The present invention relates to a method for the electrochemical control of the level of gene expression in purple non-sulfur bacteria, in particular Rhodobacter, and relative applications for the treatment of wastewater. The invention also relates to the use of fat-soluble redox mediators capable of permeabilizing the bacterial membrane and altering the oxidation state of the disulfide bond present in thioredoxins.

The present invention relates to a method for converting one or more influent streams comprising organic compounds present in an aqueous liquid stream such as wastewater and optionally inorganic carbon compounds into an effluent stream comprising short chain organic molecules in a bioreactor comprising electrodes, said method comprising: • the electrochemical oxidation of said organic compounds, thereby forming inorganic carbon compounds; and; • the electrochemical of said inorganic compound such as ammonium, ammonia and sulfides present in an aqueous liquid stream entering the bioreactor. • the bio-electrochemical reduction of said inorganic carbon compounds, thereby forming short chained organic molecules (such as methane); characterized in that said bioreactor is an anaerobic bioreactor comprising a biofilm growing on the cathodes and optionally the anodes as well as microorganism in suspension.

Provided is a microbial fuel cell including a cathode and an anode, wherein the cathode includes a waterproof gas diffusion layer including a siloxane and a catalyst layer including a binder, wherein a surface of the gas diffusion layer opposite the catalyst layer contacts air, and the anode includes electrogenic bacteria. Also provided is a method for making a microbial fuel cell, including fabricating a cathode, wherein fabricating includes disposing a siloxane solution onto a surface of a substrate, wherein the siloxane solution includes a siloxane and a solvent, drying the siloxane solution to form a waterproof gas diffusion layer, and placing the gas diffusion layer on a catalyst layer including a binder, and facing an anode with the cathode whereby the gas diffusion layer faces away from the anode and contacts air.

The invention provides a dynamic membrane reactor with function of nitrogen and phosphorus removal and an operation method thereof, and comprises a biological treatment system, a dynamic membrane loading system and an automatic system. The operation method comprises the following steps. (1) Before the formation of dynamic membrane, a porous filter for phosphorus removal is used as a cathode, a conductive precision filter screen is used as an anode, and aerobic denitrifying bacteria are inoculated into the dynamic membrane reactor under certain constant current density, hydraulic retention time and flux. (2) After the dynamic membrane is formed, the porous filter for phosphorus removal is used as the anode, the conductive precision filter screen is used as the cathode. And intermittent aeration is started at the anode under certain constant current density. (3) When the transmembrane pressure difference exceeds a certain range, hydraulic backwashing is performed under certain constant current density.

A combined waste water and gas treatment system for efficiently decarbonizing and removing nitrogen, including a water feeding pump, a carbon capture device, an intermediate water tank, and an anaerobic ammonium oxidation reactor connected in sequence through pipelines, where the carbon capture device includes an anode chamber and a cathode chamber; an anode plate is arranged in the anode chamber; a cathode plate is arranged in the cathode chamber; a gas inlet pipe is further arranged at the cathode chamber; an air compressor is connected with the gas inlet pipe; a gas outlet pipe is arranged at a top of the carbon capture device; a water outlet in the intermediate water tank is fluidly communicated with a bottom end of the anaerobic ammonium oxidation reactor through a second water inlet pipe; the gas outlet pipe is fluidly communicated with the second water inlet pipe.

Microbial reactors are provided for ammonium oxidation. Briefly, a reactor comprises a medium including an ammonium component and a Feammox bacterium and/or enzyme(s) thereof capable of oxidizing ammonium with electron transfer to an anode in contact with the medium. As described further herein, use of the anode as an electron acceptor can mitigate or overcome the disadvantages associated Fe(III) acceptor. In some embodiments, for example, ammonium oxidation in the reactor can proceed in the absence of Fe(III) and/or other metal compounds operable to function as an electron acceptor in the medium. Moreover, the medium may further comprise one more contaminants in addition to the ammonium component.

The present invention is directed to an anode comprising an inner layer encapsulating a conductive material and a bacteria, and an outer layer comprising a rigid porous membrane. Further provided is a microbial electrochemical system comprising the herein disclosed anode, and methods of using the same, such as for treating wastewater, waste, hydrogen production, or generating electricity.

A bioelectrochemical reactor (1) has an anode chamber (11) having at least two bioanodes (12, 13), and an anodic electrolyte (14) with an anodic electroactive microorganisms,—a cathode chamber (21) with at least one biocathode (22), and a cathodic electrolyte (24) with a cathodic electroactive microorganisms. The anode chamber (11) is separated from the cathode chamber (21) by, running from the anode chamber to the cathode chamber, a cation exchange membrane (31) and an anion exchange membrane (32). The cation and anion exchange membranes are separated from each other by an inter-membrane chamber (30), and means for applying a potential difference between the interconnected bioanodes and the biocathode/biocathodes. The bioanodes and biocathode/biocathodes have active surfaces such that the total active surface of the biocathode/biocathodes (22) is greater than the total active surface of the two bioanodes (12, 13). The arrangement includes a method for regenerating the activity of the bioanodes of the reactor and to the use of said reactor for the electrosynthesis of organic acids and/or alcohols from organic waste.

Disclosed are a method and a device for treating high ammonia-nitrogen wastewater using a microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) assisted SANI system, including an SANI system, an MEC and a power supply. The cathode chamber and anode chamber of the MEC are separated by a separator and are respectively connected to the cathode and anode of the power supply, and a cathode electrode is enriched with hydrogen autotrophic denitrifying bacteria. The cathode chamber has two main functions. Firstly, a higher denitrification efficiency is achieved due to the enriched hydrogen autotrophic denitrifying bacteria; and secondly, the alkalinity produced in the cathode can adjust the pH of the nitrification chamber. In addition, the cathode chamber can oxidize the residual sulfide in the effluent to meet the discharge standard. This system retains the advantage of less sludge in a SANI process, but also can be applied to the treatment of wastewater with high ammonia-nitrogen.

An electrochemical membrane module for selectively removing pollutants and a preparation method thereof are provided. A Ti/SnO.sub.2—Sb substrate electrode is coated with a MI—TiO.sub.2 sol-gel by means of a dip-coating method, and then sintered to obtain a molecular imprinting type Ti/MI—TiO.sub.2/SnO.sub.2—Sb coated electrode; the coated electrode is adhered to a ceramic micro-filtration membrane using epoxy resin glue to obtain a Ti/MI—TiO.sub.2/SnO.sub.2—Sb MI-anodic conductive composite membrane; the MI-anodic conductive composite membrane is used as an anode, and a titanium mesh is used as a cathode, so that the electrochemical membrane module capable of selectively removing pollutants is obtained. The invention effectively combines an electrochemical micro-filtration membrane and a molecular imprinting technique. When the electrochemical membrane module is used, suspended particles and refractory organics in the sewage are removed, and a highly selective removal of certain refractory pollutants can be achieved.