The problem of wastewater has long been ubiquitous and has great consequences for the environment and its inhabitants. Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have enormous potential for the treatment of wastewaters polluted with azo dyes. The amount of energy that can be produced from a single-chamber MFC is sufficient to perform decolorization and degradation of such dyes, which are widely used in the textile industry. This study on the azo dye, reactive black 5 (RB5), provides an alternative method through three parallel-connected MFCs to obtain electricity that directly serves for the dye’s electrochemical degradation. We examined degradation followed by decolorization of RB5 using Fe and Pt electrodes, together with H₂O₂, to achieve the electro-Fenton process. The amount of voltage produced (295 mV), the current density (276 mA m⁻³) and the power density (50 mW m⁻³) were sufficient to degrade 25 mg L^-1 RB5 dye with 0.5 mM H₂O₂ in just 2 h. The dye degradation mechanism was investigated using UV–VIS, FT-IR and HPLC-MS/MS. The ecotoxicity of the degradation products was assessed using a bacterial model, Aliivibrio fischeri. These tests showed that there was successful degradation of the dye to products whose toxicity is less than that of RB5.

长期以来，废水问题无处不在，对环境及其居民产生了重大影响。微生物燃料电池 (MFC) 在处理被偶氮染料污染的废水方面具有巨大的潜力。单室 MFC 产生的能量足以对纺织工业中广泛使用的此类染料进行脱色和降解。这项关于偶氮染料活性黑 5 (RB5) 的研究提供了一种替代方法，通过三个并联的 MFC 获得直接用于染料电化学降解的电力。_{我们使用 Fe 和 Pt 电极以及 H 2} O ₂检查了 RB5 的降解和脱色，实现电芬顿工艺。产生的电压量 (295 mV)、电流密度 (276 mA m ^-3 ) 和功率密度 (50 mW m ^-3 ) 足以降解 25 mg L ^-1 RB5 染料和 0.5 mM H ₂ O ₂ in只需 2 小时。使用 UV-VIS、FT-IR 和 HPLC-MS/MS 研究染料降解机制。使用细菌模型Aliivibrio fischeri评估降解产物的生态毒性。这些测试表明，染料成功降解为毒性小于 RB5 的产物。