Effects of current generation and electrolyte pH on reverse salt flux across thin film composite membrane in osmotic microbial fuel cells
By Mohan Qin and Ibrahim M. Abu-Reesh and Zhen He
Published in Water Research
2016
Abstract
Osmotic microbial fuel cells (OsMFCs) take advantages of synergy between forward osmosis (FO) and microbial fuel cells (MFCs) to accomplish wastewater treatment, current generation, and high-quality water extraction. As an \FO\ based technology, OsMFCs also encounter reverse salt flux (RSF) that is the backward transport of salt ions across the \FO\ membrane into the treated wastewater. This \RSF\ can reduce water flux, contaminate the treated wastewater, and increase the operational expense, and thus must be properly addressed before any possible applications. In this study, we aimed to understand the effects of current generation and electrolyte pH on \RSF\ in an OsMFC. It was found that electricity generation could greatly inhibit RSF, which decreased from 16.3