Rapid warning of emerging contaminants in reuse water using biocathode sensors

Yilian Han; Haotong Li; Chengmei Liao; Xuemei Zhu; Ziyuan Wang; Jiaguo Yan; Xin Wang

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.131735

Rapid warning of emerging contaminants in reuse water using biocathode sensors

J Hazard Mater. 2023 Sep 5:457:131735. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.131735. Epub 2023 May 29.

Authors

Yilian Han¹, Haotong Li², Chengmei Liao³, Xuemei Zhu¹, Ziyuan Wang¹, Jiaguo Yan⁴, Xin Wang⁵

Affiliations

¹ MOE Key Laboratory of Pollution Processes and Environmental Criteria, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Environmental Remediation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, No. 38 Tongyan Road, Jinnan, Tianjin 300350, China.
² MOE Key Laboratory of Pollution Processes and Environmental Criteria, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Environmental Remediation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, No. 38 Tongyan Road, Jinnan, Tianjin 300350, China; Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China.
³ MOE Key Laboratory of Pollution Processes and Environmental Criteria, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Environmental Remediation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, No. 38 Tongyan Road, Jinnan, Tianjin 300350, China. Electronic address: lchmei@nankai.edu.cn.
⁴ Division of Oilfield Chemicals, China Oilfield Services Limited, No. 1581 Haichuan Road, Binhai New District, Tianjin 300459, China.
⁵ MOE Key Laboratory of Pollution Processes and Environmental Criteria, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Environmental Remediation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, No. 38 Tongyan Road, Jinnan, Tianjin 300350, China. Electronic address: xinwang1@nankai.edu.cn.

PMID: 37269559
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.131735

Abstract

The proliferation of emerging contaminants (ECs) in the environment poses a major threat to the safety of reuse water. However, many ECs exist for which no corresponding control standards have been established. Here, we used polarity reversal to construct a biocathode sensor capable of early warning of ECs biotoxicity in aerobic reuse water with low organic concentrations. The baseline current and sensitivity of the biosensor in response to formaldehyde were enhanced by 25% and 23% using microbial fuel cell effluent as the inoculum. The microbial community explained that the inoculum primarily influenced the performance of the biosensor by modulating species abundance, function and interactions. More importantly, the successfully commissioned biocathode sensor demonstrated rapid warning capability (Response time less than 1.3 h) for ECs such as fluoride, disinfection by-products and antibiotics in an actual landscape reuse system. Further, the sensor could quantify the concentration of a single known contaminant. Our study demonstrated a method for rapid early warning of ECs in an oxygen-rich, low-organics environment, promoting innovative development of monitoring technologies for water ecology and environmental safety.

Keywords: Biocathode sensor; Biotoxicity; Emerging contaminants; Rapid warning; Reuse water.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Bioelectric Energy Sources*
Biosensing Techniques* / methods
Ecology
Oxygen
Water
Water Pollutants, Chemical*

Substances

Water
Oxygen
Water Pollutants, Chemical