Remediation of saline-sodic soil by plant microbial desalination cell

Xiaoyu Han; Youpeng Qu; Da Li; Ye Qiu; Yanlig Yu; Yujie Feng

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.130275

Remediation of saline-sodic soil by plant microbial desalination cell

Chemosphere. 2021 Aug:277:130275. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.130275. Epub 2021 Mar 16.

Authors

Xiaoyu Han¹, Youpeng Qu², Da Li¹, Ye Qiu¹, Yanlig Yu³, Yujie Feng⁴

Affiliations

¹ School of Environment, State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, No 73 Huanghe Road, Nangang District, Harbin, 150090, China.
² School of Environment, State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, No 73 Huanghe Road, Nangang District, Harbin, 150090, China; School of Life Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, No. 2 Yikuang Street, Nangang District, Harbin, 150080, China. Electronic address: yujief@hit.edu.cn.
³ School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, No. 92 Xidazhi Street, Nangang District, Harbin, 150001, China.
⁴ School of Environment, State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, No 73 Huanghe Road, Nangang District, Harbin, 150090, China. Electronic address: qyp1000@163.com.

PMID: 33774245
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.130275

Abstract

Saline-sodic soil is widely distributed around the world and has induced severe impacts on ecosystems and agriculture. Plant microbial desalination cell (PMDC) and soil microbial desalination cell (SMDC) were constructed to migrate excessive salt in the soil in this study. Compared with SMDC, PMDCs generated higher voltage ranging from 150 mV to 410 mV (500Ω) and the maximum power density reached 34 mW/m². Higher desalinization efficiency was obtained by PMDCs, the soil conductivity reduced from initial 2.4 mS/cm to 0.4 ± 0.1 mS/cm and pH decreased from initial 10.4 to 8.2 ± 0.1. Soils desalination in PMDCs was achieved through multiple pathways, including ion migration in PMDCs driven by electrokinetic process, plant absorption and bioremediation by plant roots and anode microorganism activity. Geobacter was the dominant electrogenic bacteria at the PMDC anode. The electrochemical and desalinating performance of PMDCs was enhanced by plants and provided a new method for remediation of saline-sodic soil.

Keywords: Electricity generation; Phytoremediation; Plant microbial desalination cell; Saline-sodic soil; Soil amelioration.

MeSH terms

Agriculture
Biodegradation, Environmental
Ecosystem*
Electrodes
Soil*

Substances

Soil