Degradation of dye wastewater with a photoelectric integration process (MPEC): Microbial fuel cells-assisted dual electrodes thin-film photoelectrocatalytic

A novel photoelectric integration process (MPEC) was developed to degrade Amaranth. In the MPEC, the output voltage of the microbial fuel cells (MFCs) was used to assist the dual slant-placed electrodes thin-film photocatalytic (PC). With two MFCs connected in series, the MPEC process realized the highest decolorization efficiency. It is close to that of the external bias photoelectrocatalytic (PEC), and 7% higher than that of the self-generated electric field-assisted photoelectrocatalytic (SPEC). The feasibility of MPEC pre-treatment and MFC post-treatment of Amaranth was investigated. The results demonstrated that MPEC pre-treatment of Amaranth could improve its biodegradability. The higher MPEC decolorization efficiency indicated the stronger biodegradability of the obtained intermediates and the higher MFC output voltage. When the MPEC decolorization efficiency was gradually increased to 50%, the removal efficiencies of total Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) by the MPEC and MFC increased; when the decolorization efficiency was increased above 50%, the removal efficiencies became stable. MPEC enhanced the biodegradability efficiently and was applicable to pre-treat textile wastewater.