Traditional microbial fuel cell based biosensor (MFC-Biosensor) utilizes bioanode as sensing element and delivers high sensitivity for single toxic shock but it fails to alert the combined shock of organic… Click to show full abstract
Traditional microbial fuel cell based biosensor (MFC-Biosensor) utilizes bioanode as sensing element and delivers high sensitivity for single toxic shock but it fails to alert the combined shock of organic matter (OM)/toxic agent (TA). To address this limitation, this study developed a sequential flowing membrane-less MFC based biosensor (SMFC-Biosensor) using both bioanode and biocathode for toxicity monitoring. Results demonstrated the shocks of 1.5 mg/L Hg2+, 1.0 mg/L avermectin and 1.0 mg/L chlortetracycline hydrochloride to SMFC-Biosensor led to inhibition ratios of 36%, 15% and 9%, which were over twice higher than those of bioanode-based and biocathode-based MFC-Biosensors. The viabilities of anodic and cathodic biofilms were both inhibited by the toxic shock. Besides, the excessive organic matters caused a decay in the SMFC-Biosensor current and consequently the OM/TA combined shock could be successfully monitored. This study for the first time testified the feasibility of simultaneously using bioanode and biocathode as sensing elements for toxicity monitoring.
               
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