Supporting Information

Hexavalent chromium as a cathodic electron acceptor in a bipolar

membrane microbial fuel cell with the simultaneous treatment of
electroplating wastewater

Running title: Removal of hexavalent chromium using bipolar membrane MFC

*
Corresponding author:
Jung Rae Kim, Ph.D
Address: School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Pusan National University,
Busan 609-735, Republic of Korea
E-mail address: j.kim@pusan.ac.kr
Phone: +82.51.510.2393
Fax: +82.51.510.3943
Supporting information 1

The Nernst equation

2- + - 3+
Cr 2 O 7 + 14 H + 6 e →2 Cr + 7 H 2 O

3+¿
¿
Cr
¿
¿2
¿
2−¿
Cr 2 O7¿
¿
+¿
¿
H
¿
¿14
¿
¿
¿
¿
' ' RT
E =E 0− ×ln ¿
nF

where E'0 is the redox potential at the standard condition (1.33 V); R is the molar gas

constant (8.31448 J mol-1 K-1); T is the temperature (K); n is the number of electrons

exchanged; and F is Faraday’s constant (96485.3 C mol-1).

Supporting information 2

Two media bottles (310 ml capacity; Corning, USA) were joined with a glass tube

containing a proton exchange membrane (PEM) (Nafion 117; Dupont, USA) or a

bipolar membrane (BPM) (Fumasep FBM; Fumatech, Germany). Plain porous carbon

paper (NARA Cell Tech, Korea) was used as the anode and cathode (2 cm × 5 cm). The

two electrodes were connected electrically via a 1 kΩ external resistance.

Supporting information 3
Composition of synthetic medium which was used in anodic chamber for start-up and

operation of MFC(per liter): 3.28 g sodium acetate, 5.36 g K2HPO4, 2.62 g KH2PO4,

0.23 g NH4Cl, 0.8 g NaCl, 0.25 MgSO4·7H2O, 0.4 g KCl, and 1 g yeast extract.

Supporting information 4

The voltage across the external resistance was monitored using a computer-based data

acquisition (DAQ) system (NI-USB6218; National Instruments, USA) using

LabVIEW™ (National Instruments, USA). The voltage was recorded at 10 min

intervals. Identification of the electrical performance was measured by linear sweep

voltammetry (LSV) using a potentiostat (VersaSTAT 3, AMETEK, USA) for the

polarization curve at a scan rate of 0.05 V/s.

Table S1. Comparison of recent MFC research using Cr(VI) as the catholyte

Initial
Wastewater
Cathode Anode Membrane cathodic Reference
type
pH
Real electroplating
Graphite Carbon Nafion 117 Li et al. (2008)
wastewater 1.0-6.0
paper felt PEM [14]
(50-500 ppm)
Synthetic
Graphite Graphite Nafion 117 Wang et al.
wastewater 2.0-6.0
plate plate PEM (2008)[9]
(25-200 ppm)
Rutile-
Synthetic
coated Graphite Nafion 117 Li et al. (2009)
wastewater 2.0
polished plate PEM [25]
(26 ppm)
graphite
Synthetic
Carbon Carbon ESC-7000 Liu et al. (2011)
wastewater 2.0-7.0
felt felt CEM [24]
(10 ppm)
Synthetic Stainless
Graphite 3.0, 5.0, Pandit et al.
wastewater steel Ralex AEM
block 7.0, 7.5 (2011)[13]
(10 mM) block
Synthetic
Carbon Carbon Nafion 117 Zhang et al.
wastewater 2.0
fibre felt fibre felt PEM (2012)[23]
(500 ppm)
Synthetic
Graphite Graphite Nafion 117 Xafenias et al.
wastewater 7.0
felt felt PEM (2013)[15]
(20 ppm)
Synthetic
Carbon Carbon Nafion 117 2.0, 7.0, Praveena and
wastewater
cloth cloth PEM 9.0 Nambi (2015)[8]
(200-600 ppm)
Synthetic
AA:Ni- AA:Ni- Nafion 117 Gupta et al.
wastewater 2.0
ACF/CNF ACF/CNF PEM (2017)[7]
(200 ppm)
Real electroplating
Carbon Carbon Fumasep
wastewater 1.8 This study
paper paper BPM
(100-1000 ppm)
PEM: proton exchange membrane, CEM: cation exchange membrane, AEM: anion exchange membrane, and BPM: bipolar
membrane
Fig. S1. Schematic diagram of the PEM-MFC (a) and BPM-MFC (b)
Fig. S2. Power density curve of 0 %, 5 %, 10 %, 30 %, and 50 % of chromium wastewater in

a PEM-MFC (a), and cell potential (b), and power density of a BPM-MFC (c), and cell

potential (d)
Fig. S3. pH variation of the PEM-MFC cathode (a) and anode (c) and BPM-MFC cathode (b)

and anode (d). The error bars represent the standard deviations based on an analysis of the

samples in duplicate
Fig. S4. SEM images with EDS analyses results of the cathode electrode: 0 % Cr-wastewater

MFC with PEM (a) and BPM (b); 10 % Cr-wastewater MFC with PEM (c) and BPM (d); and

50 % Cr-wastewater MFC with PEM (e) and BPM (f)

Fig. S5. XPS analysis of the precipitates from the cathode in BPM-MFCs (a) 10 %, (b) 30 %,

(c) 50 %, and (d) Cr-wastewater

Fig. S6. XRD patterns of the precipitates on the cathode electrode in the BPM-MFCs before

heat treatment (a) and after heat treatment (b)