Performance assessment of aeration and radial oxygen loss assisted cathodes based integrated constructed wetland-microbial fuel cell systems

The present study explores low-cost cathode development possibility using radial oxygen loss (ROL) of Canna indica plants and intermittent aeration (IA) for wastewater treatment and electricity generation in constructed wetland-microbial fuel cell (CW-MFC) system. Two CW-MFC microcosms were developed. Amongst them, one microcosm was planted with Canna indica plants for evaluating the ROL dependent cathode reaction (CW-MFC dependent on ROL) and another microcosm was equipped with intermittent aeration for evaluating the intermittent aeration dependent cathode reaction (CW-MFC with additional IA). The CW-MFC with additional IA has achieved 78.71% and 53.23%, and CW-MFC dependent on ROL has achieved 72.17% and 46.77% COD removal from synthetic wastewater containing glucose loads of 0.7 g L⁻¹ and 2.0 gL⁻¹, respectively. The maximum power density of 31.04 mW m⁻³ and 19.60 mW m⁻³ was achieved in CW-MFC with additional IA and CW-MFC dependent on ROL, respectively.