Electricity generation and pollutants removal of landfill leachate by osmotic microbial fuel cells with different forward osmosis membranes

Abstract

In this study, thin-film composite with embedded polyester screen, cellulose triacetate with a cast nonwoven and cellulose triacetate with embedded polyester screen (CTA-ES) was examined as the intermediate membranes in osmotic microbial fuel cells (OsMFCs). The reactors were fed with actual landfill leachate and the performance was studied in two operation modes: active layer facing draw solution and active layer facing feed solution (AL-FS). The OsMFC with CTA-ES exhibited the best energy generation (maximum power density: 0.44 W m− 2) and pollutant removal efficiency (ammonia nitrogen: 70%, total nitrogen: 74%) in the AL-FS mode, which could be ascribed to the lowest internal resistance (237 Ω) and highest microbial richness. Pseudomonas was the highest proportion of microbial in OsMFCs. The result of this study has demonstrated the potential of OsMFCs for landfill leachate treatment.