Wastewater Treatment

“…A CEM produced using a similar method and a porous ceramic carrier has been successfully tested in microbial fuel cells and biosensors [ 18 , 19 ] in our laboratory, and we also plan to test our AEM in biosensor applications.…”

Microbial Biosensors for Rapid Determination of Biochemical Oxygen Demand: Approaches, Tendencies and Development Prospects

“…The use of mediator screen-printed electrodes or MFCs has led to a reduction in the size of the sensors themselves and their cost. MFCs for BOD analysis have come from mediator to mediator-less devices [ 18 ], with the design changing from two-chamber to single-chamber [ 142 , 145 ]. These advances contributed to greater accuracy and reproducibility of BOD measurements to enable using these developments in the commercialization of laboratory models.…”

“…In MFC-based biosensors, the BOD level is estimated based on the mono-type dependence between the generated current and the actual content of biodegradable organic substances in the anolyte [ 141 ]. However, the result of this measurement method applies only to soluble easily biodegradable contents, because the slowly biodegradable suspended organic fraction of real wastewaters takes a considerable time (from several hours to several days) to be hydrolyzed and to biodegrade [ 142 ]. To solve this problem related to the calibration of a device under development, additional research is required.…”

Monitoring of wastewater quality in Lodz sewage system (Poland)—do the current solutions enable the protection of WWTP and receiving water?

“…The last decade has seen an explosion of new technologies and online measurement techniques. These include, for example, cheap online selfcalibrating gas sensors for measuring volatile pollutants in water and sewage [61], microbial fuel cell biosensors for the determination of BOD or toxicity [62,63]. Despite great progress, these methods still need to be developed in order to improve sensor performance, reliability and cost-effectiveness.…”