Electrosorption driven by microbial fuel cells without electric grid energy consumption for simultaneous phenol removal and wastewater treatment

A novel technology (MFC-Sorption) that is driven by microbial fuel cells (MFCs) was explored to adsorb phenol on activated carbon fibers (ACFs) and simultaneously treat artificial wastewater. By using this energy sustainable MFC-Sorption system, the adsorption capacity for 100 mg/L phenol reached 1.70 mmol/g, which increased by 41.7% compared with the conventional adsorption and was close to electrosorption (1.81 mmol/g) that needed external power supply. An average power density of 382 mW/m2 was achieved, with a Coulombic efficiency of 3.23%, meanwhile more than 73.3% chemical oxygen demand (COD) of the wastewater in MFCs could be removed. This technology was found to be favorable for adsorption capacity at high initial concentration of phenol, providing an alternative without electric grid energy consumption for simultaneous phenol removal and wastewater treatment.