Process and kinetics of azo dye decolourization in bioelectrochemical systems: effect of several key factors

This study explored the influence of several key factors on the process and kinetics of azo dye decolourization in bioelectrochemical systems (BESs), including cathode potential, dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration of catholyte and biofilm formed on the cathode. The results show that azo dye methyl orange (MO) decolourization in the BES could be well described with the pseudo first-order kinetics. The MO decolourization efficiency increased from 0 to 94.90 +/- 0.01% and correspondingly the reaction rate constant increased from 0 to 0.503 +/- 0.001 h(-1) with the decrease in cathodic electrode potential from -0.2 to -0.8 V vs Ag/AgCl. On the contrary, DO concentration of the catholyte had a negative impact on MO decolourization in the BES. When DO concentration increased from zero to 5.80 mg L-1, the MO decolourization efficiency decreased from 87.19 +/- 4.73% to 27.77 +/- 0.06% and correspondingly the reaction rate constant reduced from 0.207 +/- 0.042 to 0.033 +/- 0.007 h(-1). Additionally, the results suggest that the biofilm formed on the cathode could led to an adverse rather than a positive effect on azo dye decolourization in the BES in terms of efficiency and kinetics.