Microbial photoelectric reduction of CO2 to acetate and its response mechanism to external applied voltage

ZHOU Mei-zhou; LUO Hai-ping; ZENG Cui-ping; LIU Guang-li; ZHANG Ren-duo

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China Environmental Science ›› 2022, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (2) : 907-913.

Environmental Ecology

Microbial photoelectric reduction of CO₂ to acetate and its response mechanism to external applied voltage

ZHOU Mei-zhou¹, LUO Hai-ping¹, ZENG Cui-ping², LIU Guang-li¹, ZHANG Ren-duo¹

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Abstract

For evaluating the performance of microbial photoelectric synthesis (MPES) to reduce CO₂ to synthesize acetic acid and its limiting factors, this study tried to construct a novel double-chamber microbial photo-electrosynthesis system (MPES)by coupling TiO₂ photoanode with biocathode and using solar energy as main energy. The replacement of pure electrochemical anodes by photoanodes significantly reduced the external voltage requirements of MPES biocathodes, and MPES could continue to operate stably, with an average acetic acid production rate of (1.18 ±0.11) mmol/(L·d) and a Faraday efficiency of 45.75% ±3.97%. The photoanode drives the cathode to produce hydrogen, suggesting that the cathodic microorganisms tend to use H₂-mediated electron transfer. The external voltage influenced the performance of the MPES significantly by affecting the electron donating ability of the photoanode. When the external voltage was increased from 0.4~0.6V, the MPES current, acetate production and Faraday efficiency were significantly improved, and the performance of the MPES was mainly limited by the photoanode. When the external voltage was higher than 0.6V, the system current and the output of acetic acid increased mildly, and Faraday efficiency reached the maximum value at 0.8V, and then declined, indicating that the electron-acceptting ability of biocathode was saturated at 0.8V and the performance of the MPES was mainly limited by the biocathode. As an electron intermiate, H₂ was incompletely utilized during the operation of MPES, explaining why the Faraday efficiency was not further improved with an increase in external voltage.

Key words

acetate production / applied voltage / biocathode / microbial electrosynthesis system (MES) / photoanode

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ZHOU Mei-zhou, LUO Hai-ping, ZENG Cui-ping, LIU Guang-li, ZHANG Ren-duo. Microbial photoelectric reduction of CO₂ to acetate and its response mechanism to external applied voltage[J]. China Environmental Science. 2022, 42(2): 907-913

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