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Removal of nitrogen and phosphorus from sediment and overlying water by double electrolytic-driven remediation and its effect on microbial community structure in sediment

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Abstract

To test the effect of electrolysis and microbial remediation technology in polluted river sediment, we explored the possibility of using electrolysis method to remove ammoniacal nitrogen–nitrogen (NH3–N), nitrate-nitrogen (NO3––N) and phosphate ions-phosphorous (PO43−–P). The electrolysis was carried out by double electrolysis reaction system with a pair of a titanium (Ti) mesh cathode, a Ti/Ti dioxide (TiO2)/Ruthenium (IV) oxide (RuO2) (RuO2–IrO2/Ti) mesh anode, and another pair of magnesium–aluminum (Mg–Al) alloy anode and a titanium mesh cathode placed within the sediment and overlying water. Results showed approximately 151.82 ± 21.69 mg total nitrogen (TN) in sediment was removed, which was five times than the non-electrolytic controls (30.21 ± 13.73 mg). Furthermore, NH3–N concentration in the sediment was substantially reduced (up to 2.9 times) compared to the non-electrolytic controls. Its efficiency lies in the electrolysis process, which may directly remove NH3–N through electrochemical oxidation and simultaneously produce oxygen which helps nitrifying bacteria to convert NH3–N into an NO3−–N by anode; moreover, electrolysis may directly remove NO3−–N in the overlying water through electrochemical reduction while simultaneously producing hydrogen electron donors for hydrogen autotrophic microorganisms, such as Hydrogenophohaga. This genus of hydrogen autotrophic denitrifying bacteria dominated the removal of NO3−–N by a cathode in electrolytic sediment. Electrolysis also reduced the PO43−–P through electro-coagulation since Mg2+ ions also produced a sacrificial Mg–Al alloy anode. This anode was used in conjunction with electro-deposition on a Ti mesh cathode to increase PO43−-P removal in the overlying water and sediment. This study verifies the benefits of electrolysis-driven bioremediation as a sustainable technology for the bioremediation of N and P polluted river sediment.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Jiangsu Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China [Award No. BK20190320]; the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Award No. 51908277] and the National Water Pollution Control and Treatment Science and Technology Major Project (Award No. 2017ZX07204002).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210046, PR China

    Sanshan Li, Tangming Ma, Chaoqun Zheng, Zhaofang He, Liuyan Yang & Yan Gao

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  1. Sanshan Li
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  2. Tangming Ma
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  3. Chaoqun Zheng
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  4. Zhaofang He
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  5. Liuyan Yang
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  6. Yan Gao
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Contributions

YG and LY provided the original proposal and designed the experiment. SL and CZ conducted the experiment, water quality tests and characterization of the microbial community, diversity, and statistical analysis. YG wrote the manuscript with the help of LY and TM. All of the authors reviewed the manuscript and provided valuable suggestions.

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Correspondence to Yan Gao.

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Li, S., Ma, T., Zheng, C. et al. Removal of nitrogen and phosphorus from sediment and overlying water by double electrolytic-driven remediation and its effect on microbial community structure in sediment. Biogeochemistry 155, 205–218 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-021-00822-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-021-00822-7

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