Bioelectrochemical phenol degradation

The use of bielectrochemical technologies for the remediation of hydrocarbon contaminated environments is gaining interest as an innovative approach for the stimulation of the microbial metabolism in anaerobic conditions. A lab-scale bieoelectrochemical reactor for groundwater treatment was operated under continuous flow conditions with phenol (25 mg/L) as a model contaminant. When the anode was poised at +200 mV (vs SHE) phenol was removed with a rate of 77±4 mg/(L d) and a current of 5.3±0.2 mA was produced. At the end of the experiment the bacterial and archaeal communities in the microbial inoculum (i.e. refinery wastewater), on the anode (i.e. graphite granules) and in the effluent were characterized by Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) of the 16S rRNA gene. NGS results showed the enrichment of the genus Geobacter on the graphite, suggesting its potential role in the bioelectrochemical removal of phenol.