Efficient production of hydrogen peroxide in microbial reverse-electrodialysis cells coupled with thermolytic solutions

doi:10.1007/s11783-023-1708-y

Front. Environ. Sci. Eng.

2023, Vol. 17

Issue (9) : 108 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-023-1708-y

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Efficient production of hydrogen peroxide in microbial reverse-electrodialysis cells coupled with thermolytic solutions

Xi Luo^1,^2,³, Ao Li¹, Xue Xia¹(

), Peng Liang², Xia Huang²(

)

¹. College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Minzu University of China, Beijing 100081, China
². State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
³. Yangtze Ecology and Environment Co., Ltd., Wuhan 430062, China

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Abstract

● Appreciable H₂O₂ production rate was achieved in MRCs utilizing NH₄HCO₃ solutions.

● Carbon black outperformed activated carbon as the catalyst for H₂O₂ production.

● The optimum carbon black loading for H₂O₂ production on air-cathode was 10 mg/cm².

● The optimum number of cell pairs was determined to be three.

● A maximum power density of 980 mW/m² was produced by MRCs with 5 cell pairs.

H₂O₂ was produced at an appreciable rate in microbial reverse-electrodialysis cells (MRCs) coupled with thermolytic solutions, which can simultaneously capture waste heat as electrical energy. To determine the optimal cathode and membrane stack configurations for H₂O₂ production, different catalysts, catalyst loadings and numbers of membrane cell pairs were tested. Carbon black (CB) outperformed activated carbon (AC) for H₂O₂ production, although AC showed higher catalytic activity for oxygen reduction. The optimum CB loading was 10 mg/cm² in terms of both the H₂O₂ production rate and power production. The optimum number of cell pairs was determined to be three based on a tradeoff between H₂O₂ production and capital costs. A H₂O₂ production rate as high as 0.99 ± 0.10 mmol/(L·h) was achieved with 10 mg/cm² CB loading and 3 cell pairs, where the H₂O₂ recovery efficiency was 52 ± 2% and the maximum power density was 780 ± 37 mW/m². Increasing the number of cell pairs to five resulted in an increase in maximum power density (980 ± 21 mW/m²) but showed limited effects on H₂O₂ production. These results indicated that MRCs can be an efficient method for sustainable H₂O₂ production.

Keywords Microbial reverse-electrodialysis cell Hydrogen peroxide production Ammonium bicarbonate Electrolysis cell Optimization

Corresponding Author(s): Xue Xia,Xia Huang

Issue Date: 03 April 2023

Cite this article:

Xi Luo,Ao Li,Xue Xia, et al. Efficient production of hydrogen peroxide in microbial reverse-electrodialysis cells coupled with thermolytic solutions[J]. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng., 2023, 17(9): 108.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/10.1007/s11783-023-1708-y
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/Y2023/V17/I9/108

Fig.1 (a) Photograph and (b) schematic of microbial reverse-electrodialysis cells for H₂O₂ production. AEM, anion exchange membrane; CEM, cation exchange membrane; HC, high-concentration solution; LC, low-concentration solution.

Fig.2 (a) Electrode potentials, (b) stack voltages, (c) internal resistance distribution and (d) power densities of NH₄HCO₃ based MRCs with different cathode catalysts. CB, carbon black; CB-AC, the mixture of carbon black and activated carbon with a weight ratio of 1:1; AC, activated carbon.

Fig.3 (a) Electrode potentials, (b) stack voltages, (c) internal resistance distribution and (d) power densities of NH₄HCO₃ based MRCs with different CB loadings.

Fig.4 (a) H₂O₂ production rates and cathodic H₂O₂ recovery efficiencies and (b) current of NH₄HCO₃ based MRCs with different CB loadings.

Fig.5 Current-potential curves of cathodes made with (a) 10 mg/cm² CB, CB-AC and AC and (b) 0, 5, 10 and 18 mg/cm² CB.

Fig.6 (a) Electrode potentials, (b) stack voltages, (c) internal resistance distribution and (d) power densities of NH₄HCO₃ based MRCs with different numbers of cell pairs.

Fig.7 (a) H₂O₂ production rates and cathodic H₂O₂ recovery efficiencies and (b) current of NH₄HCO₃ based MRCs with different numbers of cell pairs.

Tab.1 Performance of H₂O₂ production in different BESs

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