Recovery of heavy metals from industrial wastewater using bioelectrochemical system inoculated with novel Castellaniella species.

Water pollution is a global issue that has drastically increased in recent years due to rapid industrial development. Different technologies have been designed for the removal of pollutants from wastewater. However, most of these techniques are expensive, generate new waste, and focus solely on metal removal instead of metal recovery. In this study, novel facultative exoelectrogenic strains designated Castellaniella sp. A5, Castellaniella sp. B3, and Castellaniella sp. A3 were isolated from a microbial fuel cell (MFC). These isolates were utilized as pure and mixed culture inoculums in a bioelectrochemical system (BES) to produce bioelectricity and treat simulated industrial wastewater. A single-chamber MFC inoculated with the mixed culture attained the highest electricity generation (i.e., 320 mW/m2 power density and 3.19 A/m2 current density), chemical oxygen demand removal efficiency (91.15 ± 0.05%), and coulombic efficiency (54.81 ± 4.18%). In addition, the BES containing biofilms of the mixed culture achieved the highest Cu, Cr, and Cd removal efficiencies of 99.89 ± 0.07%, 99.59 ± 0.53%, and 99.91 ± 0.04%, respectively. The Cr6+ and Cu2+ in the simulated industrial wastewater were recovered via microbial electrochemical reduction as Cr3+ and Cu0, respectively. However, Cd2+ precipitated as Cd (OH)2 or CdCO3 on the surface of the cathodes. These results suggest that a mixed culture inoculum of Castellaniella sp. A5, Castellaniella sp. B3, and Castellaniella sp. A3 has great potential as a biocatalyst in BES for heavy metals recovery from industrial wastewater.

A high-efficiency Klebsiella variicola H12-CMC-FeS@biochar for chromium removal from aqueous solution.

In polluted groundwater, surface water, and industrial sites, chromium is found as one of the most common heavy metals, and one of the 20 main pollutants in China, which poses a great threat to the ecological environment and human health. Combining biological and chemical materials to treat groundwater contaminated by heavy metals is a promising restoration technology. In this research, Klebsiella variicola H12 (abbreviated as K. variicola) was found to have Cr(VI) reduction ability. A high-efficiency Klebsiella variicola H12-carboxymethyl cellulose (abbreviated as CMC)-FeS@biochar system was established for Cr(VI) removal from aqueous solution. The Scanning Electron Microscope-Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (SEM-EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results indicated that CMC-FeS was successfully loaded onto the surface of biochar, and K. variicola H12 grew well in the presence of CMC-FeS@biochar with microbial biomass up to 4.8 × 108 cells mL-1. Cr(VI) removal rate of CMC-FeS@biochar system, K. variicola H12 system and K. variicola H12 + CMC-FeS@biochar system were 61.8%, 82.2% and 96.6% respectively. This study demonstrated K. variicola H12-CMC-FeS@biochar system have potential value for efficient removal of Cr(VI) from Cr(VI)-polluted groundwater.