Xylene, a recalcitrant compound present in wastewater from activities of petrochemical and chemical industries causes chronic problems for living organisms and the environment. Xylene contaminated wastewater may be biodegraded through a benthic microbial fuel cell (BMFC) as seen in this study. Xylene was oxidized into intermediate 3-methyl benzoic acid and entirely converted into non-toxic carbon dioxide. The highest voltage of the BMFC reactor was generated at 410 mV between 23 and 90 days when cell potential was 1 kΩ. The reactor achieved a maximum power density of about 63 mW/m², and a current of 0.4 mA which was optimized from variable resistance (20 Ω - 1 kΩ). However, the maximum biodegradation efficiency of the BMFC was at 87.8%. The cyclic voltammetry curve helped to determine that the specific capacitance was 0.124 F/g after 30 days of the BMFC operation. Furthermore, the fitting equivalent circuit was observed with the help of Nyquist plot for calculating overall internal resistance of 65.82 Ω on 30th day and 124.5 Ω on 80th day. Staphylococcus edaphicus and Staphylococcus sparophiticus were identified by 16S rRNA sequencing as the dominant species in the control and BMFC electrode, presumably associated with xylene biodegradation.

二甲苯是一种存在于石化和化学工业活动废水中的顽固化合物，会给生物和环境带来长期问题。如本研究所示，二甲苯污染的废水可以通过底栖微生物燃料电池 (BMFC) 进行生物降解。二甲苯被氧化成中间体3-甲基苯甲酸，并完全转化为无毒的二氧化碳。当电池电位为 1 kΩ 时，BMFC 反应器的最高电压是在 23 到 90 天之间产生的 410 mV。反应堆实现了约 63 mW/m ²的最大功率密度，以及从可变电阻 (20 Ω - 1 kΩ) 优化的 0.4 mA 电流。然而，BMFC 的最大生物降解效率为 87.8%。循环伏安曲线有助于确定 BMFC 运行 30 天后的比电容为 0.124 F/g。此外，借助奈奎斯特图观察拟合等效电路，计算第 30 天的总内阻为 65.82 Ω，第 80 天的总内阻为 124.5 Ω。Staphylococcus edaphicus和Staphylococcus sparophiticus通过 16S rRNA 测序鉴定为对照和 BMFC 电极中的优势物种，可能与二甲苯生物降解有关。