article · Chemical Engineering Journal Advances
Researchers developed a hybrid nanocomposite by encapsulating biosynthesised alpha manganese dioxide nanoparticles within a conducting polyaniline matrix using in situ polymerisation. This composite was applied to modify pencil graphite electrode anodes inside a double chambered microbial fuel cell. The system was evaluated for its capacity to generate bioelectricity while simultaneously breaking down methyl red, an azo dye, alongside a glucose co-substrate at an operating temperature of 28 degrees Celsius. The modified anode achieved a dye decolorisation efficiency of over 95 per cent, a chemical oxygen demand reduction of roughly 75 per cent, and a maximum power density of 820 milliwatts per square metre. This power output represents a more than twelvefold improvement over an unmodified pencil graphite electrode, demonstrating that surface modification significantly boosts both electricity production and pollutant degradation in wastewater treatment.
Industrial dye waste from textile and chemical manufacturing poses a major environmental hazard to water systems. This work demonstrates an approach that cleans hazardous azo dye contaminants from wastewater while capturing energy in the form of electricity. Using microbial fuel cells to address both pollution and energy generation offers a dual benefit for sustainable industrial effluent management.
This research provides an early-stage laboratory proof of concept for wastewater treatment operators and industrial facilities dealing with dye-contaminated effluents, such as the textile sector. The technology demonstrates that modified low-cost pencil graphite electrodes can treat azo dye pollutants while producing electrical energy. Further development and pilot-scale testing would be required before the system could be applied in real-world industrial effluent processing.
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In this work, the biosynthesized α-MnO2 nanoparticles (NPs) encapsulated with a polyaniline (PANI) conducting matrix to form α-MnO2/PANI hybrid composite were fabricated by the in situ polymerization method. The prepared material was characterized through UV-Vis spectroscopy, XRD, FTIR, TGA-DTA, DSC, SEM-EDX, cyclic voltammetry, and impedance spectroscopy. A double chambered microbial fuel cell (MFC) cell set up with the pencil graphite electrode (PGE) anode modified by α-MnO2/PANI nanocomposite was employed for simultaneous methyl red (MR) decolorization and bioelectricity generation. The influence of MR concentration and its co-substrate glucose under optimum temperature conditions (28 ± 2 °C) was studied. The high decolorization efficiency (DE) of 95.57 ± 2.26%, maximum power density of 820.02 ± 7.86 mW m−2, current density of 1990.34 mA m−2 with a chemical oxygen demand (COD) of 74.59 ± 1.57% were achieved using α-MnO2/PANI modified PGE. This was increased by 12.47 times compared to unmodified PGE due to the better surface structure modification of PGE by binary composites. So, the nanocomposite modified anode is capable of maximizing MR decolorization in MFC. As a result, this study provided a future path for renewable energy production and azo dye decolorization from wastewater effluents.
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DOI: 10.1016/j.ceja.2022.100283
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