Chinese Journal of Agrometeorology ›› 2020, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (05): 275-287.doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1000-6362.2020.05.002

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 Research Progresses in Microbial Fuel Cells for Antibiotic Wastewater Treatment

 YANG Zhen-zhen, ZHU Chang-xiong, Tian Yun-long, Li Hong-na   

  1.  Agricultural Clear Watershed Group, Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, CAAS, Beijing 100081, China
  • Online:2020-05-20 Published:2020-05-14
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Abstract:  Antibiotics are widely used in the fields of medical treatment, animal husbandry, as well as aquaculture. A large amount of the parent antibiotics used are released into the environment through discharge via feces and urine, posing potential risks to human health and ecosystems. It also brings the issues of antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Antibiotic resistance has become the research focus in recent years. Microbial fuel cells (MFCs), which utilize microorganisms on the anode to produce electricity through biomass and simultaneously realize the purpose of wastewater treatment, has been widely studied these days. As a result, the aim of this paper was to review the degradation efficiency and degradation pathways of antibiotics, as well as the variation of microbial communities in MFCs. The effect and mechanism were also considered when MFCs was coupled with other technologies. Finally, the latest research on the on-line monitoring of antibiotics by MFCs sensor is also summarized. In total, the results indicated that MFCs showed a good removal effect on antibiotics. The removal efficiency of antibiotics and resistance genes and the microbial community of anodes are different with the reactor configuration, antibiotic types, as well as the initial concentrations and operation time. The coupling of MFCs and constructed wetlands is beneficial to enhance the removal efficiency of antibiotics, providing a new direction for the practical application of MFCs. As a biosensor, MFCs realizes the on-line monitoring of antibiotics content in wastewater by measuring the output voltage, but it is still in its infancy. However, it has been widely used in the on-line monitoring of biochemical oxygen demand and heavy metals, which can provide a reference for the on-line monitoring of antibiotics. Above all, MFCs can effectively remove antibiotics from wastewater, but the control of ARGs still needs to be further studied. The long-term stable operation and practical application of MFCs are the research focus in the future on the pollution control of antibiotic wastewaters. These conclusions will provide theoretical basis for the effective treatment of the follow-up antibiotic wastewater.

Key words:  Microbial fuel cells, Wastewater, Antibiotics, Antibiotic resistance genes, Microbial communities

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