Hybrid Microbial-Electrodialysis System for Sustainable Lithium Recovery from Brine


MuRE contributes to a QNRF project with partners in Qatar on lithium recovery from low-grade brines. Our role is the design, optimization, and scale-up of microbial fuel cells that convert industrial wastewater into electricity to power the recovery process [207, 192, 174] [patent 11].

  • Electrodes for power output [207, 135, 106]
  • Stack design and scale-up [197]
  • Coupling with brine treatment [203]

Related People

Hend Omar Mohamed

Related Publications

Sustainable Energy Production from Domestic Wastewater via Bioelectrochemical Reactors Using MXene Efficient Electrodes Decorated with Transition Metal Nanoparticles

by Kolubah, Hedhili, Hassine, Díaz-Rúa, Drautz-Moses, Obaid, Ghaffour, Saikaly, Mohamed, Castaño
J. Environ. Chem. Eng. Year: 2024 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2024.113793

Abstract

This study investigates the role of iron oxide (Fe2O3)-MXene (Ti3C2) based anode on microbial growth to generate clean energy from wastewater using a mediator less MFCs. We combine physical, chemical, and biological methods (microbe metabarcoding) to elucidate the engineered anode structure and the impact of Fe2O3 /Mxene on the growth of microbes, the electron transfer process, and generated power. The results demonstrate that Fe2O3 in the engineered anode facilitates the microbes-anode interaction that improves the attachment of a biofilm predominantly consisting of Acidomonas methanolica(75 % of read counts), which engages in extracellular electron transfer by leveraging the Fe redox cycle during MFC operations, achieving a power density of 2.7 W m–2 and a notable current density of 15 A m–2. The results open perspectives for understanding the role of transition metal oxide in the rational design of anodes targeting specific microbe populations for the practical application of MFCs.

Keywords

EPB CRE