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A sediment microbial fuel cell (SMFC) was developed to mitigate eutrophication by immobilizing sediment iron-bound phosphorus and removing organic pollutants, with fulvic-iron synergy enhancing these processes.

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What they did

System
MFC

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Abstract

Excessive phosphorus discharge into lacustrine systems was recognized as a primary factor for eutrophication, significantly disrupting the ecological equilibrium of freshwater ecosystems. Effectively controlling endogenous phosphorus release from sediment reservoirs constitutes a fundamental prerequisite for mitigating this environmental challenge. In this study, a sediment microbial fuel cell (SMFC) was developed to address the challenges of sediment-bound phosphorus mobilization. Sediment Total Organic Carbon (TOC) removal in CC-FA-0.2 yielded 2.25 times greater than the control, indicative of aromatic and fulvic acid degradation. Phosphorus in interstitial water decreased by 66% in closed-circuit (CC) reactors, with sequential fractionation revealing enhanced iron-bound phosphorus (BD-P) retention in sediment (105% increase in CC-FA-0.05 vs. versus control). Fe(Ⅲ) redox cycling under SMFC operation maintained higher Fe(Ⅲ) retention (58-54% vs. 51-52% in open-circuit), critical for phosphate immobilization. Microbial profiling identified Proteobacteria (20.41%) and Desulfobacterota (20.41%) as dominant phyla, with genera like Geobacter and Sideroxydans synergistically driving Fe(Ⅲ)/Fe(Ⅱ) cycling and extracellular electron transfer. This study establishes a novel bioelectrochemical strategy based on fulvic-iron synergy, which drive a sustainable electrode-iron-humus redox cycle. This process offers a highly effective and sustainable approach for the simultaneous immobilization of sediment phosphorus and removal of organic pollutants in situ.

Keywords

Electron transferbioremediationendogenous phosphorusfulvic acidorganic pollutants

Identifiers

PubMed
41126645
Journal
Environmental technology
Year
2026