Impact of an external electron acceptor on phosphorus mobility between water an...

• Author(s): Martins, Gilberto ; Peixoto, L. ; Teodorescu, S. ; Parpot, Pier ; Nogueira, R. ; Brito, A. G.
• Date: 2014
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/1822/27764
• Origin: RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho
• Subject(s): Lake sediments; Eutrophication; Wastewater; Phosphorus; Sediment microbial fuel cell
• Document Type: Article
• Language: English

Description

The present work assessed the impact of an external electron acceptor on phosphorus fluxes between water-sediment interface. Microcosm experiments simulating a sediment microbial fuel cell (SMFC) were carried out and phosphorus was extracted by an optimized combination of three methods. Despite the low voltage recorded, ∼96 mV (SMFC with carbon paper anode) and ∼146 mV (SMFC with stainless steel scourer anode), corresponding to a power density of 1.15 mW/m2 and 0.13 mW/m2, it was enough to produce an increase in the amounts of metal bound phosphorus (14% vs 11%), Ca-bound phosphorus (26% vs 23%) and refractory phosphorus (33% vs 28%). These results indicate an important role of electroactive bacteria in the phosphorus cycling and open a new perspective for preventing metal bound phosphorus dissolution from sediments.