Repeated oxidative degradation of methyl orange through bio-electro-Fenton in bioelectrochemical system (BES)

Composite Fe2O3/ACF electrode facilitated methyl orange (MO) oxidative degradation using bio-electro-Fenton in bioelectrochemical system (BES) was investigated. Characterized by both XPS and FT-IR techniques, it was found that the composite Fe2O3/ACF electrode with highest Fe loading capacity of 11.02% could be prepared after the carbon felt was oxidized with nitric acid. Moreover, hydrogen peroxide production reached steadily at 88.63 μmol/L with the external resistance as 100 Ω, cathodic aeration rate at 750 mL/min, and the pH of the bio-electro-Fenton system adjusted to 2. Significantly, not only the electrochemical profiles of the BES reactor as electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was bettered, but the MO oxidative degradation could be accomplished for eight repeated batches, with the MO removal efficiency varied slightly from 73.9% to 86.7%. It indicated that the bio-electro-Fenton might be a promising eco-friendly AOP method for Azo-dye wastewater treatment.