The development of tools to monitor water quality is mandatory in a scenario where clean water resources are decreasing. Here, the biosensing capability of an electroactive river sediment consortium was tested towards three model contaminants (glutaraldehyde, nickel(II) and chromium(III)). The proposed biosensor is a small membrane-less single chamber Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC), fabricated by 3D printing. Its semi-continuous mode of operation resulted in long-term current profile stability and reproducibility. A linear trend of response was obtained for glutaraldehyde in a concentration range of 5-1000 ppm. After the recovery of the electroactive consortium activity, the MFC-based biosensors were shown to be sensitive towards Ni(II) and Cr(III), at concentrations above 2 mg L-1. To effectively analyze biosensor response, a novel algorithm was proposed, offering advantages for the realization of energy-saving protocols for MFC-biosensor data transmission. Implementation of the device and method, from laboratory test to real environment, can offer a low cost in situ system for detection of water contaminants.

中文翻译：

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环境电活性联盟作为可重复使用的生物传感元件，用于淡水毒性监测

在清洁水资源减少的情况下，必须开发监测水质的工具。在这里，针对三种模型污染物（戊二醛、镍（II）和铬（III））测试了电活性河流沉积物财团的生物传感能力。所提出的生物传感器是一种通过 3D 打印制造的小型无膜单室微生物燃料电池 (MFC)。它的半连续操作模式导致了长期的电流曲线稳定性和重现性。在 5-1000 ppm 的浓度范围内，戊二醛的响应呈线性趋势。在电活性联合体活动恢复后，基于 MFC 的生物传感器对 Ni(II) 和 Cr(III) 敏感，浓度高于 2 mg L-1。为了有效地分析生物传感器响应，提出了一种新的算法，为实现MFC-生物传感器数据传输的节能协议提供了优势。该装置和方法的实施，从实验室测试到真实环境，可以提供用于检测水污染物的低成本原位系统。