High efficiency bio-hydrogen production from glucose revealed in an inoculum of heat-pretreated landfill leachate sludge

Bio-hydrogen is a promising sustainable energy to replace fossil fuels. This study investigated bio-H2 production from the inoculum of heat-pretreated landfill leachate sludge using glucose as model substrate. The seed sludge pretreated at 65 °C showed the highest amount of H2 at the optimum condition of pH 6 and 37 °C. The maximum H2 yield estimated by the modified Gompertz model was 6.43 mol H2/mol glucose. The high efficient of H2 production is thermodynamically feasible with the Gibbs free energy of −34 kJ/mol. This study reveals that pretreated landfill leachate sludge has considerable potential for H2 production.