Niche construction in a bioelectrochemical system with 3D-electrodes for efficient and thorough biodechlorination

The design of bioelectrochemical system based on the principle of niche construction, offers a prospective pathway for achieving efficient and thorough biodechlorination in groundwater. This study designed a single-chamber microbial electrolysis cell, with porous three-dimensional (3D) electrodes introduced, to accelerate the niche construction process of functional communities. This approach allowed the growth of various bacteria capable of simultaneously degrading 2,4-dichlorophenol (DCP) and its refractory intermediates, 4-chlorophenol (4CP). The 3D-electrodes provided abundant attachment sites for diverse microbes with a high initial Shannon index (3.4), and along the degradation progress, functional bacteria (Hydrogenoanaerobacterium and Rhodococcus erythropolis for DCP-degrading, Sphingobacterium hotanense for 4CP-degrading and Delftia tsuruhatensis for phenol-degrading) constructed their niches. Applying an external voltage (0.6 V) further increased the selective pressure and niche construction pace, as well as provided ‘micro-oxidation’ site on the electrode surface, thereby achieving the degradation of 4CP and mineralization of phenol. The porous electrodes could also adsorb contaminants and narrow their interaction distance with microbes, which benefited the degradation efficiency. Thus a 10-fold increase in the overall mineralization of DCP was achieved. This study constructed a novel bioelectrochemical system for achieving efficient and thorough biodechlorination, which was suitable for in situ bioremediation of groundwater.