Enhancement of methanogenesis via direct interspecies electron transfer between Geobacteraceae and Methanosaetaceae conducted by granular activated carbon

Bacterial and Archaeal Communities in Erhai Lake Sediments: Abundance and Metabolic Insight into a Plateau Lake at the Edge of Eutrophication

The littoral zones of lakes are potential hotspots for local algal blooms and biogeochemical cycles; however, the microbial communities within the littoral sediments of eutrophic plateau lakes remain poorly understood. Here, we investigated the taxonomic composition, co-occurrence networks, and potential functional roles of both abundant and rare taxa within bacterial and archaeal communities, as well as physicochemical parameters, in littoral sediments from Erhai Lake, a mesotrophic lake transitioning towards eutrophy located in the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. 16S rRNA gene sequencing revealed that bacterial communities were dominated by Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Chloroflexi, while Euryarchaeota was the main archaeal phylum. Co-occurrence network analysis revealed that keystone taxa mainly belonged to rare species in the bacterial domain, but in the archaeal domain, over half of keystone taxa were abundant species, demonstrating their fundamental roles in network persistence. The rare bacterial taxa contributed substantially to the overall abundance (81.52%), whereas a smaller subset of abundant archaeal taxa accounted for up to 82.70% of the overall abundance. Functional predictions highlighted a divergence in metabolic potentials, with abundant bacterial sub-communities enriched in pathways for nitrogen cycling, sulfur cycling, and chlorate reduction, while rare bacterial sub-communities were linked to carbon cycling processes such as methanotrophy. Abundant archaeal sub-communities exhibited a high potential for methanogenesis, chemoheterotrophy, and dark hydrogen oxidation. Spearman correlation analysis showed that genera such as Candidatus competibacter, Geobacter, Syntrophobacter, Methanocella, and Methanosarcina may serve as potential indicators of eutrophication. Overall, this study provides insight into the distinct roles that rare and abundant taxa play in the littoral sediments of mesotrophic plateau lakes.

Roles of entrapped bubbles in methanogenic granules under oscillating pressure: Respiration and embolization for intra-granular transport

Anaerobic granular sludge plays a pivotal role in the treatment of concentrated organic wastewater. However, previous studies on intra- granular transport have generally overlooked lung-like respiration that expedites transport in response to fluctuating pressure. This study explored the activities of calcified and normal granules under simulated hydrostatic pressure oscillations. The results revealed a significant enhancement in the bioactivity of calcified granules under oscillating pressure, contrasting with the comparatively lower bioactivity observed in normal granules. The hypothesis posited that the gas pockets in calcified granules facilitated respiration as the functional structure. The presence of tiny bubbles exhibited a propensity for inducing clogging, thereby diminishing the capillary connectivity essential for substrate diffusion. The proposed respiration and embolization concepts decipher the distinct roles of entrapped bubbles in the granular bioactivity across diverse fluid states. This study offers valuable insights into the impact of fluidization on microscopic transport within granule-based bed reactors.

Granular activated carbon enhances volatile fatty acid production in the anaerobic fermentation of garden wastes

Garden waste, one type of lignocellulosic biomass, holds significant potential for the production of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) through anaerobic fermentation. However, the hydrolysis efficiency of garden waste is limited by the inherent recalcitrance, which further influences VFA production. Granular activated carbon (GAC) could promote hydrolysis and acidogenesis efficiency during anaerobic fermentation. This study developed a strategy to use GAC to enhance the anaerobic fermentation of garden waste without any complex pretreatments and extra enzymes. The results showed that GAC addition could improve VFA production, especially acetate, and reach the maximum total VFA yield of 191.55 mg/g VSadded, which increased by 27.35% compared to the control group. The highest VFA/sCOD value of 70.01% was attained in the GAC-amended group, whereas the control group only reached 49.35%, indicating a better hydrolysis and acidogenesis capacity attributed to the addition of GAC. Microbial community results revealed that GAC addition promoted the enrichment of Caproiciproducens and Clostridium, which are crucial for anaerobic VFA production. In addition, only the GAC-amended group showed the presence of Sphaerochaeta and Oscillibacter genera, which are associated with electron transfer processes. Metagenomics analysis indicated that GAC addition improved the abundance of glycoside hydrolases (GHs) and key functional enzymes related to hydrolysis and acidogenesis. Furthermore, the assessment of major genera influencing functional genes in both groups indicated that Sphaerochaeta, Clostridium, and Caproicibacter were the primary contributors to upregulated genes. These findings underscored the significance of employing GAC to enhance the anaerobic fermentation of garden waste, offering a promising approach for sustainable biomass conversion and VFA production.

Alleviation of ZnO nanoparticles-induced methanogenic inhibition by granular activated carbon

A great deal of attention has been paid to the toxicology of ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) to wastewater anaerobic digestion, but few studies have assessed how to reduce their toxic effects. In this study, different dosages of granular activated carbon (GAC) were added into ZnO NPs-bearing wastewater anaerobic digestion system. It was found that although the extracellular polymeric substances resistance, which had been impaired by ZnO NPs, could not be recovered by GAC, the suppressed methane yield was greatly enhanced by promoting the conversions of butyrate and acetate into methane. GAC of 10, 20 and 30 g/L enhanced the methane yield to 69%, 79% and 97% from 42% of the control inhibited by 100 mg/L ZnO NPs. This was mainly because the adsorption of GAC could weaken the effective contact between ZnO NPs and microbes, and also adsorb some released Zn2+ that has contributed primarily to ZnO NPs toxicology. The reduced toxicity of ZnO NPs was attributed to the enrichment of the tolerant hydrogenotrophic methanogens and the direct interspecies electron transfer-linking partners of Methanosarcina with Geobacter/Syntrophomonas. These syntrophic partners potentially used GAC as a conduit to transfer electrons for methane production.

Validation of 16S rRNA gene sequencing and metagenomics for evaluating microbial immigration in a methanogenic bioreactor

To quantitatively evaluate the impact of microbial immigration from an upstream community on the microbial assembly of a downstream community, an ecological genomics (ecogenomics)-based mass balance (EGMB) model coupled with 16S rRNA gene sequencing was previously developed. In this study, a mock community was used to further validate the EGMB models and demonstrate the feasibility of using metagenome-based EGMB model to reveal both microbial activity and function. The mock community consisting of Aeromonas, Escherichia, and Pseudomonas was fed into a lab-scale methanogenic bioreactor together with dissolved organic substrate. Using qPCR, 16S rRNA gene, 16S rRNA gene copy number normalization (GCN), and metagenome, results showed highly comparable community profiles in the feed. In the bioreactor, Aeromonas and Pseudomonas exhibited negative growth rates throughout the experiment by all approaches. Escherichia's growth rate was negative by most biomarkers but was slightly positive by 16S rRNA gene. Still, all approaches showed a decreasing trend toward negative in the growth rate of Escherichia as reactor operation time increased. Uncultivated populations of phyla Desulfobacterota, Chloroflexi, Actinobacteriota, and Spirochaetota were observed to increase in abundance, suggesting their contribution in degrading the feed biomass. Based on metabolic reconstruction of metagenomes, these populations possessed functions of hydrolysis, fermentation, fatty acid degradation, or acetate oxidation. Overall results supported the application of both 16S rRNA gene- and metagenome-based EGMB models to measure the growth rate of microbes in the bioreactor, and the latter had advantage in providing insights into the microbial functions of uncultivated populations.

Simultaneous boost of anodic electron transfer and exoelectrogens enrichment by decorating electrospinning carbon nanofibers in microbial fuel cell

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a promising technology in wastewater recovery driven by microbial metabolism. However, the low power output resulting from the sluggish extracellular electron transfer (EET) between the anode surface and exoelectrogens dramatically restricted the further application. This study fabricated a high-performance anode by decorating porous and conductive electrospinning carbon nanofibers (CNFs). The maximum power density in MFC modified with 14 wt% polyacrylonitrile CNFs (M-CNF14, 9.6 ± 0.2 W m^-3) was 1.9 and 2.7 times higher than carbon black modified MFC (M-CB, 5.1 ± 0.1 W m^-3) and the blank (M-BA, 3.6 ± 0.1 W m^-3), respectively. Denser biofilm and more microbial nanowires were observed in the M-CNF14 anode than in other conditions. Furthermore, the redox peak current of c-type cytochrome was 1.7-21 times higher in M-CNF14 than in the blank control, verifying the preferable EET activity. Several exoelectrogens like Petrimonas and Comamonas were enriched in M-CNF14 and showed a positive correlation to power generation. Besides, more simplified and modular interrelations among exoelectrogens and other bacteria were obtained in M-CNF14. This study revealed the microbial-related mechanism for simultaneously improving EET and exoelectrogens enrichment by CNFs modified anode, providing guidelines for high-performance wastewater recovery.

Effect of activated carbon/graphite on enhancing anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge

The conductive media was capable to enhance anaerobic digestion and promote direct interspecific electron transfer (DIET). In this study, the effects of activated carbon- and graphite-conductive media on promoting anaerobic digestion efficiency of waste activated sludge were experimentally studied. The results show that the 100 mesh-activated carbon group reactor produced a largest biogas yield of 468.2 mL/g VSS, which was 13.8% higher than the blank test. The graphite group reactor with 400-grain size produced a largest biogas yield of 462.9 mL/g VSS, which was 12.5% higher than the blank test. Moreover, the optimal particle size of such two carbon- conductive mediators were optimized for enhancing degradation efficiency of VSS, TCOD, total protein and total polysaccharide of waste sludge. Activated carbon was capable to promote the hydrolytic acidification stage in anaerobic digestion of waste sludge. When the particle size reduced to the optimal particle size, the promoting effect could be strengthened for producing more hydrolytic acidification products for methanogenesis. However, in the graphite group, the methane production is increased by promoting the consumption of hydrolysis and acidification products and is enhanced with the particle size reduction, thus promoting the methanogenesis process, and improving the anaerobic digestion efficiency. Microbial community analysis showed that both activated carbon and graphite cultivated the genera of Methanosaeta, Methanobacterium, Nitrososphaeraceae, which promoted the improvement of methane production through the acetate debris methanogenesis pathway.

Fundamentals and recent progress in bioelectrochemical system-assisted biohythane production

Biohythane, a balanced mixture of 10%-30% v/v of hydrogen and 70%-90% v/v of methane, could be the backbone of an all-purpose future energy supply. Recently, bioelectrochemical systems (BES) became a new sensation among environmental biotechnology processes with the potential to sustainably generate biohythane. Therefore, to unleash its full potential for scaling up, researchers are consistently improving microbial metabolic pathways, novel reactors, and electrode designs. This review presents a detailed analysis of recently discovered fundamental mechanisms and science and engineering intervention of different strategies to improve the biohythane composition and production rate from BES. However, several milestones are to be achieved, for instance, improving electrode kinetics using efficient catalysts, engineered microbial communities, and improved reactor configurations, for commercializing this sustainable technology. Thus, a future perspective section is included to recommend novel research lines, mainly focusing on the microbial communities and the efficient electrocatalysts, to enhance reactor performance.

Anaerobic membrane bioreactors for pharmaceutical-laden wastewater treatment: A critical review

Pharmaceuticalsare a diverse group of chemical compounds widely used for prevention and treatment of infectious diseases in both humans and animals. Pharmaceuticals, either in their original or metabolite form, find way into the wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) from different sources. Recently, anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBR) has received significant research attention for the treatment of pharmaceuticals in various wastewater streams. This review critically examines the behaviour and removal of a wide array of pharmaceuticals in AnMBR with primary focus on their removal efficiencies and mechanisms, critical influencing factors, and the microbial community structures. Subsequently, the inhibitory effects of pharmaceuticals on the performance of AnMBR and membrane fouling are critically discussed. Furthermore, the imperative role of membrane biofouling layer and its components in pharmaceuticals removal is highlighted. Finally, recent advancements in AnMBR configurations for membrane fouling control and enhanced pharmaceuticals removal are systemically discussed.

Enhancing anaerobic methane production in integrated floating-film activated sludge system filled with novel MWCNTs-modified carriers

Conductive materials can enhance anaerobic methane production by accelerating interspecies electron transfer between electroactive bacteria and methanogens. However, the daily loss or less specific surface area of small/big size of conductive materials always limits their application in anaerobic digestion. In this study, the conductive multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) (15 wt% and 20 wt%) were mixed with high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and novel conductive suspended carriers were prepared. Results showed the conductivity of the novel conductive suspended carriers increased by 1-2 orders of magnitude comparing with HDPE carriers, as well as the attached biomass improved from 3.93 g/m² (HDPE carriers) to 5.82 g/m² (15 wt% MWCNTs-modified carriers) and 6.67 g/m² (20 wt% MWCNTs-modified carriers). Integrated floating-film activated sludge (IFFAS) filled with MWCNT-modified carriers showed significant advantages in chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal (removal efficiency increased by 3.6-37.2%) and methanogenic performance (cumulative methane increased by 12.28-62.91%) compared with the control reactor filled with conventional HDPE carriers when treating sodium propionate wastewater at the organic loading rates (OLR) of 11.3-26.3 kg COD/(m³∙d). SEM images and high-throughput sequencing results proved potential direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET) had been established successfully on the MWCNTs-modified carriers. The syntrophic electroactive bacteria (Geobacter, Thauera) and Methanotrix were enriched by 2.28-4.58% and 9.41-16.80% respectively owning to the addition of novel conductive carriers. This study proved IFFAS process filled with novel MWCNTs-modified suspended carriers showed great potential in establishing DIET to enhance anaerobic digestion in practical application.

Enhanced anaerobic treatment of synthetic protein-rich wastewater promoted by organic xerogels

Carbon-based materials have been shown to enhance anaerobic digestion processes by promoting direct interspecies electron transfer in methanogenic consortia. However, little is known on their effects during the treatment of complex substrates, such as those derived from protein-rich wastewaters. Here, organic xerogels (OX) are tested, for the first time, as accelerators of the methanogenic activity of an anaerobic consortium treating a synthetic protein-rich wastewater. Three OX with distinct pore size distribution (10 and 1000 nm for OX-10 and OX-1000, respectively) and structural conformation (graphene oxide integration into OX-10-GO polymeric matrix) were synthesized. OX-1000 promoted the highest methane production rate (5.21 mL/g*h, 13.5% increase with respect to the control incubated without OX) among the synthesized OX. Additionally, batch bioreactors amended with OX achieved higher chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal (up to 88%) as compared to the control, which only showed 50% of COD removal. Interestingly, amendment of bioreactors with OX also triggered the production of medium-chain fatty acids, including caprylate and caproate. Moreover, OX decreased the accumulation of ammonium, derived from proteins hydrolysis, partly explained by their adsorption capacities, and probably involving their electron-accepting capacity promoting anaerobic ammonium oxidation. This is the first time that OX were successfully applied as methanogenic accelerators for the anaerobic treatment of synthetic protein-rich wastewater, increasing the methane production rate and COD removal as well as triggering the production of medium chain fatty acids and attenuating the accumulation of ammonium. Therefore, OX are proposed as suitable materials to boost the efficiency of anaerobic systems to treat complex industrial wastewaters.

A comprehensive review on the use of conductive materials to improve anaerobic digestion: Focusing on landfill leachate treatment

Globally, around 70% of waste is disposed of in open dumps or landfill sites, with the leachate generated from these sites containing high concentrations of organic and inorganic compounds, which will adversely affect aquatic environments if discharged without proper treatment. Anaerobic digestion of landfill leachate is an environmentally-friendly method that efficiently converts organic compounds into methane-rich biogas. However, the widespread application of anaerobic digestion has been hindered by poor system stability, low methanogenic activity and a high level of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) accumulation, increasing the operational costs of treatment. Conductive materials can be added to the digester to improve the performance of anaerobic digestion in landfill leachate treatment systems and studies reporting the use of conductive materials for this purpose are hereby thoroughly reviewed. The mechanism of microbial growth and enrichment by conductive materials is discussed, as well as the subsequent effect on waste metabolism, methane production, syntrophic relationships and interspecies electron transfer. The porous structure, specific surface area and conductivity of conductive materials play vital roles in the facilitation of syntrophic relationships between fermentative bacteria and methanogenic archaea. In addition, the mediation of direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET) by conductive materials increases the methane content of biogas from 16% to 60% as compared to indirect interspecies electron transfer (IIET) in conventional anaerobic digestion systems. This review identifies research gaps in the field of material-amended anaerobic systems, suggesting future research directions including investigations into combined chemical-biological treatments for landfill leachate, microbial management using conductive materials for efficient pollutant removal and the capacity for material reuse. Moreover, findings of this review provide a reference for the efficient and large-scale treatment of landfill leachate by anaerobic digestion with conductive materials.

Promotion of granular activated carbon on methanogenesis of readily acidogenic carbohydrate-rich waste at low inoculation ratio

Although granular activated carbon (GAC) supplementation into food waste anaerobic digestion system is an efficient means to enhance methane production. As yet, little is known whether GAC supplementation is suitable for the extreme condition of pH below 4.5, which occurs in the use of readily acidogenic carbohydrate-rich waste (RACW) as methanogenic substrate when at low inoculation/substrate (I/S) ratio. This study investigated the effects of GAC on RACW anaerobic digestion under different inoculation/substrate (I/S) ratios. It was found that the addition of GAC was a preferred alternative method to enhancing I/S ratio for promoting methane production from RACW. The additive dose of 20 g/L was recommended for the methanogenesis of RACW at low I/S of 1:2, and the methane yield was enhanced by 12 times (505 mL/g-VS) compared with that (42 mL/g-VS) from the control. This promotion resulted from the apparently solving the over-acidogenesis problem and the adjustment of pH to the desired range. Further investigation revealed that the added GAC enhanced the activities of acetate kinase and coenzyme F₄₂₀, that engaged in the acidogenic and methanogenic reactions. Meanwhile, the decrease of hydrogenase and increase of c-Cyts implied that the metabolism of direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET) was probably stimulated by GAC. Microbial investigation inferred that the enriched hydrogenotrophic methanogens and DIET-mediated syntrophic partners of Geobacter/Syntrophomonas with Methanosarcina were responsible for the enhanced methane yield.

Enhanced anaerobic co-digestion performance by using surface-annealed titanium spheres at different atmospheres

A series of surface-annealed titanium spheres (Ti-A, Ti-B, and Ti-C) in different atmospheres were used as accelerants in anaerobic co-digestion (AcoD) systems under magnetic field (MF). Surface-annealed titanium spheres and MF exhibit remarkable coupling and promoting effects on the AcoD performance. The cumulative biogas yield (435.84-552.60 mL/g VS) and total chemical oxygen demand (COD) degradation efficiency (59.76%-71.28%) of the AcoD systems with Ti_MF, Ti-A_MF, Ti-B_MF, and Ti-C_MF were significantly higher than control (357.66 mL/g VS and 51.5%). The digestates of the AcoD system with surface-annealed Ti spheres delivered excellent stability (49.83%-59.90%) and fertilizer (4.21%-4.56%). This work clarifies the possible role of surface-annealed Ti spheres in enhancing methanogenesis.

Saponification with calcium has different impacts on anaerobic digestion of saturated/unsaturated long chain fatty acids

Little is known about the influence of the saturation degree of long chain fatty acids (LCFAs) on the bio-methane potential of calcium-LCFAs salts. In this study, palmitic acid and oleic acid were chosen as the model compounds to investigate the impact of saponification between calcium and saturated/unsaturated LCFAs on the methane recovery from LCFAs in anaerobic digestion. A 2.2-fold enhancement of methane yield was obtained due to the formation of calcium palmitate, which was primarily attributed to the enhanced bio-aggregation and significant change of microbial community. However, saponification between calcium and oleic acid decreased the methane recovery from oleic acid digestion. Only partial saponification with excess oleic acid led to 4% increment of methane production. The low bio-accessibility of calcium oleate and the little change of microbial community may be responsible for the small difference of methane recovery due to the formation of calcium oleate.

Promotion of direct interspecies electron transfer and potential impact of conductive materials in anaerobic digestion and its downstream processing - a critical review

Addition of conductive materials (CMs) has been reported to facilitate direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET) and improved anaerobic digestion (AD) performance. This review summarises the benefits and outlines remaining research challenges of the addition of CMs with a focus on the downstream processing of AD. CM addition may alter biogas quality, digestate dewaterability, biosolids volume, and centrate quality. Better biogas quality has been observed due to the adsorption of H₂S to metallic CMs. The addition of CMs results in an increase in solid content of the digestate and thus an additional requirement for sludge dewatering and handling and the final biosolids volume for disposal. This review highlights the need for more research at pilot scale to validate the benefits of CM addition and to evaluate CM selection, doses, material costs, and the impact on downstream processes. The lack of research on the impact of CMs on the downstream process of AD is highlighted.

Coconut-shell-derived bio-based carbon enhanced microbial electrolysis cells for upgrading anaerobic co-digestion of cow manure and aloe peel waste

Microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) and exogenous accelerants can augment anaerobic digestion performance. Herein, MECs and coconut-shell-derived bio-based carbon (CBC) accelerant are adopted to strengthen anaerobic co-digestion of cow manure and aloe peel waste. The MEC with the voltage of 0.6 V and CBC accelerant of 0.15 wt.% gained the highest cumulative biogas yield (444.20 NmL/g VS) and chemical oxygen demand removal rate (75.46%), which are 80.25% and 58.33% higher than those (246.44 NmL/g VS, 47.66%) of the blank group, respectively. The digestates embodied a utilization potential with thermogravimetric loss of 37.12%-50.67% and total nutrient content of 35.36-51.58 g/kg. These results benefited from excellent electrocatalytic activity of MECs and physicochemical properties of CBC accelerant. A general strategy for understanding improved methanogenesis was proposed based on integrated effects of MECs and CBC accelerant. This work will shed light on development of anaerobic co-digestion by combining MECs and bio-based carbon accelerants.

The role of conductive nanoparticles in anaerobic digestion: Mechanism, current status and future perspectives

In the current scenario, alternative energy sources are the need of the hour. Organic wastes having a larger fraction of biodegradable constituents present a sustainable bioenergy source. It has been reported that the calorific value of biogas generated by anaerobic digestion (AD) is 21-25 MJ/m³ with the treatment which makes it an excellent replacement of natural gas and fossil fuels and can reduce more than 80% greenhouse gas emission to the surroundings. However, there are some limitations associated with the AD process for instance ammonia build-up at the first stage reduces the rate of hydrolysis of biomass, whereas, in the last stage it interferes with methane formation. Owing to special physicochemical properties such as high activity, high reactive surface area, and high specificity, tailor-made conductive nanoparticles can improve the performance of the AD process. In the AD process, H₂ is used as an electron carrier, referred as mediated interspecies electron transfer (MIET). Due to the diffusion limitation of these electron carriers, the MIET efficiency is relatively low that limits the methanogenesis. Direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET), which enables direct cell-to-cell electron transport between bacteria and methanogen, has been considered an alternative efficient approach to MIET that creates metabolically favorable conditions and results in faster conversion of organic acids and alcohols into methane. This paper discusses in detail the application of conductive nanoparticles to enhance the AD process efficiency. Interaction between microbes in anaerobic conditions for electron transfer with the help of CNPs is discussed. Application of a variety of conductive nanomaterials as an additive is discussed with their potential biogas production and treatment enhancement in the anaerobic digestion process.

Enhancing anaerobic digestion process with addition of conductive materials

Anaerobic digestion is widely used for the treatment of wastewater for its low costs and bioenergy production, but the performances of anaerobic digestion often need improving in practical applications. The addition of conductive materials could lead to direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET) among the anaerobic microorganisms, and consequently enhance the efficiencies of anaerobic digestion. In this paper, the effects of DIET via conductive materials on chemical organic demand (COD) removal, volatile fatty acid (VFA) consumption and methane production were reviewed. The reports on the increase of conductive microorganisms due to the addition of conductive materials were discussed. Results regarding activities of microorganisms and morphology and properties of sludge were described and commented, and future research needs were also proposed which included better understanding of the roles of DIET in each step of anaerobic digestion, mechanisms of metabolism of pollutants in DIET-established systems and inhibition of excessive dosage of conductive materials.

Zeolitic imidazolate framework-derived porous carbon enhances methanogenesis by facilitating interspecies electron transfer: Understanding fluorimetric and electrochemical responses of multi-layered extracellular polymeric substances

Modulating microbial electron transfer during anaerobic digestion can significantly improve syntrophic interactions for enhanced biogas production. As a carbonaceous conductive material, zeolite imidazolate framework-67 (ZIF-67)-derived porous carbon (PC) was hypothesized to act as a microbial electron transfer highway and assessed with respect to understanding the fluorimetric and electrochemical responses of multilayered extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). The highest biomethane yield (614.0 mL/g) from ethanol was achieved in the presence of 100 mg/L PC prepared at a carbonization temperature of 800 °C (PC-800), which was 28.2% higher than that without PC addition. Electrochemical analysis revealed that both the redox peak currents and conductivity of the methanogenic sludge increased, while the free charge transfer resistance decreased with PC-800 addition. The conductive PC-800 potentially functioned as an abiotic electron conduit to promote direct interspecies electron transfer, thereby resulting in decreased expression of functional genes associated with electrically conductive pili (e-pili) and hemeproteins. Additionally, PC-800 stimulated the secretion of redox-active humic substances (HSs), and excitation emission matrix spectra analysis indicated that the largest increase in percent fluorescence response of HSs occurred in the tightly bound EPS (TB-EPS) with addition of PC-800. This was attributed to the strong complexation ability of PC-800 particles to hydroxyl/carboxylic/phenolic moieties of HSs contained in the TB-EPS. Microbial analysis revealed that syntrophic/exoelectrogenic bacteria such as Pelotomaculum and Syntrophomonas, as well as hydrogenotrophic/electrotrophic methanogens such as Methanoculleus and Methanobacterium, were enriched in methanogenic sludge with adding PC-800. This study provided comprehensive insights for understanding the interactions among ZIF-derived PC, methanogenic microorganisms and their multilayered EPS.

Antifouling potential and microbial characterization of an electrochemical anaerobic membrane bioreactor utilizing membrane cathode and iron anode

Serious membrane fouling limits the application of anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBRs) in sewage treatment. Herein, a novel electrochemical AnMBR (eAnMBR) was established by integrating electrocoagulation and a conductive membrane into an AnMBR. Compared with the traditional AnMBR, TP average removal rate increased by 24.97% and the membrane service cycle extended by 109.68% in the eAnMBR. Low extracellular polymeric substance concentration and large floc size were found in the mixed liquid of the eAnMBR due to the combined effect of coagulation and electric field, which induced a porous and hydrophilic cake layer, resulting in excellent water permeation capabilities. Additionally, the conductive membrane cathode effectively suppressed membrane fouling by the electrostatic repulsion and gas scouring. In the eAnMBR, the presence of an electric field and iron ions enriched the diversity of the microbial community, which may improve the adaptation of biochemical systems to environmental changes.

Effect of microbial community structure in inoculum on the stimulation of direct interspecies electron transfer for methanogenesis

To investigate how the seed microbial community structure affects the improvement of methanogenesis efficiency through direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET), a biomethane potential (BMP) test was conducted using sludge collected from a total of six anaerobic digesters. DIET-stimulating microbial populations were investigated by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. Correlations between microbial community composition and methane production performance by DIET were analyzed. The methane production rate increased under all conditions when granular activated carbon (GAC) was injected regardless of the inoculum type. However, redundancy analysis indicated a significant correlation between the inoculum microbial community and lag time. In a network analysis, Methanolinea species distributed in the inocula formed a single modularity with lag time, suggesting that the methanogens in the inocula might reduce the lag time of methanogenesis through DIET. Overall, this study revealed that the inoculum microbial community composition is an important factor affecting methane production efficiency by DIET.

Direct interspecies electron transfer mechanism in enhanced methanogenesis: A mini-review

The role of direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET) on enhancement of methanogenesis has been studied. This mini-review updated the current researches on the potential role of DIET on enhanced performance for anaerobic digestion of organic substrates with effective strategies implemented. Since most experimental observations correlated with the DIET mechanism are yet to be consolidated, this article categorized and discussed the current experimental observations supporting DIET mechanism for methanogenesis, mainly based on those with supplement of carbon materials, from which the prospects and challenges for further studies to confirm the role of DIET in anaerobic digestion processes were highlighted.

Insight into sludge anaerobic digestion with granular activated carbon addition: Methanogenic acceleration and methane reduction relief

In this study, the multiple effects of granular activated carbon (GAC) on sludge anaerobic digestion at ambient (16-24 °C), mesophilic (35 °C) and thermophilic (55 °C) temperature were investigated. After GAC addition, although the methane yields of raw sludge were reduced by 6.5%-36.9%, the lag phases of methanogenesis were shortened by 19.3%-30.6% and the reductions of methane yields were declined to only 5.9%-8.1% simultaneously for pretreated sludge. The inhibitory substances like phenols that generated by thermal pretreatment were reduced after GAC addition, which were demonstrated to be responsible for the methanogenic acceleration. Meanwhile, the methane reduction due to the non-selective adsorption by GAC could be mitigated by pretreatment and elevated temperature. Thus, a strategy coupling thermal pretreatment with detoxification by GAC was proposed to improve the methane production rate and avoid the negative effects during sludge anaerobic digestion with GAC addition.

New insights into enhanced anaerobic degradation of coal gasification wastewater (CGW) with the assistance of magnetite nanoparticles

Magnetite nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄ NPs) was firstly used to enhance pollutants removal during coal gasification wastewater (CGW) treatment in anaerobic digestion (AD) system. Bench-scale results revealed that 200 mg/L and 20-40 nm of Fe₃O₄ NPs addition resulted in a maximum removal capacity of total phenol (TPh) at a temperature of 36 °C and hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 36 h. Meanwhile, Fe₃O₄ NPs addition reduced the oxidation reduction potential (ORP) values and biological toxicity, and enhanced the stability of AD system. Pilot-scale results showed that the TPh and chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency (53% and 49%) were obtained with the optimal dosage of Fe₃O₄ NPs. Moreover, electron nanowires may be established with Fe₃O₄ NPs assisted to perform direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET) among Geobacter, Pseudomonas and Methanosaeta species, and finally enhanced the pollutants removal efficiency.

The role of humic substances in mitigating greenhouse gases emissions: Current knowledge and research gaps

Humic substances (HS) constitute a highly transformed fraction of natural organic matter (NOM) with a heterogeneous structure, which is rich in electron-transferring functional moieties. Because of this feature, HS display a versatile reactivity with a diversity of environmentally relevant organic and inorganic compounds either by abiotic or microbial processes. Consequently, extensive research has been conducted related to the potential of HS to drive relevant processes in bio-engineered systems, as well as in the biogeochemical cycling of key elements in natural environments. Nevertheless, the increase in the number of reports examining the relationship between HS and the microorganisms related to the production and consumption of greenhouse gases (GHG), the main drivers of global warming, has just emerged in the last years. In this paper, we discuss the importance of HS, and their analogous redox-active organic molecules (RAOM), on controlling the emission of three of the most relevant GHG due to their tight relationship with microbial activity, their abundance on the Earth's atmosphere, and their important global warming potentials: carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O). The current knowledge gaps concerning the microbial component, on-site occurrence, and environmental constraints affecting these HS-mediated processes are provided. Furthermore, strategies involving the metabolic traits that GHG-consuming/HS-reducing and -oxidizing microbes display for the development of environmental engineered processes are also discussed.

New Insights into the Ecology and Physiology of Methanomassiliicoccales from Terrestrial and Aquatic Environments

Members of the archaeal order Methanomassiliicoccales are methanogens mainly associated with animal digestive tracts. However, environmental members remain poorly characterized as no representatives not associated with a host have been cultivated so far. In this study, metabarcoding screening combined with quantitative PCR analyses on a collection of diverse non-host-associated environmental samples revealed that Methanomassiliicoccales were very scarce in most terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Relative abundance of Methanomassiliicoccales and substrates/products of methanogenesis were monitored during incubation of environmental slurries. A sediment slurry enriched in Methanomassiliicoccales was obtained from a freshwater sample. It allowed the reconstruction of a high-quality metagenome-assembled genome (MAG) corresponding to a new candidate species, for which we propose the name of Candidatus 'Methanomassiliicoccus armoricus MXMAG1'. Comparison of the annotated genome of MXMAG1 with the published genomes and MAGs from Methanomassiliicoccales belonging to the 2 known clades ('free-living'/non-host-associated environmental clade and 'host-associated'/digestive clade) allowed us to explore the putative physiological traits of Candidatus 'M. armoricus MXMAG1'. As expected, Ca. 'Methanomassiliicoccus armoricus MXMAG1' had the genetic potential to produce methane by reduction of methyl compounds and dihydrogen oxidation. This MAG encodes for several putative physiological and stress response adaptations, including biosynthesis of trehalose (osmotic and temperature regulations), agmatine production (pH regulation), and arsenic detoxication, by reduction and excretion of arsenite, a mechanism that was only present in the 'free-living' clade. An analysis of co-occurrence networks carried out on environmental samples and slurries also showed that Methanomassiliicoccales detected in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems were strongly associated with acetate and dihydrogen producing bacteria commonly found in digestive habitats and which have been reported to form syntrophic relationships with methanogens.

Sparking Anaerobic Digestion: Promoting Direct Interspecies Electron Transfer to Enhance Methane Production

Anaerobic digestion was one of the first bioenergy strategies developed, yet the interactions of the microbial community that is responsible for the production of methane are still poorly understood. For example, it has only recently been recognized that the bacteria that oxidize organic waste components can forge electrical connections with methane-producing microbes through biologically produced, protein-based, conductive circuits. This direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET) is faster than interspecies electron exchange via diffusive electron carriers, such as H2. DIET is also more resilient to perturbations such as increases in organic load inputs or toxic compounds. However, with current digester practices DIET rarely predominates. Improvements in anaerobic digestion associated with the addition of electrically conductive materials have been attributed to increased DIET, but experimental verification has been lacking. This deficiency may soon be overcome with improved understanding of the diversity of microbes capable of DIET, which is leading to molecular tools for determining the extent of DIET. Here we review the microbiology of DIET, suggest molecular strategies for monitoring DIET in anaerobic digesters, and propose approaches for re-engineering digester design and practices to encourage DIET.

Graphene: An Antibacterial Agent or a Promoter of Bacterial Proliferation?

Graphene materials (GMs) are being investigated for multiple microbiological applications because of their unique physicochemical characteristics including high electrical conductivity, large specific surface area, and robust mechanical strength. In the last decade, studies on the interaction of GMs with bacterial cells appear conflicting. On one side, GMs have been developed to promote the proliferation of electroactive bacteria on the surface of electrodes in bioelectrochemical systems or to accelerate interspecies electron transfer during anaerobic digestion. On the other side, GMs with antibacterial properties have been synthesized to prevent biofilm formation on membranes for water treatment, on medical equipment, and on tissue engineering scaffolds. In this review, we discuss the mechanisms and factors determining the positive or negative impact of GMs on bacteria. Furthermore, we examine the bacterial growth-promoting and antibacterial applications of GMs and debate their practicability.

Inhibition mitigation of methanogenesis processes by conductive materials: A critical review

Methanogenesis can be promoted by the addition of conductive materials. Although stimulating effects of conductive materials on methane (CH₄) production has been extensively reported, the crucial roles on recovering methanogenic activities under inhibitory conditions have not been systematically discussed. This critical review presents the current findings on the effects of conductive materials in methanogenic systems under volatile fatty acids (VFAs), ammonia, sulfate, and nano-cytotoxicity stressed conditions. Conductive materials induce fast VFAs degradation, avoiding VFAs accumulation during anaerobic digestion. Under high ammonia concentrations, conductive materials may ensure sufficient energy conservation for methanogens to maintain intracellular pH and proton balance. When encountering the competition of sulfate-reducing bacteria, conductive materials can benefit electron competitive capability of methanogens, recovering CH₄ production activity. Conductive nanomaterials stimulate the excretion of extracellular polymeric substances, which can prevent cells from nano-cytotoxicity. Future perspectives about unraveling mitigation mechanisms induced by conductive materials in methanogenesis processes are further discussed.

Effect of steel slag in recycling waste activated sludge to produce anaerobic granular sludge

The amount of waste activated sludge (WAS) has grown dramatically in China. WAS is considered as a problematic and hazardous waste, which should be disposed in a safe and sustainable manner. In order to recycle WAS to an anaerobic granular sludge (AnGS) process for anaerobic digestion, Fe powder and steel slags (rusty and clean slags) were used to enhance the granulation process. The results demonstrated that both rusty and clean slags encouraged the development of granular sludge. Adding 10 g/L clean slags could increase AnGS granulation rate by 37%. In the presence of clean slags, extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) concentration in granules increased noticeably to 715 mg/g mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS). High throughput sequencing analysis exhibited more diversity and higher abundance of functional microbial communities in the batch bottle with 10 g/L clean slags. This study suggested that adding clean slags at 10 g/L dosage was a sustainable and effective method for the sludge granulation.

Effect of zero-valent iron combined with carbon-based materials on the mitigation of ammonia inhibition during anaerobic digestion

Ammonia inhibition is a prominent problem for anaerobic digestion (AD) of nitrogen-rich organic wastes. This study evaluated the effect of zero valent iron (ZVI) and its hybrid with activated carbon (AC), graphite and Fe-C material on the mitigation of ammonia inhibition under ammonia concentration over 5 g/L, according to the batch mode experiments. Results showed that ZVI (4 g/L) and its hybrid with carbon-based material preserving methane production from ammonia inhibition, with kinetics of shortening lag phase from 4.77 d to 2.62 d or even below 2 d with carbon-based material. ZVI preserved methane production with the enrichment of Methanosarcina (the relative abundance was over 80%), which was mostly derived from the activating hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis through the enhanced DIET but not the changes of ORP and FAN.

A new strategy to recover from volatile fatty acid inhibition in anaerobic digestion by photosynthetic bacteria

The accumulation of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) can decrease reactor pH and inhibit methane-producing process. For the first time, photosynthetic bacteria (PSB) were used to recover from VFAs inhibition (pH 6.0) of an anaerobic digestion system. After adding PSB for 12 days with and without light condition, the methane content recovered from 33.3% to 60.5% and from 32.1% to 59.3%, respectively; the pH increased to 7.1 and 6.8, respectively, the system alkalinity rapidly increased to 2238 and 1921 mg/L, respectively; the sCOD decreased from 5600 to 995 mg/L and from 5575 to 2025 mg/L, respectively; and the contents of formic acid, acetic acid, propionic acid and total VFA were greatly reduced. Microbial analysis found that PSB bioaugmentation could maintain microbial diversity of the system. PSB bioaugmentation could effectively relieve acids accumulation and stimulate methane production especially under light condition. It is also found that light could accelerate recovery with or without bioaugmentation.

Role of biomass-derived carbon-based composite accelerants in enhanced anaerobic digestion: Focusing on biogas yield, fertilizer utilization, and density functional theory calculations

The performance of anaerobic digestion (AD) can be improved by the addition of accelerants. Three types of biomass-derived carbon-based composites (Co/C, CoO/C, and Co₃O₄/C) were used as accelerants to investigate the effect on AD systems in this work. These accelerants significantly improved the cumulative biogas yield (576-585 mL/g VS), and the total chemical oxygen demand degradation rate (68.48-71.11%) compared to the reference group (435.8 mL/g VS, 50.74%). The digestates with accelerants exhibited exceptional stability (59.24-63.67%) and superior fertilizer utilization (3.50-4.55%). In addition, first-principle density functional theory (DFT) calculations were conducted to provide the theoretical basis for the direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET), and a general strategy was proposed to help understand the enhanced methanogenesis pathway induced by the biomass-derived carbon-based composites. These important findings provide a novel avenue for the development of composite accelerants for AD systems.

Enhanced Anaerobic Digestion by Stimulating DIET Reaction

Since the observation of direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET) in anaerobic mixed cultures in 2010s, the topic “DIET-stimulation” has been the main route to enhance the performance of anaerobic digestion (AD) under harsh conditions, such as high organic loading rate (OLR) and the toxicants’ presence. In this review article, we tried to answer three main questions: (i) What are the merits and strategies for DIET stimulation? (ii) What are the consequences of stimulation? (iii) What is the mechanism of action behind the impact of this stimulation? Therefore, we introduced DIET history and recent relevant findings with a focus on the theoretical advantages. Then, we reviewed the most recent articles by categorizing how DIET reaction was stimulated by adding conductive material (CM) and/or applying external voltage (EV). The emphasis was made on the enhanced performance (yield and/or production rate), CM type, applied EV, and mechanism of action for each stimulation strategy. In addition, we explained DIET-caused changes in microbial community structure. Finally, future perspectives and practical limitations/chances were explored in detail. We expect this review article will provide a better understanding for DIET pathway in AD and encourage further research development in a right direction.

Adding carbon-based materials on anaerobic digestion performance: A mini-review

The anaerobic digestion is the adopted to remediate the pollutant and extract the bioenergy from the waste during the treatment. Effects of adding carbon-based materials on enhancement of digestion performance are studied in literature. This paper provided a mini review on the current research efforts on the traditional view on the cytotoxicity of carbon-based materials to the aquatic microorganisms and the novel "adding carbon-based material strategy" for improving the anaerobic digestion performances. The further research needs for comprehending the interactions between the added carbon materials, the substrates and the microorganisms and the impacts of adopting these additives on full-scale operations were highlighted.

Enhanced 2,4,6-trichlorophenol anaerobic degradation by Fe3O4 supported on water hyacinth biochar for triggering direct interspecies electron transfer and its use in coal gasification wastewater treatment

Fe₃O₄ supported on water hyacinth biochar (Fe₃O₄/WHB) was successfully used in anaerobic degradation of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol and coal gasification wastewater (CGW). Chemical oxygen demand removal efficiency and methane production were significantly improved to 98.9% and 2.0 L with Fe₃O₄/WHB assisted. Fe₃O₄/WHB facilitated the conversion of CO₂ to methane and reduce H₂ production. A higher coenzyme F₄₂₀ concentration of 1.32 μmol/(g-mixed liquor volatile suspended solids) was found with the presence of Fe₃O₄/WHB, which might result in a faster conversion of acetate to methane. More interspecific signal molecules, lower diffusible signal factor, and higher mean particle size indicated that Fe₃O₄/WHB accelerated the sludge granulation process. Microbial community analysis revealed that enriched bacteria Geobacter along with archaea Methanothrix and Methanosarcina may be involved in direct interspecies electron transfer by Fe₃O₄/WHB stimulation, enhancing the performance of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol fermentation. It is shown that use of Fe₃O₄/WHB is feasible for enhanced CGW treatment.

Enhanced biomethane recovery from fat, oil, and grease through co-digestion with food waste and addition of conductive materials

In this study, the effect of conductive additives on co-digestion of fat, oil, and grease (FOG) and food waste (FW) was evaluated. Initially, biochemical methane potential (BMP) test was conducted for optimization of mixing ratio of FW and FOG. The optimal methane production (800 L (kg VS)^-1) was obtained from co-digestion of 70% FW + 30% FOG (w/w), which was 1.2 times and 12 times of that obtained from mono-digestion of FW and FOG, respectively. This optimal mixing ratio was used for subsequent fed-batch studies with the addition of two conductive additives, granular activated carbon (GAC) and magnetite. The addition of GAC significantly shortened the lag phase (from 7 to 3 d), reduced accumulation of various volatile fatty acids (VFAs), and enhanced methane production rate (50-80% increase) compared to the control and magnetite-amended bioreactor. Fourier transformation infrared (FTIR) analysis suggested that the degradation of lipids, protein and carbohydrates was the highest in GAC amended reactor, followed by magnetite and control reactors. GAC addition also enriched more abundant and diverse bacteria and methanogens than control. Magnetite addition also showed similar trends but to a lesser degree. The substantial enrichment of syntrophic LCFA β-oxidizing bacteria (e.g. Syntrophomonas) and methanogenic archaea in the GAC-amended bioreactor likely attributed to the superior methanogenesis kinetics in GAC amended bioreactor. Our findings suggest that the addition of GAC could provide a sustainable strategy to enrich kinetically efficient syntrophic microbiome to favor methanogenesis kinetics in co-digestion of FW and FOG.

Effect of different initial low pH conditions on biogas production, composition, and shift in the aceticlastic methanogenic population

Anaerobic digestion (AD) reactors often encounter low pH inhibition during startup and high organic loading periods. The use of a large amount of NaOH in order to raise and buffer the low pH, is reported to be inhibitory to methanogens. In order to address this problem, we acclimatized aceticlastic methanogens to low pH. Methanogens were successfully acclimatized to initial low pH down to 3.5 in a lengthy, five months, acclimatization period. The aceticlastic methanogen, Methanothrix soehngenii which was 96.3% of the total methanogenic population at pH 4.5 and 86.75% at pH 3.5, demonstrated that they were the most tolerant aceticlastic methanogens to low pH. After acclimatization, methane yield at pH 4.5 was comparable to neutral pH. Methanosaeta maintained its dominance over Methanosarcina at an elevated level of acetate (66 mM), and a negative correlation was observed between them. There was a positive correlation between the CH₄ content and pH.

Study on enhancing sludge methanogenesis by adding acetylene black and effect on the characteristics & microbial community of anaerobic granular sludge

The effect of acetylene black (ACET) as additives on methane production, extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), microbial community structure and methanogenesis pathway during sludge anaerobic digestion (AD) was investigated in this study. The results indicated that the addition of 2 g L-1 ACET resulted in a 44.36% increase in methane accumulation. ACET, which resulted in the increase of EPS and VSS/TSS by 4.71-50.64%, effectively improved the physicochemical properties of anaerobic granular sludge (AnGS). During anaerobic digestion, the high throughput sequencing presented direct evidence that the ACET increased microbial diversity and enriched functional microorganisms such as norank_f__Synergistaceae, norank_f__Anaerolineaceae, and unclassified_f__Clostridiaceae_3, which can improve the hydrolysis acidification process and the acetotrophic pathway. These results were reaffirmed by applying metagenome inference and gene content inference (16S function prediction). Microscopically, significant enhancement in the AD efficiency can be due to the methanogenesis promoted by the ACET that can construct direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET) between the unclassified_f__Clostridiaceae_3, norank_f__Anaerolineaceae, and Methanosaeta. These results were expected to provide primary research data for improving the performance of anaerobic reactors and the development of microbial fuel cells.

Metatranscriptomic evidence for classical and RuBisCO-mediated CO2 reduction to methane facilitated by direct interspecies electron transfer in a methanogenic system

In a staged anaerobic fluidized-bed ceramic membrane bioreactor, metagenomic and metatranscriptomic analyses were performed to decipher the microbial interactions on the granular activated carbon. Metagenome bins, representing the predominating microbes in the bioreactor: syntrophic propionate-oxidizing bacteria (SPOB), acetoclastic Methanothrix concilii, and exoelectrogenic Geobacter lovleyi, were successfully recovered for the reconstruction and analysis of metabolic pathways involved in the transformation of fatty acids to methane. In particular, SPOB degraded propionate into acetate, which was further converted into methane and CO₂ by M. concilii via the acetoclastic methanogenesis. Concurrently, G. lovleyi oxidized acetate into CO₂, releasing electrons into the extracellular environment. By accepting these electrons through direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET), M. concilii was capable of performing CO₂ reduction for further methane formation. Most notably, an alternative RuBisCO-mediated CO₂ reduction (the reductive hexulose-phosphate (RHP) pathway) is transcriptionally-active in M. concilii. This RHP pathway enables M. concilii dominance and energy gain by carbon fixation and methanogenesis, respectively via a methyl-H₄MPT intermediate, constituting the third methanogenesis route. The complete acetate reduction (2 mole methane formation/1 mole acetate consumption), coupling of acetoclastic methanogenesis and two CO₂ reduction pathways, are thermodynamically favorable even under very low substrate condition (down to to 10^-5 M level). Such tight interactions via both mediated and direct interspecies electron transfer (MIET and DIET), induced by the conductive GAC promote the overall efficiency of bioenergy processes.

A novel bioaugmentation strategy to accelerate methanogenesis via adding Geobacter sulfurreducens PCA in anaerobic digestion system

Based on the new syntrophic methanogenesis route via direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET), a novel bioaugmentation method by adding exoelectrogenic Geobacter species to accelerate methanogenesis was developed in this study. Geobacter sulfurreducens PCA, type exoelectrogenic strain of Geobacter species was chosen for the research. To clarify the effect of G. sulfurreducens on methanogenesis, batch tests of CH₄ production were carried out. Acetate, the most typical precursor of methanogenesis was chosen as the substrate of batch tests. Amendment of G. sulfurreducens accelerated CH₄ production remarkably. The lag phase of CH₄ production was shortened, and the maximum CH₄ production rate was increased by 78%. Fluorescence in situ hybridization showed that G. sulfurreducens closely gathered with methanogens. For the archaeal communities, the high-throughput sequencing results demonstrated that Methanosaetaceae and Methanobacteriaceae were potential bioaugmented methanogens. We speculated that the accelerated methanogenesis by adding G. sulfurreducens may result from the syntrophic association between G. sulfurreducens and methanogens affiliated with Methanosaetaceae and Methanobacteriaceae. This research provides a new route to enhance methanogenesis through the utilization of G. sulfurreducens. Through this study, the role of Geobacter in the anaerobic engineering and carbon cycling of nature should be paid more attention.

Biochar Modulates Methanogenesis through Electron Syntrophy of Microorganisms with Ethanol as a Substrate

Biochar has the potential to influence methanogenesis which is a key component of global carbon cycling. However, the mechanisms governing biochar's influence on methanogenesis is not well understood, especially its effects on interspecies relationships between methanogens and anaerobic bacteria (e.g., Geobacteraceae). To understand how different types of biochar influence methanogenesis, biochars derived from rice straw (RB), wood chips (WB), and manure (MB) were added to the methanogenic enrichment culture system of a paddy soil. Compared to the nonbiochar control, RB and MB additions accelerated methanogenesis remarkably, showing 10.7 and 12.3-folds higher methane production rate, respectively; while WB had little effect on methanogenesis. Using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and electrochemical methods, RB and MB also had higher redox-active properties or charging and discharging capacities than WB, and the functional groups, mainly quinones, on the biochar surface played an important role in facilitating methanogenesis. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction results demonstrated that electronic syntrophy did exist between methanogens and Geobacteraceae. RB and MB stimulate methanogenesis by facilitating direct interspecies electron transfer between methanogens and Geobacteraceae. Our findings contribute to a better understanding of the effects of biochars from different feedstocks on methanogenesis and provide new evidence to the mechanisms of stimulating methanogenesis via biochar.

Anaerobic membrane bioreactors for antibiotic wastewater treatment: Performance and membrane fouling issues

Antibiotic wastewater has become a major concern due to the toxicity and recalcitrance of antibiotics. Anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBRs) are considered alternative technology for treating antibiotic wastewater because of their advantages over the conventional anaerobic processes and aerobic MBRs. However, membrane fouling remains the most challenging issue in the AnMBRs' operation and this limits their application. This review critically discusses: (i) antibiotics removal and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in different types of AnMBRs and the impact of antibiotics on membrane fouling and (ii) the integrated AnMBRs systems for fouling control and removal of antibiotics. The presence of antibiotics in AnMBRs could aggravate membrane fouling by influencing fouling-related factors (i.e., sludge particle size, extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), soluble microbial products (SMP), and fouling-related microbial communities). Conclusively, integrated AnMBR systems can be a practical technology for antibiotic wastewater treatment.

Response of enhanced sludge methanogenesis by red mud to temperature: Spectroscopic and electrochemical elucidation of endogenous redox mediators

Adding conductive materials can promote methanogenesis via facilitating electron exchange between syntrophic bacteria and methanogenic archaea. However, little is known about how temperature would interact with such an addition and thus affect the compositions and characteristics of endogenous redox mediators (ERMs). In particular, it is of strong interest to understand how the temperature variation would affect the improvement on methanogenesis induced by ERMs with conductive materials. Herein, we have investigated the response of sludge methanogenesis to temperature variation (from 15 to 35 °C) and spectroscopically detected the ERMs induced by conductive red mud. It was demonstrated that the increasing temperature enhanced the stimulating effect of conductive red mud on methane accumulation, and the methane production potential showed a linear relationship with redox parameters such as areal capacitance (C_a), free charges (R₂) and electron exchange capacity (EEC). 2DCOS spectra further indicated that ν_(C-O) and δ_(O-H) in humic acids, β-turn type III amide I ν_s(C=O) in Cytochrome c, and δ_(C-H) in amines and lipids became the main redox groups in ERMs at 35 °C with the addition of red mud. The model revealed that the contribution of ERMs to the CO₂ reduction to CH₄ increased from 35.2 ± 1.4% to 58.6 ± 1.5% when the temperature increased from 15 to 35 °C. Our finding that conductive materials stimulated the formation and electroactivity of ERMs with the increasing temperature during anaerobic digestion can have important implications for the improvement of engineered methanogenic processes.

Methane Production and Conductive Materials: A Critical Review

Conductive materials (CM) have been extensively reported to enhance methane production in anaerobic digestion processes. The occurrence of direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET) in microbial communities, as an alternative or complementary to indirect electron transfer (via hydrogen or formate), is the main explanation given to justify the improvement of methane production. Not disregarding that DIET can be promoted in the presence of certain CM, it surely does not explain all the reported observations. In fact, in methanogenic environments DIET was only unequivocally demonstrated in cocultures of Geobacter metallireducens with Methanosaeta harundinacea or Methanosarcina barkeri and frequently Geobacter sp. are not detected in improved methane production driven systems. Furthermore, conductive carbon nanotubes were shown to accelerate the activity of methanogens growing in pure cultures, where DIET is not expected to occur, and hydrogenotrophic activity is ubiquitous in full-scale anaerobic digesters treating for example brewery wastewaters, indicating that interspecies hydrogen transfer is an important electron transfer mechanism in those systems. This paper presents an overview of the effect of several iron-based and carbon-based CM in bioengineered systems, focusing on the improvement in methane production and in microbial communities' changes. Control assays, as fundamental elements to support major conclusions in reported experiments, are critically revised and discussed.

Enhancing sludge methanogenesis with improved redox activity of extracellular polymeric substances by hematite in red mud

Different conductive materials have been employed to stimulate direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET) during methanogenesis, but few studies have been concerned with the interaction between conductive materials and extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) such as the effect on sludge aggregation and redox activity of EPS. This study aims to systematically investigate the role of red mud with 45.46 wt% hematite on methanogenesis during the anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge. The results showed that the multivalent cations from hematite effectively promoted the formation of large and compact aggregates, which might contribute to the rapid direct electron exchange during the DIET process. Meanwhile, more redox-active mediators including c-type cytochromes (c-Cyts) and humic substances, particularly in tight-bound EPS (TB-EPS), and more redox-active metals such as Fe introduced by red mud could take part in the interspecies electron transfer process between syntrophic bacteria and methanogenic archaea, which also promoted methane production (35.52 ± 2.64% increase compared with the control). This study provided initial scientific evidence to comprehensively assess the role of conductive materials during methanogenesis, with important implications for the biogeochemical redox processes of conductive minerals in natural and engineered environments.