LAUSR

Abstract Accelerated pollutant degradation was examined using a new combined chemical and bioelectrochemical system, called a Bio-E-Peroxone process, based on generating ·OH from H2O2 produced on the cathode of a microbial fuel cell (MFC) and using ozone-enriched air. To optimize H2O2 formation, different carbon materials were examined and the highest H2O2 rates were obtained using XC-72 carbon black cathode. In E-Peroxone tests using the XC-72 cathode, methylene blue (a model pollutant) degradation rates followed first-order kinetics, with a rate constant of 0.237 min–1, 6 times that obtained using only ozonation (0.032 min–1), 15 times greater than electrolysis+O2 system (0.015 min–1) and 45 times greater than electrolysis (0.005 min-1). In MFC tests when using the complete Bio-E-Peroxone system, the removal rate constant for methylene blue was 2.05 h–1, compared to 1.86 h–1 using only ozone and 0.41 h–1 using only electrolysis. Adding ozone to the air in cathode also increased power production by 47% to 170 mW m–3. The results demonstrated that this Bio-E-Peroxone system could be a feasible method for both degrading refractory compounds and wastewater electricity generation.