05 May Energy and copper recovery from acid mine drainage by microbial fuel cells. Effect of the hydrochar doping on carbon felt anodes
| Título | Energy and copper recovery from acid mine drainage by microbial fuel cells. Effect of the hydrochar doping on carbon felt anodes |
| Autor(es) | Yelitza Delgado, Natalia Tapia, Ester López, Javier Llanos, Ignacio Vargas, Francisco Jesús Fernández-Morales |
| Proyecto | Ciudades Climático-Resilientes |
| Año de publicación | 2025 |
| Revista | Separation and Purification Technology |
| Palabras claves | Acid mine drainage, Microbial fuel cell, Hydrochar, Copper recovery, Electricity generation |
| Resumen | This work investigates the performance of a Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) for Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) treatment using bare and hydrochar-doped carbon felt (CF) anodes. Hydrochar was synthesized through hydrothermal carbonization of Spergularia rubra, followed by activation at 500 °C, resulting in improved O/C and H/C ratios of 0.26 and 0.78, respectively. The study reveals that doping CF anodes with non-activated and activated hydrochar significantly enhances copper recovery and electricity generation. The highest copper recovery rate of 16.0 mg/L h−1 was achieved with activated hydrochar-doped CF (CFaH) anodes, followed by 10.6 mg/L h−1 with non-activated hydrochar-doped CF (CFnaH) anodes, and 7.1 mg/L h−1 with bare CF anodes. Hydrochar doping also improved the maximum current density to 0.21 mA cm−2 compared to 0.16 mA cm−2 with bare CF anodes. These results demonstrate the potential of hydrochar-doped CF anodes for efficient metal and energy recovery from AMD, offering a sustainable and energy-efficient alternative to conventional methods. |
| Doi | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seppur.2024.129095 |
| Autor(es) de correspondencia | Francisco Jesús Fernández-Morales, fcojesus.fmorales@uclm.es |