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Membranes for Resource Recovery in Bioelectrochemical Systems

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A special issue of Membranes (ISSN 2077-0375). This special issue belongs to the section "Membrane Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 February 2023) | Viewed by 12505

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. August Bonmatí

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Guest Editor

Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology (IRTA), Torre Marimon s/n., 08140 Caldes de Montbui, Barcelona, Spain
Interests: anaerobic digestion; bioelectrochemical systems; nutrient recovery; membranes; biogas upgrading; gas emissions monitoring; manure processing

Dr. Miriam Cerrillo

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Guest Editor

Department of Sustainability in Biosystems, IRTA, Caldes de Montbui, 08140 Barcelona, Spain
Interests: anaerobic digestion; nutrient recovery; circular economy; bio-based fertilizers; emissions; organic waste valorisation; bioelectrochemical systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) are versatile technologies that are emerging as candidates for the recovery of multiple resources from wastes and wastewaters and that reveal a key role in biorefinery processes and circular economy. BESs can recover high value-added products, nutrients, biofuels, energy, or water, generally using a membrane to separate the anode and cathode chamber. Membranes are essential for improving microbial metabolism on the anode and the recovery of products on the cathode. The development of multi-chamber BES with the combination of different types of membranes expands the number of possible applications for resource recovery.

This Special Issue on “Membranes for Resource Recovery in Bioelectrochemical Systems” seeks contributions to assess the state-of-the-art and future developments in the field of membranes application in bioelectrochemical systems for energy and products recovery from wastewaters, such as bipolar, proton, ion or non-ion-exchange membranes or their combination with hydrophobic membranes for gas transference.

In this Special Issue, research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following topics:

Nutrient recovery;
Energy harvesting;
Biofuels production from wastes;
Bioelectrochemical systems combined with other technologies;
Water desalination;
Biogas upgrading;
Low-cost membranes development;
Upscaling.

Authors are invited to submit their latest results; both original research articles and reviews are welcomed.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. August Bonmatí
Dr. Miriam Cerrillo
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Membranes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

bioelectrochemical systems
electrosynthesis
cation/anion/proton exchange membrane
bipolar membrane
hydrophobic membrane
nutrient recovery
biogas upgrading
ammonia
phosphate
methane
hydrogen
livestock manure

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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23 pages, 38288 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Investigating the Performance of a Zinc Oxide Impregnated Polyvinyl Alcohol-Based Low-Cost Cation Exchange Membrane in Microbial Fuel Cells

by Sunil Chauhan, Ankit Kumar, Soumya Pandit, Anusha Vempaty, Manoj Kumar, Bhim Sen Thapa, Nishant Rai and Shaik Gouse Peera

Membranes 2023, 13(1), 55; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes13010055 - 2 Jan 2023

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 1871

Abstract

The current study investigated the development and application of lithium (Li)-doped zinc oxide (ZnO)-impregnated polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) proton exchange membrane separator in a single chambered microbial fuel cell (MFC). Physiochemical analysis was performed via FT-IR, XRD, TEM, and AC impedance analysis to characterize thus synthesized Li-doped ZnO. PVA-ZnO-Li with 2.0% Li incorporation showed higher power generation in MFC. Using coulombic efficiency and current density, the impact of oxygen crossing on the membrane cathode assembly (MCA) area was evaluated. Different amounts of Li were incorporated into the membrane to optimize its electrochemical behavior and to increase proton conductivity while reducing biofouling. When acetate wastewater was treated in MFC using a PVA-ZnO-Li-based MCA, the maximum power density of 6.3 W/m³ was achieved. These observations strongly support our hypothesis that PVA-ZnO-Li can be an efficient and affordable separator for MFC. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Membranes for Resource Recovery in Bioelectrochemical Systems)

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11 pages, 2940 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Development of a New Hydrogel Anion Exchange Membrane for Swine Wastewater Treatment

by Peter Babiak, Geoff Schaffer-Harris, Mami Kainuma, Viacheslav Fedorovich and Igor Goryanin

Membranes 2022, 12(10), 984; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes12100984 - 10 Oct 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1350

Abstract

We developed a proprietary anion exchange membrane (AEM) for wastewater treatment as an alternative to commercial products. Following the successful development of a hydrogel cation exchange membrane on a porous ceramic support, we used the same approach to fabricate an AEM. Different positively charged monomers and conditions were tested, and all AEMs were tested for nitrate and phosphate anion removal from buffers by electrodialysis. The best AEM was tested further with real swine wastewater for phosphate removal by electrodialysis and nitrate removal in a bioelectrochemical denitrification system (BEDS). Our new AEM showed better phosphate removal compared with a commercial membrane; however, due to its low permselectivity, the migration of cations was detected while operating a two-chambered biocathode BEDS in which the membrane was utilized as a separator. After improving the permselectivity of the membrane, the performance of our proprietary AEM was comparable to that of a commercial membrane. Because of the usage of a porous ceramic support, our AEM is self-supporting, sturdy, and easy to attach to various frames, which makes the membrane better suited for harsh and corrosive environments, such as swine and other animal farms and domestic wastewater. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Membranes for Resource Recovery in Bioelectrochemical Systems)

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23 pages, 4818 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Assessment of Graphical Methods for Determination of the Limiting Current Density in Complex Electrodialysis-Feed Solutions

by Katarina Knežević, Daniela Reif, Michael Harasek, Jörg Krampe and Norbert Kreuzinger

Membranes 2022, 12(2), 241; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes12020241 - 18 Feb 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2337

Abstract

Electrodialysis (ED) is a promising technology suitable for nutrient recovery from a wide variety of liquid waste streams. For optimal operating conditions, the limiting current density (LCD) has to be determined separately for each treated feed and ED equipment. LCD is most frequently assessed in the NaCl solutions. In this paper, five graphical methods available in literature were reviewed for LCD determination in a series of five feed solutions with different levels of complexity in ion and matrix composition. Wastewater from microbial fermentation was included among the feed solutions, containing charged and uncharged particles. The experiments, running in the batch ED with an online conductivity, temperature, and pH monitoring, were conducted to obtain data for the comparison of various LCD determination methods. The results revealed complements and divergences between the applied LCD methods with increasing feed concentrations and composition complexity. The Cowan and Brown method had the most consistent results for all of the feed solutions. Online conductivity monitoring was linearly correlated with the decreasing ion concentration in the feed solution and corresponding LCD. Therefore, the results obtained in this study can be applied as a base for the automatized dynamic control of the operating current density–voltage in the batch ED. Conductivity alone should not be used for the ED control since LCD depends on the ion exchange membranes, feed flow, temperature and concentration, ionic species, their concentration ratios, and uncharged particles of the feed solution. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Membranes for Resource Recovery in Bioelectrochemical Systems)

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Graphical abstract

11 pages, 2083 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effect of Ion Selectivity on Current Production in Sewage Microbial Fuel Cell Separators

by Ryoya Itoshiro, Naoko Yoshida, Toshiyuki Yagi, Yuriko Kakihana and Mitsuru Higa

Membranes 2022, 12(2), 183; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes12020183 - 3 Feb 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1529

Abstract

This study compared the performance of two microbial fuel cells (MFCs) equipped with separators of anion or cation exchange membranes (AEMs or CEMs) for sewage wastewater treatment. Under chemostat feeding of sewage wastewater (hydraulic retention time of approximately 7 h and polarization via an external resistance of 1 Ω), the MFCs with AEM (MFC_AEM) generated a maximum current that was 4–5 times greater than that generated by the MFC with CEM (MFC_CEM). The high current in the MFC_AEM was attributed to the approximately neutral pH of its cathode, in contrast to the extremely high pH of the MFC_CEM cathode. Due to the elimination of the pH imbalance, the cathode resistance for the MFC_AEM (13–19 Ω·m²) was lower than that for the MFC_CEM (41–44 Ω·m²). The membrane resistance measured as the Cl⁻ mobility of AEMs for the MFC_AEM operated for 35, 583, and 768 days showed an increase with operation time and depth, and this increase contributed minimally to the cathode resistance of the MFC_AEM. These results indicate the advantage of the AEM over the CEM for air-cathode MFCs. The membrane resistance may increase when the AEM is applied in large-scale MFCs on a meter scale for extended periods. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Membranes for Resource Recovery in Bioelectrochemical Systems)

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12 pages, 1511 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Autotrophic Acetate Production under Hydrogenophilic and Bioelectrochemical Conditions with a Thermally Treated Mixed Culture

by Lorenzo Cristiani, Jacopo Ferretti, Mauro Majone, Marianna Villano and Marco Zeppilli

Membranes 2022, 12(2), 126; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes12020126 - 21 Jan 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1928

Abstract

Bioelectrochemical systems are emerging technologies for the reduction in CO₂ in fuels and chemicals, in which anaerobic chemoautotrophic microorganisms such as methanogens and acetogens are typically used as biocatalysts. The anaerobic digestion digestate represents an abundant source of methanogens and acetogens microorganisms. In a mixed culture environment, methanogen’s inhibition is necessary to avoid acetate consumption by the presence of acetoclastic methanogens. In this study, a methanogenesis inhibition approach based on the thermal treatment of mixed cultures was adopted and evaluated in terms of acetate production under different tests consisting of hydrogenophilic and bioelectrochemical experiments. Batch experiments were carried out under hydrogenophilic and bioelectrochemical conditions, demonstrating the effectiveness of the thermal treatment and showing a 30 times higher acetate production with respect to the raw anaerobic digestate. Moreover, a continuous flow bioelectrochemical reactor equipped with an anion exchange membrane (AEM) successfully overcomes the methanogens reactivation, allowing for a continuous acetate production. The AEM membrane guaranteed the migration of the acetate from the biological compartment and its concentration in the abiotic chamber avoiding its consumption by acetoclastic methanogenesis. The system allowed an acetate concentration of 1745 ± 30 mg/L in the abiotic chamber, nearly five times the concentration measured in the cathodic chamber. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Membranes for Resource Recovery in Bioelectrochemical Systems)

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Review

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22 pages, 980 KiB

Open AccessReview

Recent Advances in Bioelectrochemical Systems for Nitrogen and Phosphorus Recovery Using Membranes

by Míriam Cerrillo, Victor Riau and August Bonmatí

Membranes 2023, 13(2), 186; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes13020186 - 2 Feb 2023

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2362

Abstract

Bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) have emerged as a technology that is able to recover resources from different kinds of substrates, especially wastewater. Nutrient recovery, mostly based on membrane reactor configuration, is a clear niche for BES application. The recovery of nitrogen or phosphorus allows for treatment of wastewater while simultaneously collecting a concentrated stream with nutrients that can be reintroduced into the system, becoming a circular economy solution. The aim of this study is to review recent advances in membrane-based BESs for nitrogen and phosphorus recovery and compare the recovery efficiencies and energy requirements of each system. Finally, there is a discussion of the main issues that arise from using membrane-based BESs. The results presented in this review show that it would be beneficial to intensify research on BESs to improve recovery efficiencies at the lowest construction cost in order to take the final step towards scaling up and commercialising this technology. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Membranes for Resource Recovery in Bioelectrochemical Systems)

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