Autotrophic denitrification performance and bacterial community at biocathodes of bioelectrochemical systems with either abiotic or biotic anodes

Two-chamber bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) have recently been developed for nitrate removal from nitrate-contaminated water. In this study, we compared the nitrate removal performance of biocathodes of BESs when using abiotic and biotic anodes. Acetate was used as electron donor in BESs with biotic anode, whereas a direct current power supply was used as energy source in BESs with abiotic anode. The nitrogen removal efficiency increased from 18.1% to 43.0% when the voltage supplied to the BES with abiotic anode increased from 0.7 V to 0.9 V, whereas no higher removal efficiency was obtained at a higher supplied voltage (1.1 V). The highest efficiency (78.0%) of autotrophic nitrogen removal was achieved when electron transfer from the biotic anode chamber of BESs was used. Unexpectedly, control of the cathode potential did not enhance nitrate removal in BESs with biotic anode. Special attention was paid to elucidate the differences of bacterial communities catalysing autotrophic denitrification in the biocathodes of BESs with abiotic and biotic anodes. Data from denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and phylogenetic analysis suggested that denitrification in BESs with abiotic anode could be attributed to Nitratireductor sp., Shinella sp., and Dyella sp., whereas the dominant bacterial denitrifiers in BESs with biotic anode were found to be Pseudomonas sp., Curtobacterium sp., and Aeromonas sp. These results implied that biocathodes of BESs with biotic anode are more efficient than those of BESs with abiotic anode for nitrate removal from nitrate-contaminated water in practical applications.