Hydrogen Gas Production from Paper–Pulp Industry Wastewater by Electrodeposited Cathodes in MECs

Abstract

In this study, microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) are used for the treatment of actual paper and pulp industry wastewater and production of biohydrogen, for the evaluation of economical and low-cost cathodes. Nickel, nickel–cobalt and nickel–cobalt–phosphate electroplating on SS and Cu rod are explored as-fabricated cathode catalysts in MECs for the estimation of their electrocatalytic activity in terms of energy recovery and treatment efficiency using paper–pulp industry real wastewater. Developed cathodes are explore in MECs in a controlled temperature of 30 ± 2 °C, under applied voltage of 0.6 V at neutral pH with paper–pulp industry wastewater and activated sludge as inoculum. Simultaneous treatment of paper–pulp industry wastewater with hydrogen production rates (1.1–3.87 m3/m3-d) and 54–64% of initial COD removal. Obtained results suggest that fabricated cathodes have potential to become alternative to Pt. for the treatment of real industrial wastewater using MECs. It also indicates that the hydrogen production and MECs performance greatly depend on the composition of wastewater and inoculum. MECs performances were evaluated in terms of hydrogen production rate, columbic efficiencies, overall energy efficiency and volumetric current density. © 2021, Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.