Using sediment microbial fuel cells (SMFCs) for bioremediation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)

•PAHs bioremediation using a microbial fuel cell.•PAHs bioremediation in aerobic or anaerobic environment of cathodic chamber.•A consistent power density output for more than two months.•Smaller internal resistance compared to literatures.•A prospective method for in situ bioremediation.

In this study, a sediment microbial fuel cell (SMFC) was explored to bioremediate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in water originated from soil. The results showed consistent power generations of 6.02 ± 0.34 and 3.63 ± 0.37 mW/m2 under an external resistance of 1500 Ω by the aerobic and anaerobic SMFC, respectively. Although the power generations were low, they had relatively low internal resistances (i.e., 436.6 ± 69.4 and 522.1 ± 1.8 Ω for the aerobic and anaerobic SMFC, respectively) in comparison with the literature. Nevertheless, the significant benefit of this system was its bioremediation capabilities, achieving 41.7%, 31.4% and 36.2% removal of naphthalene, acenaphthene and phenanthrene, respectively, in the aerobic environment and 76.9%, 52.5% and 36.8%, respectively, in the anaerobic environment. These results demonstrated the ability of SMFCs in stimulating microorganisms for bioremediation of complex and recalcitrant PAHs.