Hydrogen production from the dissolution of nano zero valent iron and its effect on anaerobic digestion

•Hydrogen release kinetics from NZVI dissolution was evaluated.•The first-order dissolution rate constant of the freshly prepared NZVI was 2.62 ± 0.26 h−1.•High H2 partial pressure in the headspace temporary inhibited methane production.•Ex situ H2 supply from NZVI dissolution ultimately increased methane production.•Possible mechanisms of the H2 effect on anaerobic digestion were proposed.

Nano zero valent iron (NZVI) has shown inhibition on methanogenesis in anaerobic digestion due to its reductive decomposition of cell membrane. The inhibition was accompanied by the accumulation of hydrogen gas due to rapid NZVI dissolution. It is not clear whether and how rapid hydrogen release from NZVI dissolution directly affects anaerobic digestion. In this study, the hydrogen release kinetics from NZVI (average size = 55 ± 11 nm) dissolution in deionized water under anaerobic conditions was first evaluated. The first-order NZVI dissolution rate constant was 2.62 ± 0.26 h−1 with its half-life of 0.26 ± 0.03 h. Two sets of anaerobic digestion experiments (i.e., in the presence of glucose or without any substrate but at different anaerobic sludge concentrations) were performed to study the impact of H2 release from rapid NZVI dissolution, in which H2 was generated in a separate water bottle containing NZVI (i.e., ex situ H2 or externally supplied from NZVI dissolution) before hydrogen gas was introduced to anaerobic digestion. The results showed that the H2 partial pressure in the headspace of the digestion bottle reached as high as 0.27 atm due to rapid NZVI dissolution, resulting in temporary inhibition of methane production. Nevertheless, the 5-d cumulative methane volume in the group with ex situ H2 production due to NZVI dissolution was actually higher than that of control, suggesting NZVI inhibition on methanogenesis is solely due to the reductive decomposition of cell membrane after direct contact with NZVI.

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